The notable thing about this ThinkProgress article titled "8 Reasons Why Marco Rubio Is Not the Republican Savior" is that none of the reasons are notable. By which I mean, none of those reasons are going to keep any Republican from voting for Rubio, and he has years to make himself appear more like a moderate, as he's doing with immigration reform. Rubio walked a very fine line in a live BuzzFeed interview about gay rights on Tuesday, too:

Rubio said he is "against discriminating against people," but would not take a position on the longstanding legislation to address anti-LGBT discrimination, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). He also dodged taking a specific position on whether same-sex couples should receive protections under immigration law, despite his significant investment in immigration issues more broadly.

Rubio has endorsed DOMA in the past, but he now says he doesn't think there should be a Constitutional amendment to end gay marriage. As far as how moderates will receive this information, I think Rubio passed this test. He managed to stick to his conservative anti-gay roots without sounding like a hate-monger.

Rubio's next big challenge is his highest-profile public appearance yet: He's scheduled to give the Republican response to the State of the Union next Tuesday. The response to the State of the Union is one of the hardest speeches a politician can give: They look tiny compared to the grandeur of the SotU, and they're forced into an opposition position, which doesn't generally appeal to people. And if they fuck up the optics of the moment, it can take years to politically recover. It's really rare for someone to come away from the response speech looking stronger than they went in, but if any politician can do this, it's Rubio.