I asked campaign spokesman Alex Conant about Rubio’s prospects in Iowa. “We know Rubio supporters are less likely to be locked in, and to the extent that they’re looking at other candidates it’s more Cruz than not”.
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A week after Sarah Palin declared that Donald Trump would “kick ISIS’ ass”, the GOP’s front-runner decided he couldn’t handle being questioned by Megyn Kelly and skipped the final debate before the Iowa caucuses.
Registered Republicans vote by simply picking one candidate. Marco Rubio, and 3,185 deciding between Cruz and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
The result Sunday was a blur of sometimes conflicting messages.
There is no shortage of accusations as to why this outsider candidate was given his unprecedented opportunity to surge among a conservative voting base in Iowa, untouched by any sustained campaign attacks, while other the GOP candidates trained their fire on each other, giving him a pass. Those who kept thinking casino magnate Sheldon Adelson or the Koch brothers would surely do something to take him out were wrong, and everyone has agreed the window to take Trump down – no matter what happens Monday – has closed.
On Tuesday night, we could potentially see Senator Ted Cruz become the victor of the Iowa caucuses, even though he trails Trump by seven points in the latest poll, by NBC/Wall Street Journal. Trump didn’t name any such senators, and none immediately emerged.
Thursday’s debate, held four days before Monday’s Iowa caucuses, drew 12.5 million viewers, slightly more than the 11 million that tuned into the GOP debate two weeks ago from North Charleston, S.C. Those were the lowest of the campaign season and continue a general downward trend for the Republican contests.
One development – the weather – was beyond the candidates’ control. He called Cruz and Rubio products of Washington skilled at making procedural arguments that are inconsequential to voters, in a moment clearly aimed at setting himself apart as a Washington outsider.
It’s a theme Cruz is hoping to ride into New Hampshire and beyond.
Fox News said on Tuesday the war of words escalated behind the scenes over the weekend, and accused Trump’s campaign manager of “terrorizations” against Kelly.
“There was never any information sent or received that was marked classified to me”, she said. “I feel ready. I feel strong and I think I’m the best person to be the nominee and to defeat whoever they nominate in November”. Sanders acknowledged as much at an event this week and he noted that it’s hard to get first-time voters to the caucuses. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t come together to help our veterans”. We’re seeing conservatives and evangelicals and libertarians and Reagan Democrats.
Mr Rubio struck an aggressive posture, pledging that as president he would go after terrorists “wherever they are”. “There are many lawyers coming out, top constitutional lawyers, that Ted Cruz can not run for president”.
The two senators were confronted with video clips suggesting they had changed their positions on immigration, one of the most contentious issues among Republicans. “Amnesty. The Republican Obama”. And Trump was the most-talked-about candidate without even being there.
Rubio said Republicans won’t beat Clinton “with someone that will say or do anything to get elected”.
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Cruz accused Rubio of making a “politically advantageous” decision to support a 2013 Senate bill that included a pathway to citizenship, while the Florida senator said his Texas rival was “willing to say or do anything to get votes”.
