US Senator Marco Rubio, emerging from the first presidential nominating contest in Iowa as the leading Republican mainstream contender, is portraying himself in New Hampshire as the party’s best hope to recapture the White House.
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Donald Trump tried turning over a new leaf Wednesday – and it lasted for all of five minutes.
Carson didn’t quit the race, though he did fly to Florida as Iowa results were pouring in Tuesday night.
Mr Cruz’s campaign has also been criticised for distributing an official-looking leaflet to voters ahead of the election, telling them that failing to vote constituted a “violation”.
David Muir and Martha Raddatz will moderate, along with WMUR political director Josh McElveen.
Real-estate mogul Donald Trump’s poll standing deflated in the first national survey released after his loss to Sen. The mailer showed recipients their history of voting or not in past caucuses, along with the turnout record of their neighbors, and drew complaints from Iowa’s secretary of state. “So I don’t think this is going to hurt him so much and he’s attacking someone whose not wildly popular even in his own party”, said Zaino, in reference to Cruz. Rubio, who finished third with 23 percent of the votes, also outdid his polling data, which was around 17 percent and rising before Monday.
At another campaign event in Arkansas on Wednesday night, Mr Trump jabbed at his opponent, claiming that he was dishonest and helped push for the confirmation of USA supreme court chief justice John Roberts, who voted for president Barack Obama’s healthcare law. He is every bit the extremist Trump is – maybe more so – but he manages the message more skillfully.
Rubio is trying to be the Republican establishment’s preferred alternative to Trump or Cruz. “CNN reported it and, in fact, Ben did go to Florida instead of New Hampshire or SC”. “But I think it’s time to recognise that maybe what we need is someone who can lead, someone who has a proven record”, Mr Bush said, stressing that New Hampshire will be where he resets his campaign. “And I want to congratulate Ted, and I want to congratulate all of the incredible candidates, including Mike Huckabee, who has become a really good friend of mine”.
The joke drew a smattering of chuckles from those present, but Trump was in no laughing mood, tweeting that “based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified”. “It was a way to get more votes and I think he probably did get more votes”.
“Because I was told I could not do well in Iowa, I spent very little there – a fraction of Cruz & Rubio”.
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Before Trump’s tweets on Wednesday, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told CNN the Texas senator had apologized personally to Carson.
