RUBIO ROMPS IN FLORIDA – AT 7:59 A.M. ET:  Marco Rubio, seen as a rising GOP star and possible future president, has nailed down a solid lead in the three-way race for U.S. Senator from Florida.  The New York Times reports:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Marco Rubio commands a double-digit lead among likely voters in Florida's U.S. Senate race, harnessing a split among Democrats over their nominee Kendrick Meek and independent Gov. Charlie Crist, a poll issued Thursday shows.

Rubio, a tea party favorite, was favored in the three-way contest by 46 percent of 1,151 voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University between Sept. 23 and 28. The poll was Quinnipiac's first limited to the likely voters for the Nov. 2 general election and claimed a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Crist, who left the GOP in April to run for the Senate without party affiliation, was favored by 33 percent and U.S. Rep. Meek was preferred by 18 percent in the three-way race.

COMMENT:  Rubio, a Cuban-American, becomes an instant star after November 2nd.  The Republicans need major figures who can help prevent the Hispanic-American vote from going automatically to the Democrats.

September 30, 2010