by Javier Manjarres

With last night’s convincing 19 point margin of victory, Marco Rubio is now Senator-Elect Rubio. Last year at this time, the political pundits were still pretty much in agreement that Charlie Crist would be the Republican nominee- an amazing turn of political fortunes.

Having been a supporter of Marco’s before anyone knew just which race he was going declare himself a candidate for, Marco’s subsequent explosion onto the national political scene and his victory yesterday are both very gratifying for myself as well as for Marco’s growing legion of fans.   Early on, there were very formidable challenges that Rubio and his small band of supporters faced.  These challenges came from within the state Republican party (RPOF), from people masked as friends in certain Republican Executive Committees, to the usual opportunists that always gravitate towards the “stronger horse”.   Marco’s campaign team was small, but trustworthy-  Hat tip : Anthony ‘Buste” Bustamante.

According to the so-called “establishment”, Marco was not supposed to be the Republican nominee, and there was concerted pressure from different directions to try and get Marco to quit the race early on. As Marco’s campaign started to get a foothold and he gained in the polls, new challenges arose. From the oppositions’ backroom deal proposals and posturing to the blatant media trashing of Marco’s campaign, Marco stayed principled and on message. These detractors and non-believers now scurry to open the very doors that were shut in Marco’s face mere months ago.

Congratulations Marco, you have made us proud in the Senate race you have run and won.  Now, the real work begins stopping the Obama agenda and providing a clear alternative to this abject failure of an experiment, which has been the primary rationale for Rubio’s candidacy since Day One.