Feb 19 Rubio Wows Conservatives With CPAC Speech

If glowing reviews were votes or campaign contributions, Marco Rubio would swamp his GOP primary challenger and be so flush with money that he'd swamp his Democratic opponent. Though I was impressed with his entire speech, this part of Mr. Rubio's speech was especially powerful to me:

There has never been a nation like the United States.

It begins with the principles of our founding documents. Principles that recognize that our rights come from God, not from government. That we are all equal in the eyes of our creator and, therefore, every human life at every stage of life is sacred.

These principles embody a commitment to individual liberty and have made Americans the freest people ever. They make possible our free enterprise economy, which has made us the most prosperous people ever.

The result is an America that is the only place in the world where it doesn't matter who your parents are or whether you were born into the right family or the right part of society. You can be anything you're willing to work hard to be.

The result is the only economy where poor people with a better idea and a strong work ethic can put rich people out of business in the competition of the marketplace.

The result is the most reliable defender of freedom ever. Simply put, there is nothing like it in the world. And even today, with the problems that we face, which country would you rather be? Who would we trade places with?

That's incredibly empowering to hear. One line especially jumps out: "...Poor people with a better idea and a strong work ethic can put rich people out of business..." In a global context, we're one of the few nations in the world where that's possible. Many nations have systems that make it all but impossible for people of a certain social status to escape.

After his speech, Ed Morrissey taped a brief Q & A session with Mr. Rubio. The statement he made during this interview that most caught my attention was his saying that he wouldn't have had a campaign if not for bloggers. He said that, had this race happened before blogs, the MSM would've commented that Rubio had a bright future, then returned its attention to the popular sitting governor.

Mr. Rubio said that politicians can't play games with bloggers because they do their own research, factchecking media reports and politicians' quotes. He's right. That's exactly what we do.

It's been said that Rubio is the "first TEA Party candidate." I agree with that statement but I'd go a step further. I'll be the first to say that Mr. Rubio is the first blog savvy TEA Party candidate and that he'll be the first blog savvy TEA Party senator.

Follow this link to read Marco Rubio's presentation at CPAC. You'll be glad you did.

Comments welcome at LFR.