Grover Norquist, speaking in Urbandale, Iowa Wednesday, leaves Marco Rubio off his list of 2016 contenders.

And perhaps even worse in Norquist’s eyes, he tosses him in the same basket as Ted Cruz.

In 2016, he said, there could be six or seven candidates – nearly all governors – who could fund the campaign from start to finish and “pass the laugh test” on their candidacy.

Norquist named Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Later, he also mentioned Sam Brownback and Mike Pence.

I asked him about Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has already been to Iowa several times and will return later this month. He didn’t dismiss Cruz, but said he and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio “just showed up.” It’s tough to run for president from the Senate, he said. Governors have the advantage of being able to show accomplishments as an executive instead of one of 100 senators.

The Americans for Tax Reform’s president’s comments on Cruz aren’t surprising — he’s already said the tenacious Texan should apologize to his party for dragging it into the shutdown conundrum they find themselves in.  But his reflection on Rubio can be another measure of how the Floridian’s star has dimmed since the beginning of the year.

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