Republicans circle Rubio as stakes grow in New Hampshire

Rubio is now in a strong second place spot in New Hampshire, according to a poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire for CNN and WMUR that was released Wednesday night.

This would obviously be-dare I say it-HUGE for Rubio should it come to pass. Trump has a formidable lead in the RealClearPolitics average but Rubio has been trending upward. The same poll plotted Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Christie at 12, 10 and 4 percent respectively. Marco Rubio’s solid third-place finish in Iowa is the moment the locusts cleared, the boils healed, the frogs jumped away, and the waters parted.

With less than a week to go until the New Hampshire primary on which he has hung his candidacy, the Republican presidential candidate is aggressively going after the person he sees as his greatest obstacle to success in the first-in-the nation primary: Marco Rubio. Rubio came in third place this week, just over a percentage point behind Donald Trump, who was less than five points behind Ted Cruz.

“Gov. Bush has the staying power”, Diaz-Balart said. “I truly believe that Marco has the ability to inspire people, become president of the United States and unify our party”. “Because she doesn’t want to run against me”. Almost two-thirds of likely Democratic voters say they have definitely decided whom to support, so the two remaining Democratic candidates are battling over a small share of the likely electorate.

All four campaigns are banking on elected officials and high-powered donors to rally around whichever campaign emerges on top in New Hampshire. He’s behind Cruz, Trump, Rubio, Ben Carson and Rand Paul.

“Marco Rubio is the conservative who can win – and the Clinton machine knows it”, the ad says.

Rubio has been criticized for running a “stealth” campaign in SC.

As Rubio crisscrossed New Hampshire, holding back-to-back town halls, he seemed reluctant to fight back, although the superPAC supporting his campaign has not shown the same reluctance. “And I have never advocated that”, Rubio said.

Rubio had been asked about his position on abortion after facing fire on the issue from his own party – accusing him of being too extreme on the topic. “This isn’t bean bag, you know, this is politics”, Bush said.

“I don’t think it ever helps after you lose an election to ask for a do over”, Christie said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends”. In addition to the jabs above, Christie also mocked a somewhat awkward moment in a Morning Joe interview when former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who is now endorsing Rubio, struggled to list one concrete accomplishment of Rubio’s in the Senate. I believe the federal government needs to enforce federal law, and I think this country already is paying a awful and high price for the impact that alcohol has had on families, on addiction, on the destruction of marriages, homes, and businesses, and now we’re going to legalize an additional intoxicant.