Rush Urges Rubio to Run for President and Talks Up Tea (Third) Party

Radio talker Rush Limbaugh warmly applauded U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tuesday, saying, "I wish he would run for president."

Sharing Rubio's concern over U.S. debt, and Congress's timid efforts to reduce it, Limbaugh praised the freshman senator for challenging GOP leaders to be more aggressive on budget cuts.

Limbaugh also tweaked establishment Republicans by predicting that disgruntled tea partiers could bolt the GOP to form a third party.

"They know they're a majority in the country. If they conclude that they have no influence with the current crop of Republicans, they'll go third party," Limbaugh opined.

The Florida TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party is a step ahead of the Palm Beach-based conservative. Formed as the first registered political tea party in the country, its slate of state candidates garnered some 300,000 votes last fall.

Naturally, TEA is reviled by rival tea groups and the Republican Party of Florida, which repeatedly and unsuccessfully sued to remove the party's candidates from the 2010 ballot.