More from my afternoon chat with Marco Rubio, Republican candidate for Senate in Florida.

“BP is responsible for the spill, but the feds are responsible for the response to the spill, and it has been a fiasco — slow, ineffective, bureaucratic. As of yesterday there is real oil coming up on our beaches in northwest Florida, and this is a disaster. These are some of most beautiful beaches in the world, and one of the best spots for fishing. People make their livings on that coast, and beyond that, it’s a way of life . . .”

“Compared to Louisiana, where Jindal is constantly pressuring the feds, [rival for the Senate seat, Gov. Charlie] Crist said Obama is doing a good job. But the evidence is that he’s not doing a job; the situation is getting worse, not getting better. You would think every oil skimmer on planet would be out there right now. . . . You talk to local officials in Florida, they say the federal response is bureaucratic, late, nobody’s happy with the response. . . . Crist is good with photo ops and walks on the beach with the president, but the governor’s not doing enough to pressure Washington to do everything it can.”

“I don’t think president had any choice but to accept the resignation of General McChrystal. I haven’t heard much debate on that point. But the bigger question is whether it’s being prosecuted effectively. Can this war be won given the rules of engagement that this administration has imposed on the military and this artificial timeline? I think this whole episode revealed a level of disorder within the war effort.”

“Florida Republicans didn’t know they had a choice. As they learned they had a choice, and then in larger and larger numbers chose me. There are still a lot of Floridians who don’t know much about me. They know the race is between a guy who has running for office for 10 years, a Democrat, and there’s a Republican, and right now, they don’t know much about the Republican. . . . This is a race between a guy with good ideas, a guy with bad ideas, and a guy with no ideas. . . . I’m running against two Democrats, but only one admits he’s a Democrat. That’s what this race has become, an effort by the liberal establishment across the country to hold onto a yes vote. . . . He’s the Manchurian Democrat.”

For those worried about Rubio’s recent “meh” polling numbers, it’s worth noting that his campaign hasn’t been running television advertising in May or June. Also, an interesting comment from a Rubio aide, about the challenge of running in a state with so many distinct and separate media markets: “You can have a killer day in Tampa, and Orlando never hears about it.”

Video will appear here in the not-too-distant future, as soon as I can cut down the 30-some minutes or so into something bite-sized . . .