Rubio: Still Stormy in Florida for Mitt Romney

Jonathan Karl

Spinners and Winners

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has been Mitt Romney's most high-profile supporter in his critically important battleground state of Florida. Rubio was with Romney as he campaigned in the Sunshine State Thursday, and ABC's Jonathan Karl asked the junior senator whether it is possible for Romney to win the election without winning Florida.

"I think it's very important to win and obviously difficult to come up with a formula for victory - I am sure there is one but let's not even try. Let's win Florida. We feel great about the way things are going but it's going to be competitive, it's going to be close," Rubio said.

But Rubio warns, that with just days to go, the state is not a sure thing for the Republican nominee.

"I think at this stage in the campaign you don't take anything for granted," Rubio said. "And so we like what we've done here in Florida but we got to make sure people go out and vote."

Rubio empathizes with his fellow Republican Chris Christie of New Jersey, who has put politics aside to concentrate on recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

In Florida, Rubio is no stranger to hurricanes and disaster relief, but he did not join in Christie's praise for President Obama's handling of the storm aftermath.

"I don't know the job the president has done," Rubio said. "You see that's what Gov Christie is involved on a daily basis and you know, I'll just take him at his word."

But he stopped short of criticizing the President or Christie's crossing of traditional political lines. "He's got a job to do which takes precedence over elections and I understand his position. He's got a job to do. I think the election is important and I think the storm is important."

"And for the people who have suffered in the path of that storm they've got a long road ahead of them and my heart goes out to them," Rubio added. "But we're also going to have this election and that's important for our country's future. We have two important things to keep in mind."

ABC News' Gregory Simmons-Lemos contributed to this report.