Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio was the first speaker at this year’s Conservative Political Action Committee that got under way this morning in Washington, D.C. Before Rubio’s speech, I had heard of the legend of Marco Rubio.  But I had never heard him speak in person. Now I have. He’s the real deal.

Indeed, Rubio is all he is made out to be and more. Young and energetic, he says that he is ready to work with Democrats to defeat radical Islam and reduce the deficit, but he is not ready to work with them to abandon America’s free market system and make America a “submissive” member of the international community.

Among Rubio’s biggest applause lines were when he called for across-the-board tax cuts and said America must stand up for Israel. But the line that really got the crowd going was when he said that America needs to  “capture [terrorists], get useful information from them, and then bring them to justice in front of a military tribunal in Guantanamo”— a clear shot on the Obama Administration’s decision to mirandize the attempted Christmas Day bomber.

While many of Rubio’s policy one liners were standard conservative fare, what makes him so appealing is his immigrant understanding of America exceptionalism. Though Rubio was born in the United States, Rubio’s parents were refugees from Castro’s Cuba.

It is “sometimes easy to forget how special America is,” Rubio said. “But I was raised by immigrants who understand why elections matter, who understand how different America is from the rest of the world…[that] what makes America great is not that we have more rich people than anyone else, but it is a place where dreams are possible.”

Rubio’s political beliefs and love of America are infused with the understanding that he is “one generation removed from a very different life.” Any success he has had in life, Rubio said, he owes to God, to the sacrifices his parents made, and to the United States of America.

In Florida, Charlie Crist simply won’t be able to beat Rubio’s enthusiasm, his energy, and his story, much less his conservative clarity. But the real question is once Rubio wins election to the U.S. Senate, as he very likely will, what’s next for him?

I know. I know. It is far too premature to talk about a future run for president by Rubio when he hasn’t even made it into the Senate yet. But if President Obama could make a run and be elected president after such a short time on the national stage, why not Rubio?

It may be a stretch to see Rubio running for president in 2012, but his election will make him an instant vice-presidential possibility for whoever the 2012 Republican nominee is. His story, his youth, his charisma, and his ability to inspire Americans to believe in America again makes him undeniably attractive. Add in the fact that he will be, if elected, a senator from a very important swing state and it is not too hard to imagine Rubio on the Republican ticket in 2012.

The Republican Party and the conservative movement are in search of a leader they can get behind and believe in. Rubio makes a strong case that they need not look any further.