Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, is campaigning with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst today.

“We desperately need people not just in the Senate, but in our party who understand how a strong America makes the world a better place,” Rubio said during remarks to a crowd of about 100 in Pella.

According to Rubio, America is poised to dominate another century, but Rubio told the crowd Democrat Harry Reid, the majority leader in the U.S. Senate, is an impediment.

“We can’t start that new American century as long as people like Barack Obama occupy the highest office in the land and that’s why these election’s matter,” Rubio said. “Not only is the person running for the U.S. Senate here, Joni Ernst, a spectacular and special candidate, but the vote here for the senate isn’t just a vote for senator, it’s a vote on who is going to be the next majority leader of the United States Senate.”

Rubio is the keynote speaker this evening for the Scott County Republican Party’s fall fundraising banquet in Bettendorf.