Gary Bauer's Take on Calls for Marco Rubio to Run for President in 2012

Social conservative leader Gary Bauer, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 and now leads the Campaign for Working Families PAC (CWF), weighed in on Wednesday on the increased calls that Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio should run for the Republican presidential nomination.

The desire of many conservative activists to unite behind a dynamic and articulate leader has led some to launch an effort to draft freshman Senator Marco Rubio into the 2012 presidential race, noted Bauer in a message to supporters sent out on Wednesday. The effort got a boost when Rush Limbaugh offered his endorsement yesterday.

I understand why many conservatives like Rubio, added Bauer, who led the Family Research Council before his presidential bid. He was one of the conservative candidates that CWF ran TV ads for last year. Not surprisingly, though, Rubio has resisted the calls to run -- he's only in the third month of his first term in Congress. But there is no question that he is a rising star on the right.