Marco Rubio Charges Ahead After Rough Finish in New Hampshire

Cruz runs second at 20 percent, with Rubio well back in third, below 13 percent.

Rubio also targeted former Bush’s foreign policy credentials.

The only woman in the Republican field placed seventh in New Hampshire, one of a series of state-by-state nominating contests for the November 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama. He is now nestled in fifth, at 11 percent, just a couple thousands votes under his former mentor Jeb Bush. He will have more of his family in tow this time, as former President George W. Bush will be on hand to stump for Jeb and has already cut an ad supporting his brother.

Realizing that Marco Rubio was an obstacle to his success after the Florida senator’s strong finish in the Iowa caucuses, Christie was the first one to glob onto a stinging criticism that actually gained traction and injured the first-term senator’s campaign.

“We need to have the courage to choose, we need to have the courage to stand up and say ‘enough, ‘” Christie added. He’ll spin it as a great victory but doubters will take from it that he is never going to reach his poll numbers in an actual vote.

The Saturday debate in Manchester provided a high point for Christie, as the governor earned strong reviews for his attacks on Rubio’s lack of experience and the Florida senator’s repetitive, robotic answers to questions.

New Hampshire destroyed any momentum Rubio had coming out of Iowa and for now, at least, locks the senator into a messy muddle in his party’s establishment wing.

“I thought Christie was dead in the water at the start from Bridgegate”, Stimson said.

“The last thing voters heard going into the booth yesterday was something bad happened on Saturday night”.

John Kasich is proud of efforts he made while in Congress to trim what he believed to be wasteful defense. Instead, he says he’ll let his record speak for itself.

Donald Trump has been the certified frontrunner in New Hampshire, nearly since this election began. Kasich has refrained from engaging in numerous sharp attacks that have dominated much of the discourse between his competitors.

Rubio said Wednesday he is working to position himself as the conservative who can win, a message aimed at GOP voters afraid that Trump or Cruz would scare away some voters.

Christie finished a distant sixth, with less than 7.5 percent of the vote from the New Hampshire primary despite having spent months crisscrossing the small state in a vigorous campaign. Seeking endorsements from any rivals that quit the race, Trump said of Christie, “He’s a friend of mine. I’m surprised he didn’t do better”.

“The rules were never created to have everybody drop out after a certain time – it’s just the way it’s worked historically because people have run out of money or they don’t see a path forward”. The New Jersey Governor canceled campaign events in SC on February 10.

“Rubio said he thinks he’s poised to do well in SC, because he “[likes] the issue set that’s important there”.

As a result, Rubio faces an uphill fight in the upcoming SC primary and Nevada caucuses.