Marco Rubio: Trump’s debate no-show may have helped me in Iowa

After dominating the Republican campaign for six months with his braggadocio and elaborate promises, Trump spoke only briefly Monday night and then left the stage.

The New Jersey governor is speaking at a fundraising breakfast for the Salvation Army in Nashua.

“I want to win Iowa”.

Rubio channeled Barack Obama in offering a victory speech of a concession, offering himself as a generational contrast for a party anxious about its future.

“I’m sure we’ll amp up our presence in a number of different ways, but I think in the last week here our focus is primarily on making sure our supporters get out to vote”, Ganapathy said. With only a one percent advantage, Trump nearly slid into third place behind Rubio instead of winning second place.

Ted Cruz sailed to an unexpected victory in the Republican caucus.

“Iowa was built for Bernie Sanders”, said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, who nevertheless said the strong showing by Sanders means “this race goes on longer than Clinton wanted it to”.

Williams says the race is a “long haul”.

He adds that dropping out of the race “is not anywhere on (Carson’s) radar screen”. Having run a textbook Iowa campaign targeting rural and evangelical voters, Cruz faced a steeper climb in New Hampshire, with its tradition of favoring more mainstream candidates. Santorum promptly announced he would campaign in every county of SC, and Fiorina’s campaign said she had “a 50-state strategy”.

Still, Sanders faces significant challenges when the Democratic nominating contest moves to the more diverse states of Nevada and SC before expanding to 11 states on March 1, “Super Tuesday”, including seven in the South where Clinton’s advantage with African-American voters could begin to pay off.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the one-time front-runner on the Republican side, placed a disappointing sixth. Ted Cruz beat billionaire businessman Trump – but it’s Florida Sen.

“I’m as conservative as anyone running for president and I believe I can grow the conservative movement”, Rubio said.

Rubio also performed well in the suburbs – racking up big margins in the counties around Des Moines and around Davenport in the eastern part of the state, strongholds of Mitt Romney’s four years ago. Rick Santorum and former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Both failed to secure the nomination.

Those numbers are awarded proportionately, based on statewide and congressional district voting, as Iowa Democrats determine their 44 delegates to the national convention. “This is center-right country”. The values of this country are reasonable, common sense. Minorities comprised only 9 percent of the voters in Iowa last night (up just slightly from 2008), but they will likely cast between 35-40 percent of the total vote in the 2016 Democratic primaries. The senator didn’t waste any time.

Cruz has been willing to take a bundle of money from New Yorkers.

Cruz was buoyed by evangelical support and thanked God for his win. And so Trump, who came in with almost 29 percent backing in the Iowa polls, finished with 24 percent.

Early in the evening, polls taken for a consortium of media organizations showed Trump and Clinton in charge.

“Sometimes for these candidates going from Iowa to New Hampshire can be like getting out of the hot tub and jumping right into a cold pool”, said Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. If Kasich can finish in second in New Hampshire, it would be a win in the expectations game and Bill Clintonesque “Comeback Kid” moment. The state’s primary is next week. That late support could hand either Sanders or Clinton a much-desired victory heading into New Hampshire and beyond. He jokes, “Something is wrong with you guys!”

Todd also said that Iowa caucus officials could still be double-checking the results, and it still may be possible for Sanders to be declared the victor.

“This is very chaotic but I’m happy that so many people showed up”, said Aaron Menick, a 21-year-old at a Democratic caucus at Drake University. Sanders’ sizable lead over Clinton in New Hampshire polls has held steady or increased in recent weeks.

That won’t happen until after New Hampshire next week.

A CNN/WMUR poll released Sunday found Sanders leading Clinton 57% to 34%.