All they know about him is that he's about to become the speaker of the Florida House, and he supposedly shares their growing anger over property taxes and government spending.
``I loved him. I absolutely loved him,'' recalled Margie Patchett, leader of a Volusia County antitax group. ``I thought, `This is not your standard politician. This is a man of vision.' ''
The scene played across Florida -- from Panama City to Spring Hill and Sarasota. Marco Rubio shaped anger over soaring property taxes into the defining mark of his two years as speaker.
Today, the issue has been overlooked as Rubio stands atop the race for U.S. Senate. But that period was the foundation of his success, and it spawned another angst-ridden movement that has fueled his campaign: the tea party.
The 35-year-old standing before the small crowd in Daytona Beach seized the populist cause of property tax relief and used it to confront the governor and satisfy the anti-establishment rage on the ground.
When that rage turned on the federal government, Rubio was right there, with a repertoire of speaking skills honed to the cause. While he was blasting President Barack Obama's stimulus plan and declaring government spending out of control, Gov. Charlie Crist was giving the president a hug.
``What Florida was experiencing was just beginning to dawn on the country,'' said Brett Doster, a political strategist in Tallahassee. ``His [Rubio's] willingness to stand up put him on the leading cusp of what is now a strong antigovernment, anti-incumbency movement out there. He's developed a really loyal base.''
The base was built in conference rooms and community halls, in airport hangars and on the steps of City Hall. Rubio's extensive travel introduced him to grass-roots leaders like Patchett, who now travels the state herself to talk about property taxes -- and about Marco Rubio.
Some of the first calls Rubio made after declaring his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat that is up for grabs this year were to contacts he met in 2007. Partly with their help, he won a series of straw polls that represented the beginning of the end of Crist's run as Republican.
And while most Florida House speakers don't get much attention beyond Tallahassee, Rubio enjoyed widespread exposure because of the property tax issue. National television networks visited him in Miami, and conservative leaders in Washington talked him up.
``He's the most pro-taxpayer legislative leader in the country,'' Grover Norquist, president of anti-tax advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, said at the time. Norquist invited Rubio to speak at his influential weekly Wednesday meeting, and then endorsed him for Senate.
The base has gotten Rubio far, but his strength will be tested as the campaign moves to the general election. While he has raised the money to compete on TV -- the ultimate battleground in Florida politics -- he still has to show he can appeal to more than hard-line conservatives and tea partyers.
Already, momentum has cooled with Crist dropping out of the GOP primary to run as an independent. The conflict and contrast that riled up Rubio's supporters and drove a media story line has been sapped.
And Rubio's record on property taxes invites questions about his effectiveness. His ideas were big but mostly failed, even though his party controlled the Legislature. In the end, Crist prevailed with a simpler -- and less substantial -- property tax relief plan.
Records reflect rise of Marco Rubio‘Restrepo’: The War That Won’t End, By Kurt Loder
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