New Rubio ad plays for evangelical vote

GOP presidential candidate Sen.

This may explain what is happening in the Republican presidential race during this final pivotal month before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

At 44 and 45, respectively, Rubio and Cruz are the youngest candidates in the 2016 field and the only Hispanics.

New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro first spotted the Florida senator’s footwear, tweeting out a photo of the booties with the caption: “Marco Rubio is rocking some seriously fashionable boots today in New Hampshire”.

At a town hall meeting on Thursday, Rubio responded to the shoe frenzy. “And to me, I try to allow that to influence me in everything that I do”, he says in the spot. Their policies, personalities and presumed ability to defeat the Democratic nominee in the fall are all under close examination.

DAVIS: And while no candidate would claim to be running for third place, it may explain why candidates like Bush and Rubio have spent millions on the airwaves and why they plan to be back in Iowa next week.

“We have Republican candidates who propose that rulers like Assad and Putin should be partners of the United States, and who have voted with Barack Obama and Harry Reid rather than with our men and women in uniform”, Rubio said. “In ways they seem similar, and I can’t make up my mind there”. She added she thinks the club’s split vote among the three candidates shows the differences in opinions among voters.

A day earlier, at a Cruz rally along Iowa’s western border, Mondamin real estate agent Lary Clark said he was also torn between the Texas senator, a sharp-tongued combatant in Washington, and the smoother Rubio – both conservatives with tea party roots but divergent paths.

But the Rubio campaign says they’re actually fiscally responsible boots from Florsheim, costing a mere $135.

Cruz was born in Alberta, Canada to an American mother and Cuban father.

“Chris Christie is missing out of New Jersey most of the time, that’s why his numbers there are so bad”, Rubio said. Rubio is bluntly challenging Cruz’s commitment to national security, while Cruz casts Rubio as an establishment favorite who supports “amnesty” for immigrants in the country illegally.

“Look I’m not here to bad-mouth a Republican”, Rubio said.

DAVIS: Ann Selzer is the most respected pollster in Iowa.

“We’re going to have strong borders”, Trump insisted. “Give them all a chance”. “And even that specific point when they were talking about the (Paris) attack, on Tuesday of that week, I had an intelligence committee briefing, which is far more extensive and deeper than the all-members briefing”.

A recent poll of Republican and Republican-leaning voters nationally, conducted by NBC News and Survey Monkey, found that Trump leads among white evangelical voters with 33 percent support, while 21 percent support Cruz and only 13 percent back Rubio.

Cruz is banking on a win February 1 caucus to generate momentum to sustain him well beyond the following contest in New Hampshire, where he’s not expected to do as well. Cruz’s brand of conservatism is not a natural fit for the more moderate Republican set in the Granite State.

Unlike Florida, which will award all 99 of its delegates to the victor of its March 15 primary, early states award delegates on a proportional basis, so candidates who don’t win can still come away with some reward.