I remember in 2009, when I first read about Marco Rubio on RedState, and then NationReview did a cover article on him. Living in Tampa, the next week I drove to Clearwater to hear him do one of his mini appearances. There were about 200 people there. He spoke for 15 minutes, then took any and all questions for the next 90 minutes. Itw as an amazing, bravura, performance. I knew I’d found my candidate, and right there I signed up, and wrote a check.

Hasner’s problem, simply put, is that as an orator, a stump speaker, he’s not Marco. And I think that’s why he’s doing do poorly in the polls. We Florida conservatives….well..it’s like two years ago we were walkign along one of our many gorgeous beaches, and we tripped over this magnificent candidate…Marco Rubio..who was everything we hoped for, and now..well, we;ve been spoiled, and we expect lightning to strike twice in the same place…

Even though Hillsborough County ( Tampa) is rthe lightning capitol of the US, that’s just not gonna happen.

To me, Hasner appears to be a genuine conservative, right on the issues, and far and away the best candidate. He’ll ably represent our interests and values in the Senate.

But he’s NOT Marco Rubio. We’ve got to stop looking at him, listening to him, and hoping for an encore.

Listen to WHAT he says…not the manner in which he says it. Adam’s just NOT that exciting as a candidate. But neither is Nelson. Which is why he can send Ben off into retirement.

Erick’s just posted an hommage of sorts to Pawlenty….”a good guy who lacked the ability to excite, to energize a crowd.”

Hasner has the same problem, but it can be overcome. I expect that Rubio WILL endorse him, and will be able to transfer some of his charisma to Hasner..”I need Adam beside he in the Senate.”

I think we may be watching different videos.

I’m a Hasner supporter, so I’m admittedly biased, but that was one heckuva speech. I was there in the room and he got a very enthusiastic response.

Yes, we all love Rubio, and we know that there’s only one Rubio. But Hasner was Rubio’s teammate in the Florida House for years, and I know he’d be a great teammate for Rubio in the U.S. Senate too.

Right now every vote of Rubio’s is cancelled out by Bill Nelson’s. George LeMieux managed to mostly be on good behavior during his 16 months that Charlie Crist gave him in the Senate, because he knew he’d have to answer for his voting record during this election, but he still voted for the Food Safety Bill and had to be dragged kicking and screaming from voting for the Dream Act.

Just think about this: Charlie Crist’s plan was for Florida to be represented by Crist and LeMieux in the Senate. I like the idea of Rubio and Hasner representing us instead.