Foreign Policy Initiative co-founder Dan Senor broke down the strengths and weaknesses of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates Monday, noting the experience, confidence, and youth of Sens. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R., Texas).
Senor said that the "race is ultimately heading" toward Rubio and Cruz, who are "fluid" and "fluent" on foreign policy issues because of their experience in the Senate.
"In the case of Cruz, he sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Rubio sits on the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee," he said. "They are getting intelligence briefings. They’ve been steeped in these issues over the last couple of years."
He said that Rubio and Cruz’s "self confidence" and "expertise" on foreign policy issues would win over the average voter.
"You do get the impression that this [Rubio] is in command of facts and knowledge," he said.
Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich also have advantages, according to Senor.
"They just have the executive-in-chargeness sort-of profile to them that I also think helps them in these situations," he said.
Still, Rubio and Cruz "will have an advantage over the governors," Senor said.
"They have been marinating in these issues for a while. They have been in the middle of these foreign policy fights with President Obama. They had to vote on whether or not to send troops into Syria after Assad crossed the red line," he said. "They had to take real responsibility. They had to vote on what to do with these intelligence and national security programs."
He also said that if Rubio and Cruz end up defeating "very strong personalities" like Bush, Christie and Donald Trump, people will "look at them differently."
"They are going to look large and in charge," he said. This self-confidence, combined with the "youth" of both candidates, will be an advantage, according to Senor.
"The youth ultimately will be an asset because I do believe it’s going to be a generational campaign," he said.