Reply #1: Bradenton Herald: "Tea Party wants Rubio to deliver"

[pampango]

http://www.bradenton.com/2011/05/30/3233385/tea-party-wants-rubio-to-deliver.html

A crack is forming in U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s tea party. Conservative activists -- still raw over what they say was his role in blocking illegal immigration legislation while speaker of the Florida House -- say the burgeoning Republican star needs to deliver on campaign rhetoric for tougher enforcement. “We’ve been waiting for him to come up with something and to be a leader on this issue,” said Danita Kilcullen, founder of Tea Party Fort Lauderdale.

When President Barack Obama traveled to Texas recently to call for a renewed immigration debate, Rubio said the borders need to be secured before anything. He demanded action on an employment background check system called E-Verify.

He is being torn in opposite directions by his base: Washington’s Republican elite and Florida’s grass-roots activists who propelled him into office.

Rubio’s pledge to vote against the Dream Act, which would create a path to citizenship for some children of illegal immigrants, has struck some Hispanics as particularly offensive. Still, talk is not enough for the other side of Rubio’s base -- the conservative activists who provided early momentum for his once long-shot campaign. “He wants to have it both ways,” said George Fuller of Sarasota, who is aligned with several tea party groups. “We’re going to be zeroing in on him like a laser.”