Rubio visits Navarre, talks oil spill (PHOTOS, FEED)

NAVARRE — Marco Rubio said he’s been cautious about entering the oil spill debate, but he dived right in Wednesday evening.

The Republican U.S. Senate candidate spoke and took questions from a few dozen people at D’Wons Bayou Buffet, sharing his view on the Gulf of Mexico gusher. Without calling President Barack Obama or his campaign rival Gov. Charlie Crist by name, Rubio criticized politicians for dipping their fingers in oil for a photo op without getting anything done.

He said if the president had done a good job with the oil spill, it could have harmed Republicans at the polls, but he would have been OK with that.

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Rubio, the former Speaker of the Florida House from Miami, blamed the federal government for not stepping up in the early days of the crisis by pooling experts and resources.

“What we did instead was turn over the plug efforts to the people who caused the spill,” Rubio said. “(Louisiana Gov.) Bobby Jindal is the example of the kind of leadership we wish we had.”

Rubio also called for stronger enforcement of drilling regulations to prevent another oil disaster in the future.

“How could a bad actor like BP slip through the cracks?” he asked.

Rubio was also “outraged” about Crist’s special session, saying an amendment prohibiting drilling off Florida would ban something that’s already illegal.

He compared the economic effect of a gulf-wide drilling ban to a self-imposed OPEC-style embargo. While Rubio said he believes in alternative energy and thinks the United States could lead the way, he said, “we also have to be grownups” and acknowledge the continued need for oil.

“We have to have every energy resource at our disposal,” Rubio said.

Row Rogacki, a registered Republican from Mary Esther, said he’s leaning toward a vote for Rubio but showed up Wednesday to get more information.

“The economy is broken; it’s not really getting any better,” Rogacki said.

Rubio spent much of his talk going over his plan to fix it. He called for permanently extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, as well as cutting taxes on businesses, which he said have taken manufacturing out of the country.

“If we don’t change, we will soon resemble Greece,” Rubio said. The debt-laden country has made news recently for requiring a bailout package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.