After the disappointing 2008 election, it is time to start looking ahead to 2010, and the prospects of electing fresh, conservative lawmakers at the federal level.

Florida will hold one of the most crucial Senate races for the GOP. Mel Martinez, who currently holds the seat, has announced that he will not seek re-election. Many are speculating that Governor Crist – aka President Obama’s favorite Republican – will enter the race. This would put yet another RINO in the Senate and give President Obama and the Democrats in Congress a reliable Republican supporter of their big-spending ways.

But we have a chance to stop that from happening.

Marco Rubio, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is currently testing the waters for the Senate race and this morning is launching a new site asking folks to stand with him as he considers the run.

I will be supporting Marco Rubio in this election.

At 35, he was the youngest and first Cuban-American elected to Speaker of the Florida House. He did so by championing a conservative, commonsense and smaller government approach. He’s also a devoted husband and a family man with four children.

Here are some highlights about him:

• Rubio is best known for his book “100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future.” These ideas came from “idearaisers” he hosted across the state.
• This caught the attention of former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is on the record as saying that Rubio “will emerge as a national leader.”
• His time as Speaker, which lasted from 2006-2008, is marked by his initiative to overhaul the Florida tax system.
• Rubio was also successful in creating a world-class public school curriculum and passing legislation designed to address the social-economic factors that lead to academic under-performance.
• Here is a link to a profile of him by the St. Petersburg Times.
• He has no problem publicly blasting the big-spenders in Washington. At a recent Lincoln Day Dinner, Rubio bashed those who promote that only government can solve our economic problems: “I wish that President Obama was right that through laws and spending, we can restore and keep for the next generation what was given to us, I wish that was true.” Rubio went on to say, “Why would we ever implement the economic policies of places that people jump fences to get away from?”

Marco is the kind of young, energetic, reform-minded and unapologetic conservative we need to be blogging about. We need to stand up and be prepared to fight for a guy like Marco. I hope you will join me.