Rubio will split the Tea Party Republlicans in half.

He certainly seems like someone who could pull off a Presidential run. His victory speech, unlike the other teabagger candidates was classy and focused not just on a Florida audience but an international audience. He would be a difficult challenger in the future - even despite the views that got him to the Senate.

He has a problem. That base the has is full of racist birthers and they hate him as much as they hate the President. They also have got themselves so tied up in this definition of naturally born that they do not consider him eligible. Those people are a large percentage of the Tea Party Republicans.

More people moving OUT than moving in since 1942. The state DEPENDS on retires, tourists, and snowbirds for it's economy. When these people don't come, it eliminates the mainstay of it's jobs. So HOW do the Rubio's of this state expect to create jobs? WHAT JOBS? WHAT INDUSTRY? Many years ago, the Fortune 500 pharmaceutical corp I worked at investigated moving to Florida. The plan was nixed. Yes, it was cheaper there, BUT the big executives, and most of the staff, just plain didn't want to relocate there. They worried about being able to hire the "brain power" they needed in this state. What they don't understand in this state is that not everybody wants to live with endless sunshine and HEAT year round. What the locals, and politicians consider their biggest asset, really ISN'T to the majority of people around the country. Nice place to visit (like tourists and snowbirds), but wouldn't want to live there year round. Count ME as one of them.

It should be interesting to see how they plan to get businesses, and people, to move here --- YEAR ROUND.

Florida is home to three or four major military installations that a critical and are not going to ever move, ie Mayport, CENTCOM in Tampa, SouthCom in Miami, NAS Pensacola, etc.

It is true that Florida is mainly a service economy that has to has tourism, however Disney World and Epcot, along with Miami and the Gulf Coast are always going to be destinations for vacationers. The other strong industries for Florida are cattle (not going anywhere), and citrus (not going anywhere).

Florida has a lot of very good universities that are producing a lot of intellectual capital. This will support growing industry efforts in Miami, Tampa, and Orlando.

I agree that the population is aging and Florida is benefiting from baby boomers retiring but it will still continue to be a state where a lot of people retire to just for the beaches and the outdoor sporting it offers.

he looks like his name should be "skippy"... I don't know why

People used to think about California going into the sea. Well now...I think Florida SHOULD. Seriously, it's been a lost state.

the day they courted the Teabaggers.

Now that they are in the corridors of power, their beliefs will be legitimized--even the talk about overturning the 10th and 14th Amendment.

All I can say is that if you thought Bachman was bad, these Teabagging newbies will be much worse.

America has given a voice to the rightist, extremist fringe in this country.

over this election period, but today there was a shift. The OP proclaiming him as their new superstar was met with *many* negative replies which had a coomon theme: he really isn't "one of us". I was surprised by that, but after reading your post, it makes sense.