“Once he got into Washington, he had his sights set early on higher office,” said Jason Hoyt, a Tea Party organizer from central Florida. “He surrounded himself with people who were going to help him navigate Washington to get there, and in that process he disconnected from his base.”
Becker still acknowledges Rubio’s charisma and oratorical abilities. But now she thinks she might have been played.

“Now I wonder if he was ever listening or it was just a ploy to get votes…He says all the right things to the audience he needs, and we in Florida are no longer his audience. His new audience is national voters who might elect him president,” she said.

“We were hungry for leadership on our principles and values, but it didn’t come from Marco,” Hoyt added. “I thought it would.”