It’s why front-runner Donald Trump has his eyes on the Junior Senator. Referencing Rubio’s awkward swig of water during his 2013 response to the State of the Union address, he sent him a case of water with “Trump” on the bottles as a prank this week.
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But Republicans say Rubio may be able to overcome his immigration challenges.
But the latest Real Clear Politics poll of polls has Rubio in fourth, his best showing to date. However, Jindal’s most offensive critique came in a long-winded rant that insinuated single mothers’ inability to parent young boys is to blame for mass shootings.
Among the recent surveys, Rubio edged Bush – 14% to 13% – in a poll taken for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. More importantly, 73% of Floridians viewed Rubio favorably to 20% unfavorable, while Bush’s favorable to unfavorable ratio was an unimpressive 55% to 36%.
“Marco Rubio, I’ve never seen anybody sweat like that and you know a lot of these guys are serious sweaters, frankly but it was extremely hot in the room and extremely uncomfortable”, Trump had said.
Yet rival GOP campaigns began circulating a clip from the Senate floor – where Rubio was blasting Democrats’ refusal to allow votes on amendments – saying senators shouldn’t be afraid to vote. Less than an hour after news broke that Rubio would miss the vote to break a Democratic filibuster on the defense bill, the liberal PAC American Bridge 21st Century blasted out an email to reporters mocking Rubio with a satirical “missing” poster. And in TV dollars Bush’s distinct financial advantage is already starting to play out in the campaign.
“I can’t criticize him”, said Arizona Sen.
You have millions of people in this country living paycheck to paycheck, and nothing is being done about it. We are about to leave our children with $18 trillion in – in – in debt, and they’re about to raise the debt limit again.
Bush also has likened Rubio to President Barack Obama, pointing out that Florida’s junior senator, like the current president, was midway through his first term when he chose to run for president.
Rubio, a USA senator from Florida, will be the first 2016 Republican presidential candidate to visit the Mahoning Valley.
He has also turned to his foreign policy experience in the upper chamber as a way to blunt critics’ attacks, and to demonstrate conservative credentials to voters concerned about his perceived shortcomings. In many ways, he picked the fight with Bush: He has said he refuses to step aside for the next in line. One longtime party donor who spoke to NBC News said he wanted to see how Rubio handled that scrutiny before committing to back him. Trump has recently lost interest in insulting Jeb Bush and started insulting Rubio.
“When I miss a vote, it’s not because I’m out playing golf”, Rubio has said. He made fun of former Texas governor Rick Perry’s glasses that make him look smarter, and he publicly gave out the personal cell phone number of South Carolina Sen. “That is why I am running for president and that’s why am out there everyday campaigning”. He’s been showing more strength lately in the Republican race. But Rubio has a knack for sounding empathetic, even when he’s promoting the usual conservative talking points – and even when he is dodging a question.
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The thing is: The race hasn’t gone that well for Rubio.
