A majority of early-state insiders say that Marco Rubio’s lack of national experience will prove problematic in the GOP primary after seven years of President Barack Obama, who was also a first-term senator when he ran.

That’s the assessment of this week’s POLITICO Caucus, our weekly bipartisan survey of the top operatives, activists and political hands in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Rubio, the Florida senator, has been likened to Obama because of his speaking skills and compelling personal narrative. And like Obama, Rubio made the leap from a state legislature to the Senate, where he hasn’t yet completed his first term. According to 61 percent of all Republicans surveyed — and 63 percent of Democrats — the experience question will be problem. It’s a slightly bigger challenge among Iowa Republicans: 63 percent of those surveyed say it will be an issue, while 57 percent of New Hampshire Republicans said the same.

“He’ll have to offer more than one really great speech, because voters are looking for more than inspiration,” an Iowa Republican said. “We’ve had plenty of that with Obama. Voters are looking for accomplishment and experience as well.”

A New Hampshire Republican, who like all participants was granted anonymity in order to speak freely, added, “Every election selects the candidate that corrects the perceived deficiencies of the current occupant of the White House. After 7 years of an eloquent, one term senator — the GOP is going to look for something different.”

“Without a doubt, when push comes to shove later this year, Rubio will be faced with being too young without enough experience,” said another.

It’s a critique that also applies to the other freshman senators running, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, noted several insiders. But of those three, it’s Rubio who is considered the biggest threat by both the Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton camps. Republicans repeatedly used the “experience” argument against Obama in 2008 — as did Clinton during the primary.

“I am waiting for Republicans to explain why this absolutely valid critique of Obama does not apply,” a New Hampshire Republican said.

Added an Iowa Republican, “We can’t out-Obama Obama. There is only one shot for a flash in the pan candidate like that. And by the way, it hasn’t turned out so well.”

Still, it doesn’t have to be an insurmountable obstacle, said other insiders, noting Rubio is a former speaker of the Florida House who has developed foreign policy chops through his work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — points Rubio makes himself. Some of the respondents who said experience could be a problem for Rubio did so with caveats.

“Rubio’s relative lack of federal experience is fair game for his rivals, but he had significantly more state legislative experience than Obama,” an Iowa Republican said. “The only way the experience question hurts him is if he comes across as inexperienced. So far, that hasn’t been an issue.”

Others observed that being a fresh face, even at the expense of experience, is an asset.