Rubio Casts Senate Race as Battle for America

Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio of Florida's warning that America is at risk of losing its special place in human history has become a central campaign theme that taps into the anti-Washington frustrations of the tea party movement and others, according to a palmbeachpost.com report.

In Rubio's telling, the survival of American exceptionalism — particularly the American concepts of limited government and free-market entrepreneurialism — is threatened by Democratic policies. Rubio says his Nov. 2 election against Democrat Kendrick Meek and independent Charlie Crist is about more than just a Senate seat.

"This race is not your traditional race," the boyish, charismatic Rubio told about 60 supporters who crammed into a back room at Duffy's Sports Grill in Boynton Beach last week. "It is a referendum on our identity. This race forces us to answer a very simple question: Do we want our country to continue to be exceptional, or are we prepared for it to become just like everybody else?"