Marco Rubio speaks at a rally in Salt Lake City on Oct. 19. (Jenna Barratt)
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio held a rally last week in Salt Lake City to introduce himself to Utah voters and gain early support for his campaign.
Rubio spoke to a crowd of approximately 300 Utahns at the State Fair Grounds about the economy, national security, energy policies, vocational training and other issues.
According to Rubio, America is now at a crossroads.
“We will either be the first Americans that leave our children worse off than ourselves, or our children will be the freest and the most prosperous Americans that will ever live,' he said.
Rubio outlined three points that he believes are the keys to 'make America great again.'
The first was for 'America to have the most globally competitive economy in the world.'
Rubio spoke on topics like government spending, Obamacare and America's nature resources.
'I want us to be No. 1 in the world in solar, No. 1 in wind energy, No. 1 in biofuels, No. 1 in renewables, No. 1 in energy efficiency, but I'm telling you we can not be globally competitive if we do not fully utilize our oil and natural gas resources,' Rubio to applause from the crowd.
The next key Rubio addressed was education.
Rubio promised the crowd he would be the pro-vocational education president.
He said if Americans shift their thinking about trade schools and keep themselves out of large student debts, Americans 'won't have economic growth; we will have an economic renaissance.'
Lastly, Rubio addressed national defense and spoke about eliminating military budget cuts, supporting veterans and changing foreign affairs.
'Our adversaries do not respect us; they openly mock the president of the United States. They have nothing holding them back from doing anything they want and our allies do not trust us,' Rubio said. 'That will change when I'm president.'
Several young adults, along with BYU students, attended Rubio's rally.
'Before going to his rally, I didn't think too much of him as a candidate but now I would consider him,' BYU political science student Emma Watkins said. 'I think he appeals to a younger crowd just because he is the youngest candidate and he has a great sense of humor.'