Rubio rallies Nevada backers before debate

LAS VEGAS — Marco Rubio prepared Monday for the next Republican debate by adding the new global climate change agreement to his list of alleged political sins by President Obama.

"The president just signed this unfunny joke of a climate deal," Rubio told a group of Nevada Republicans gathered at a hotel near the Las Vegas convention center.

Rubio said Obama-style regulations — including his health care plan as well as carbon emission reductions envisioned in the new global agreement — are hurting the economy and making it harder to create jobs. The Florida senator also blasted Obama's foreign policy, including the battle against "radical Islamic jihadists."

Many of these anti-Obama attacks figure to be echoed by Rubio and his Republican opponents at Tuesday night's debate at a casino on the Las Vegas strip. Rubio is third in many early Republican polls, behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Urging the crowd to back him in the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 23, Rubio cast himself as the leader of a new generation ready to take on the nation's challenges.

"I think the American people are ready for a dramatic change," he said.

As for Tuesday's face-off with GOP opponents, Rubio said, "they don't score the debates, but I've always felt good about them."

Rubio noted that he lived in the Las Vegas area as a child, and he still has more family here than he does in Miami.

If he wins the Nevada caucuses by a narrow margin, Rubio said, "you'll know why."