Rubio, once the rising star, just burned up in the atmosphere

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, having been trounced by Donald Trump in Rubio’s home state of Florida, has now exited the presidential race.

Remember when it seemed impossible to conceive that Rubio wouldn’t be the next president? He was young, confident, even reasonable on some issues! And he had ties to Las Vegas, too. (He won the Review-Journal’s endorsement, for all the good it did him.)

In the end, Rubio ended up winning only Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and Minnesota, a sparse 163 delegates where 1,237 was required to win the nomination. That puts him in third place in the field of four remaining candidates, ahead of only Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

His performance in Nevada was similarly disappointing, despite being advised by some of the best GOP consultants in the state. Rubio eked out a distant second place finish behind Trump, 45.9 percent to 23.9 percent.

“We live in a republic and our voters make these decisions,” Rubio said in Miami Tuesday night, according to CNN.

“America is in the middle of a real political storm, a real tsunami and we should have seen this coming,” Rubio said. “While we are on the right side, this year, we will not be on the winning side.”

The defeat and withdraw ends Rubio’s political career, at least for now. He was not seeking re-election to his Senate seat, and was criticized on the campaign trail for excessive absenteeism in Washington, D.C. by rivals Trump and Jeb Bush.

Rubio added: “While it is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016, or maybe ever…” (Hey, don’t blame God — he didn’t vote in Florida!)

Rubio also encouraged voters to not give in to the fear, which, when you think about it, is good advice. From Yoda! “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Tell us about it, Master Jedi.