Cruz calls a matchup against Rubio ‘plausible’

The campaign’s decision to release these records Saturday represents a shift in strategy from his 2010 Florida senate race, where he declined to release these records.

Rubio has been dogged by different reports that he charged expenditures that were personal to a credit card with American Express he had received from the Florida Republican Party while he served as the house speaker between 2006 and 2008. They say criticism will be blunted by Rubio’s overall likability and his feel-good personal history as the son of an immigrant bartender and maid who rose to become a serious presidential contender.

“After critics on the right and left began alleging that Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio had improperly used an Republican Party credit card for personal expenses, The Washington Post Fact Checker looked into the issue and ruled it “[wasn’t] really a scandal”.

Ben Carson and Donald Trump continue to lead in the Granite State with 16% and 18%, respectively. Pressed on this point, Rubio vowed his campaign would release the remaining documents in a matter of weeks. Whereas, when it came to light that Bernie Sanders and his wife racked up tens of thousands in personal expenses on personal credit cards, well, Bernie is just emblematic of the common man.

The charges were investigated in 2012 by a Florida ethics panel and Rubio’s name was cleared. But there is no way to tell in the billing statements what expenses are personal and what expenses are political. But the total charges to the card, based on the new information released today, was actually 182,000.

The Washington Post went with “messy”, too: “Inside Marco Rubio’s messy American Express statements”. The first is for $3,343.58 and the other is for $1,455.40. First, if Mr. Cruz and Mr. Rubio are the last two elected officials standing in the Republican primary it will be a reflection of the collapse of Mr. Bush’s campaign.

Jordan, who was chairwoman from February 2003 to January 2007 and is now the tax collector for Indian River County and a Jeb Bush supporter, said she ran a tight ship but didn’t personally scrutinize the American Express bills of party leaders.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he tried to produce the most conservative immigration bill that was possible in a Democratic-controlled Senate, and he thought a GOP-controlled House would make it even better, but that a lack of trust in the federal government helped doom the 2013 push on the issue.

Ingram shared an email exchange with CNN that he had with Rubio in 2009, in which Rubio was trying to explain personal charges on his Republican party card. He also sent a check to the party as reimbursement for personal airline flights he said were mistakenly charged to the GOP card. A campaign statement also said the Las Vegas charges were linked to a business trip that he extended to visit relatives.

Jeffrey Sadosky, a spokesman for the group, said Conservative Solutions Project has for the past two years and is still remains focused on “advocating for a conservative agenda that will solve a few of the most serious issues American families are facing”.