Can Rubio stand up to Putin?

And the Fix is in—Chris Cilizza, the voice of conventional wisdom, spreading the idée reçue on Rubio's height:

.@TheFix @JeremyDeeSelden Wikipedia: 5'10" Rubio: 5'9" https://t.co/c3msC0L3eF Under 5'8"? https://t.co/6ix8iAUzFx pic.twitter.com/LpoNCpwuaL

— Yastreblyansky (@Yastreblyansky) January 7, 2016

I was mistaken citing Wikipedia, which doesn't offer an estimate (I think I got the error from Allie Jones at Gawker); the 5'10" figure is from his Google profile, and it's not footnoted.

It's new, too, from the campaign; he's called himself 5'9" in the past (that Washington Times reference— “5’ 9” — 5’ 9” and a half, maybe, on a good day.”—is from August 2013). I did the same thing myself, for many years, I'm sorry to say, as a person of the 5'8" persuasion, although I have never run for president.

But he's also been wearing those elevator shoes [recte: Cuban heels, thanks, Monsieur B] since at least 2012, when he started running for president, as we learned from Genius of Despair in November of that year:

"Looks like more than 4 inches to me," wrote Genius, adding, prophetically, "Expect Rubio to grow taller as his campaign progresses."

And he's clearly no taller in debate footwear than the openly 5'8" Ted Cruz:

Jim Wilson/New York Times, November 1 2015.

So exactly how tall are you, Marco? When you say you're ready to stand up to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (5'7") are you sure you've got the stuff? The American people demand to know.