NOW WE'RE TALKIN' – AT 8:49 A.M. ET:  Conservative columnist Cal Thomas is the latest to suggest that the GOP skip a generation and pick Marco Rubio as its candidate next year.  Rubio is adamantly refusing, but they all say that:

At first he didn't want to do any national media, preferring to focus on Florida issues. He didn't make his maiden speech on the Senate floor until June 14, five months after being sworn-in.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) so gifted at age 40, combines passion for his conservative ideas with a humility that could easily spill over into arrogance, if he didn't have a strong sense of self. On the morning of our first meeting, I arrive early. He arrives before his staff and goes around turning on lights with no sense that such action is below his pay grade. In a town full of hubris and self-absorption, Rubio appears not to have yet caught the disease. Perhaps he will turn out to be the Hispanic version of Jimmy Stewart's movie character, "Mr. Smith."

I'll take that.

That doesn't mean Rubio can't attack President Obama, but when he does, it is the president's policies he goes after, not the man.

Of the president's harsh verbal assault on Republicans during his news conference last Wednesday, Rubio says, "I was taken aback by some of the rhetoric the president used, which I think is more appropriate for some left-wing strong man than for the president of the United States."

And...

What does he think of the Republican presidential field so far? "I think it's underrated. ... I think we're going to have a good nominee. ... The question for the American people in November 2012 is: are we going to extend Barack Obama's contract for another four years? If the election were today, you would say every meaningful measure of life in America is worse than in January 2009."

Rubio is aware this sounds Reaganesque as in, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

What about the vice presidency? Does he see himself as a possible running mate? "I don't think I'll be asked. I doubt very seriously you are going to see me on that ticket."

Maybe not, but if Rubio's stock continues to rise, he might not have to think about being asked in 2012. In four or eight more years, he might well be the Republican presidential nominee asking someone to run with him.

COMMENT:  Rubio has that rare gift, the ability to command an audience, keep its attention, and make it want to follow his lead. 

True, his national experience is thin thus far, but his overall experience, including a stint as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is more extensive than was Obama's when Obama ran for president.  Of course, Obama was always running for president.

I can't see how Rubio can jump in, given the firm denials of current interest...unless a boomlet can be started for him somewhere outside his Senate office.  And, of course, a speaking tour by Rubio himself could help, as it is that rapport with voters that is his most powerful selling point, that and a clear conservative platform that is thoughtful, without a bit of nuttiness.  Rubio also has the rhetorical ability to take on the press, a clear necessity for a Republican candidate next year.

July 5, 2011