Now Bush and Rubio head to the first-in-the-South primary February 20 still competing toe-to-toe with each other for the same spot – and there is, at best, only a single spot – in the GOP: to be the last man standing to confront front-runners Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, if someone can take them on at all.
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His loss in Iowa raised the first hint that perhaps the polls were wrong and his support was not as strong as it had appeared to be for months.
Yet even before New Hampshire results were final, Moore declined to condemn Trump when given the opportunity – a clear attempt not to alienate his supporters.
Cullen likened Trump to Pat Buchanan in 1996, the divisive former Nixon aide and conservative commentator who also won the New Hampshire primary. He doubled the vote of his closest competitor. ‘Oh my God, Hillary’s can to lose Nevada, Oh gee, oh my God, South Carolina, Hillary’s firewall.’ They’re upset because what we have is a repetition of exaclty what happened in 2008. The Republican party’s so-called “establishment” is terrified of Trump and has long pushed for an alternative.
Kasich did not have to lay a finger on anyone; he simply nailed down his message as an upbeat, competent governor. He pointed to his largely positive approach, saying, “Light overcame the darkness”. Sanders had significant support among voters who ranked income inequality as their top issue (70 percent), those who are very anxious about the nation’s economy (74 percent) and those who say their family is a falling behind financially (69 percent). It was a complete and humbling defeat: Sanders beat Clinton among all demographic groups – including all women, a remarkable rebuke eight years after she “found her voice” by tearing up at New Hampshire diner. If Kasich’s pitch is that everybody who gets to know him votes for him, there is just not enough time for him to get to know everybody he needs to make him a victor nationwide. Rubio finished in fifth place behind fourth-place Bush.
Trump’s visceral assault on American politics brought him his debut victory after a second-place showing in last week’s Iowa caucuses. Lindsey Graham of SC. “I would never count him out”.
While Rubio may not repeat the same mistakes again, the damage from Saturday’s debate could prove lasting to his brand.
It killed the aura of momentum his campaign assiduously cultivated and that Rubio hammered home again and again.
“The political outsiders have taken control of this election”, one commentator from Fox News declared as the votes were totaled.
Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer has called Christie’s debate thrashing of Rubio a “suicide attack” that boxed Rubio out of New Hampshire.
The former Florida governor had 31,309 votes in New Hampshire, and his campaign and superPAC spent a combined $34 million on TV ads targeting the state. Bernie knows that he is out of this race once we get to SC.
This wasn’t a surprise, but Tuesday illustrated just how powerful the Vermont senator’s appeal with young people is what it could mean for his campaign going forward. “The most important day of the primary might be March 15, when the candidates battle for winner-take-all prizes of OH and Florida”. Bernard Sanders, whose New Hampshire primary victory this week poked a hole in her campaign narrative. “It’s on me”, he told supporters.
On the Democratic side virtually the entire Democratic political establishment was united in support of Hillary Clinton, and united against Bernie Sanders, whose anti-establishment populism threatens the insider Democratic power base as much as it threatens Wall Street and the Republican establishment. It was her comeback moment after she had lost to IL senator in Iowa. If New Hampshire is any indication, she’ll certainly need to.
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Bush was pressing on, declaring that New Hampshire voters had “reset the race”.
