Senators’ Mother’s Day plans: Flowers for  Klobuchar, McCain;  Rubio keeps lips sealed

By Judy Kurtz - 05/09/12 07:04 PM ET

Sen. Marco Rubio, considered a top candidate to be Mitt Romney’s running mate, has a secret he’s not sharing with anyone. He cryptically explained to ITK, “It’s a surprise. I’m not going to tell you, because that’ll ruin the surprise.”

That’s right — the Florida Republican is keeping his lips completely sealed about his plans for … Mother’s Day.

“Sometimes we do it at home because my mom lives a few blocks away. But this year we’re going to try to do something different” is all Rubio would reveal when asked recently what he had in store for his wife, Jeanette, on May 13.

But the dad of four did disclose he has an accomplice in plotting the Sunday surprise: “My daughter’s now old enough to come up with ideas.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) tells us the Mother’s Day activity her husband and daughter have planned will likely come as no shock to her: “Usually we go to brunch. And usually they have some kind of gifts.”

But Klobuchar says her family’s mom-centric traditions have changed slightly since she started serving in the upper chamber in 2007: “It used to be, in our easier days, before I had this job, we would always plant the flowers on Mother’s Day. And now that has gotten slightly delayed.”

The flowers the bunch would usually plant? “Oh, just like annuals,” said Klobuchar, before adding with a smile that she prefers a particularly colorful kind — “impatiens — which fits me.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also has blooming buds on the brain for Mother’s Day. The lawmaker, 75, admits that after all these years, it’s pretty tough to come up with new ideas for his 100-year-old mom, Roberta.

But bouquets seem to be the go-to gift for McCain’s mom: “I hope we’ll think of something appropriate. Flowers for sure.”