Ladies and gentlemen, I'm a cynic. I'm a pessimist. I'm occasionally, and recently more often than not, a fatalist. I'm not prone to optimistic jags, due in great part to knowing how human nature is, and knowing how difficult it is to change it. Ironically, despite these shortcomings, I'm a conservative. I still possess just enough optimism, though, to allow me to see those small slivers of sunlight coming through the dark clouds of reality.

I've been involved in conservative politics all my life. Living in a Cuban-American household leaves little choice not to be involved since our very existence here in the United States is a result of oppressive politics and tyranny. I've gone from being a Reagan conservative, beginning in 1976, to my misplaced libertarianism in the nineties (thanks to you-know-who), to being an even more fervent Reagan conservative today.

What does it mean to be "conservative"? The word is bandied about like a brand of hot dogs, a commodity, a phrase that used to mean something because it was properly articulated but now is just a catch-phrase. But Conservatism is not a catch-phrase. It is, as Mark Levin has written, the philosophy that helped found our country. We stand for liberty. We stand for the individual to make his life as he can within the structure of the rule of law. We stand for individual responsibility. We stand for a constitutionally small government. We stand for the Bill of Rights. We stand for low taxes. We stand for the free market. We stand for the rights of the unborn. We stand for a strong defense. We stand for private property and all the inherent rights that come with it. We stand for local control. We stand for Federalism, i.e., for the states to be able to determine their laws, in accordance with the will of its peoples and the Tenth Amendment, with little or no interference from the federal government. These are our key beliefs, our bedrock, our keystones.

Last night I had the opportunity to meet someone who, in my opinion, is the embodiment of the principles we believe in. I saw the Republican Party past of the last twenty years -- post Ronald Reagan -- flash before my eyes and saw its future. Its name is Marco Rubio.

Marco, an unpretentious and enthusiastic young man of 38, who made the cover of the penultimate issue of National Review, is the last best hope we have to restore conservatism to the Republican Party in Florida. I'm proud that he is a product of my county, not a few miles from where I live. He embodies the values I was taught as an exile from Communism. Values to revere the nation that opened its doors to a ragged but proud, energetic and entrepreneurial bunch of people fleeing tyranny. Values to work hard and to have no limitations on your success other than your own dreams. Values that taught me to be a good citizen, father, son, brother. Values that are inherent in the fabric of this country -- despite all of the negative things liberal/progressives can come up with. As Marco said last night, America is unique in the world. If we want to keep its unique status, we have to stop electing statists and socialists who are hell-bent on repressing our unalienable rights, and start electing men and women who believe to the fiber of their core what this nation truly represents.

We are, as Ronald Reagan called us, a shining city on a hill. Marco, a few others running for election next year, and a few currently in Congress, represent the last best hope we have to take our country back from its seemingly inexorable slide into socialism, and return it to the bedrock principles and values that made it the greatest nation on Earth. Join me in supporting Marco today, tomorrow and into next year in his campaign to win the nomination of our party for Senator. Donate what you can. I donated last night. Money is the mother's milk of politics as a wise man has said. Your help will go a long way to achieve our goals as a party and as the nation we can be again.

If you want to see who Marco is, listen to his farewell speech, especially after the 5:00 minute mark. He is a real guy with no pretensions. That, dear readers, is rare in politics.