A rocky debate performance by Florida Sen. But they are likely to leave Republicans with a muddled mix of establishment contenders and no clear favorite to challenge Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
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Meanwhile, Sanders is savoring his double digit lead over Clinton, who is vowing to “keep working until the last vote is cast and counted”.
In the two-way Democratic party race, Sanders (54 per cent) has a 14-point advantage over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (40 per cent), CNN said.
Supporters here expressed disappointment, and also fear that Rubio’s possible fifth-place finish would further embolden Trump’s bid. The senator finished second to Clinton in the leadoff Iowa caucuses by the narrowest of margins.
Despite the showing in New Hampshire, Rubio is poised for join Trump and Cruz for a long one past South Carolina, Nevada and Super Tuesday. Those who fare poorly could see donations dry up and face pressure to withdraw from the race.
Starting at the stroke of midnight when a handful of small towns opened their polls, tens of thousands of New Hampshire voters are casting ballots Tuesday, choosing their favorites among the pack of Republicans and Democrats who hope to one day be president.
Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich talks with reporters after a campaign stop at Nashua Community College in Nashua, N.H., Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016.
The enthusiasm behind Trump, a real estate mogul who has never held political office, and Sanders, an avowed democratic socialist, underscore the public’s anger with the current political system. Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses last week. When an audience member shouted out an insult directed at Mr Cruz – a vulgar term for “coward” – Mr Trump repeated the term and jokingly reprimanded the woman. A trio of governors – Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie – have spent most of their time in the state in recent weeks and needed to show voters, as well as crucial financial donors, that they’re viable candidates. And ultimately didn’t seem to help Christie who trailed Rubio at the time this article was published.
Rival campaigns hope the moment was enough to give voters pause about supporting Rubio when they head to the polls on Tuesday.
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While Cruz may not have as strong of a finish in New Hampshire as he did in Iowa, Rep. Neil Combee said isn’t anxious. Some party leaders believe both Trump and Cruz are unelectable in the general election, especially if Clinton is the Democratic nominee. Amid her rallies and town hall events, she’s knocked on voters’ doors and made surprise visits to local coffee shops and restaurants. He attacked what he said was Mr Trump’s proclivity for “insulting women, castigating Hispanics, ridiculing the disabled and calling American PoWs losers”. Campaigning across the northeastern state on Monday with her husband and daughter, she worked to flip Sanders’ favoured critique against her by claiming that he, too, had taken money from Wall Street – if only indirectly. While Clinton remains the favourite in the national race, the win by the Vermont senator could be a springboard into a competitive, drawn-out campaign.
