Trump says New Hampshire win not necessary to secure nomination

His candidacy has alarmed the Republican establishment and has been marked by rows, including over his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. “You stayed there for 36 hours and then he left and came back”, Rubio said.

Christie, the governor of New Jersey, argued during the Saturday night debate that Rubio would be like Obama if elected – a freshman senator leading the country with essentially no experience running a government.

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio led New Hampshire polls going in to Saturday night’s Republican debate, but characterizations made by fledgling candidates may have swayed favor in Ted Cruz’s direction.

Mr Kasich, likely to end his candidacy if he does not do well on Tuesday, delivered a positive message that could appeal to New Hampshire Republican voters, who famously make up their minds late and never seem in the mood to follow the lead of the Iowa caucuses, won by Mr Cruz.

In a debate that was mostly rehash of the now-familiar positions of the candidates, a face-off between Mr. Trump and Mr. Bush on “eminent domain” was a notable occasion. “Now we’re in a situation where we’re coming into New Hampshire with a ton of momentum hoping to finish in second place and we’re good with where we are in the campaign right now”. A loss in New Hampshire would be a devastating blow to the Vermont Senator, who has, since early January, been a favorite to win the state’s delegates.

“He simply does not have the experience to be president of the United States and make these decisions”, Mr Christie said.

“Leadership. You learn this, you learn it by doing it”, he declared “It’s not something that you just go up, and on the job do it”. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, had his best debate and will likely do better than expected Tuesday because he was the adult in the room.

The problem for Rubio is that his role in the Obamacare fight that he is touting is bound to become bogged down in a debate over the “risk corridors” in the law that were central to the issue. “That’s what Washington, D.C., does”. “The drive-by shot at the beginning with incorrect and incomplete information, and then the memorized 25-second speech that is exactly what his advisors gave him”.

“Rubio is a gifted politician but we did that with President Obama, who has divided the country”, said Gov. Jeb Bush, comparing Rubio to the president – both first-term senators when they launched their presidential bids.

An American Bridge staffer trolls Rubio at a campaign stop in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Cruz was the victor in Iowa, triumphing over billionaire Trump by drawing heavily on the support of evangelical voters.

Within minutes, rival campaigns capitalized. Instead of specifying that Carson was only going to pick up a change of clothes, Cruz’s campaign implied that the former neurosurgeon was dropping out. “So he repeated? To me that’s not a big deal”, York said. “I think that changed last night”. “It is at the core of our campaign….” “Everybody said, ‘Oh, the temperament, ‘ because I talked about illegal immigration”.

New Hampshire voters have a long history of shaking up the nominating process, rewriting the script handed them by Iowans. And Rubio continued to repeat himself, reciting nearly word for word his argument that Obama was ruining America. Cruz demurred, saying he wouldn’t speculate about how he’d handle the situation without a full briefing. And Trump said he’d rely on China to “quickly and surgically” handle North Korea.