Rubio turns the tables on Bush for his missed votes

Bush went on to urge Rubio to “campaign or just resign”. Unlike in the previous two debates, Bush comes into tonight’s showdown wounded as a candidate following his decision to make significant salary cutbacks and spending reductions in the face of weaker-than-expected fundraising numbers over the past three months.

Rubio ended up coming out on the better half of the exchange, however, noting that other candidates who ran for the White House had missed votes like he had, including Sen. John Kerry and Barack Obama missed a large percentage of votes when they ran for president in prior election cycles, and that the call for resignation was a sign of media bias.

But Rubio fought back effectively: “Someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you”. In the presentation from Bush’s campaign manager, Danny Diaz described Rubio and Obama as having “strikingly similar profiles”, that include being lawyers, university lecturers and former state legislators with “few legislative accomplishments”. Trump didn’t do anything to hurt himself, and he was able to go toe to toe with establishment Republicans like Bush and Rubio.

And it is unconscionable that when it comes to intelligence matters, including briefings on the Iran nuclear deal, you said, “we have a staffer that’s assigned to intelligence who gets constant briefings”.

The second half of the video takes a more uplifting – though still dramatic – tone, focusing on Bush’s pledges at campaign events to “fix” Washington.

Fresh off the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s editorial calling on Marco Rubio to resign comes similar advice from former Republican Party Chairman of Florida Al Cardenas, a strong supporter of Jeb Bush’s campaign. The media was to blame for the attack, Rubio said-which is technically true, given the editorial, but still a weak response.

When Carl Quintanilla asked about Republican candidate Ben Carson’s relationship with a nutritional supplement company, Carson said, “If somebody put me on their home page, they did it without my permission”. He also wasn’t the focus of any attacks.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz unleashed a diatribe, saying the questions being asked of him and other Republican candidates in the third debate were unfair. Rubio is in a direct competition with Bush and he won that round. “Rubio is an outstanding performer”, said Bush campaign manager Danny Diaz. He delivered another steady, if low-key performance, that should please those who like the soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon.

“We have $19 trillion in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and al-Qaida attacking us, and we’re talking about fantasy football?” It was the kind of flourish Bush needed to show in this debate.

Rubio is scheduled to visit New Hampshire next week.