Marco Rubio has been downplaying his rise in the polls, aiming to avoid peaking too soon and instead, evolving as the the survivor of a long, drawn-out Republican primary.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to the media before a campaign event on September 23, 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina. He dismissed the notion that Rubio’s recent rise in the polls following his performance at last week’s GOP debate – and the possibility that Trump has hit a so-called “ceiling” – has anything to do with Trump’s counterpunches. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who chased headlines and veered clumsily from one issue to the next, is out along with former Texas governor Rick Perry. He really never talks about issues and can’t have more than a 10-second soundbite on any key issue. “So that’s how he reacts and people can see through it”.
Jeb Bush said Thursday the GOP should try to attract black voters with a message of “hope and aspiration” and not offering “free stuff”, a line that liberal group American Bridge seized on and drew comparisons to Mitt Romney.
“Well, what I think is we need to have someone who is a serious person”, Rubio said. His “gang of eight” debacle was a baffling mess based on poor judgement and awful policy.
Rubio received a warm reception at the same conference earlier in the day, including a standing ovation when he told the crowd that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was stepping down. He’s a sitting US senator so why doesn’t he do something about it? And Trump is predicting Rubio’s presidential campaign won’t survive the spat.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had my problems with Rubio.
When asked about the boos following his speech, Trump said they “were cheers”.
The slams come after Trump and Rubio got into it over a number of issues during the CNN debate, including a disagreement about foreign policy. On Wednesday, Trump called Rubio a “lightweight” and poked fun at the Florida senator’s perspiration during the second GOP debate last week.
This is a smart strategy only in that it puts off Rubio’s inevitable day of reckoning when voters realize that nearly every time he opens his mouth, he says something completely dumb. But Rubio isn’t crying: He’s getting a bump in the polls, pulling ahead of Bush among the so-called establishment candidates.
Then, with a flourish, he read the lead of the article, which noted that Mr. Trump was still enjoying a strong lead among Florida Republicans.
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Rubio steered mostly clear of the front-runner in Davenport, though he joked during his remarks that he was going to take a drink of water even though “Donald Trump will make fun of me”.
