Marco “Greeted Like A Rock Star”…

Yesterday, Marco campaigned in St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Melbourne and Boca Raton picking up support along the way. Check out some of the coverage below:

Jeannie Hammond walked up to greet U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio and announced: “I want you to know that I’ve contributed to you from the very beginning.” The Republican from West Miami, in town for the opening of his Melbourne campaign office, smiled, shook Hammond’s hand and replied: “Thank you, because not everybody did.” Hammond was one of about 100 supporters who filled the office on South Harbor City Boulevard, in an event sponsored by the Melbourne Area Federated Republican Women. Rubio urged them to help the Republican party return their country to “what it’s been in its best days . . . not just a battleground for Democrats vs. Republicans and liberals vs. Democrats.” “We can’t just be the party of no,” the former state representative told the crowd, adding that supporters need to “take their frustrations and hopes and turn them into action on Election Day.” That statement resonated with Hammond, a Palm Bay resident who said she sees Rubio as “someone coming from a different perspective, especially with his parents being immigrants.” “I think what he’s saying is that instead of just saying no to the Democrats, he’s going to have ideas,” she said. – Florida Today

At noon, Marco Rubio, by far the front-runner for his party’s nomination for senator, was greeted like a rock star at the Volusia County Republican Campaign Headquarters at 747 S. Ridgewood Ave. in Daytona Beach. The Miami attorney and former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives walked in to a crowd of about 100 chanting, “Marco, Marco.” He admitted he’s still “a little embarrassed” to hear the chanting and accept the standing ovations. But, he joked, he’s also “a little nervous, afraid someone will scream Polo,” referring to the children’s game of swimming pool tag. Rubio delivered a well-received 30-minute speech, hitting key campaign issues including jobs, the “crushing national debt,” national security and immigration, even taking a dig at Republicans now serving in Washington. He said temporary tax cuts should become permanent, but spending cuts, including a ban on earmarks, also would be necessary to achieve a balanced budget. The economy continues to suffer, in part, because business owners who could add employees and expand are “afraid to because of uncertainty about the future,” Rubio said. “Small businesses are taking the brunt of it and we’re all paying the price.” – Daytona Beach News-Journal

Along for the ride was Orlando Fox which filed this report from the Rubio campaign van:

Read the original story at Marco 2010 Rubio-US Senate