Marco Rubio Planning Book Tour Through Battleground States
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will embark on a book tour this summer through three key battleground states - Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia - along with South Carolina and Georgia.
ABC News confirmed Thursday that Rubio will promote his autobiography, "An American Son," which will be released June 19, with a book tour over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
The Florida portion of the book tour will start on June 30 at the Palm Beach Book Store in Palm Beach and end at a Barnes and Noble in Pensacola on July 3.
Rubio will then head to Atlanta, Greenville, S.C., and Columbia, S.C., on July 5. He will continue through South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia before ending his tour at the Books A Million in McLean, Va. on July 7.
Details of the book tour were first reported by the AP.
Rubio is on many lists of potential running mates for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, and recently has heightened his criticism of President Obama, calling him one of the most "divisive figures" in American history.
But Rubio also is believed to hold higher national ambitions, with many expecting he will one day run for president, and a book tour through swing states and the early primary state of South Carolina could help him lay the groundwork for a future presidential bid.
Just last Saturday, Rubio delivered a major speech to the South Carolina GOP at their annual Silver Elephant Dinner, which was seen as a move to court Republican voters who could help him during a 2016 run or beyond.
Rubio's book, which will be published in both English and Spanish under the title "Un Hijo Americano," will be released on the same day as an unauthorized biography by Washington Post's Manuel Roig-Franzia called "The Rise of Marco Rubio."