Clinton won a razor-thin victory in Iowa last week with 49.8 percent against Sanders’s 49.6 percent. If Rubio and the governors finish in a pack Tuesday, it’s likely to frustrate Republican Party elites who are eager to coalesce around a single more mainstream candidate to challenge Trump and Cruz. Bernie Sanders 43 percent to 26 percent.
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Trump also dismissed Bush’s assertions that, despite their primary fight, he and former colleague and protege Marco Rubio were still “friends”. “She said he’s a ‘p–‘”, Trump said. “He’s like a child, a spoiled child”.
New Hampshire’s small size and relatively easy process to get on the ballot there. He placed third, surprisingly close to Trump, making him the hope of establishment Republicans looking to back a candidate more presentable than Trump or Cruz.
New Hampshire also has a reputation for picking the candidate who goes on to be the actual presidential nominee – “The people of Iowa pick corn, the people of New Hampshire pick presidents”, then-Governor John H. Sununu boasted in 1988.
Behind him, Florida Sen. Rubio appeared to be breaking away from the governors after a stronger-than-expected third-place showing in Iowa, but stumbled in Saturday’s debate under intense pressure from Christie. “Despite what people want to say, it was our greatest fundraising night”, said Rubio. During the debate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is gunning for Rubio’s spot in the top-tier in New Hampshire, used Rubio’s repetition as an example of how Washington, where everything is scripted, defines the young senator.
During the debate, Rubio awkwardly repeated the same criticism of President Barack Obama four times, using almost the same exact words each time.
That option causes no shortage of headaches for presidential campaigns, especially since pollsters estimate that independents make up between 40 and 45 percent of the New Hampshire electorate – not surprising for a state whose motto is “Live Free or Die”. Doug Alderman, of Exeter, said he had been leaning against Trump before the rally.
In the final poll, Florida Senator Marco Rubio had 17 percent support, just three points ahead of Iowa caucus victor Texas Senator Ted Cruz at 14 percent.
There is still a large amount of uncertainty headed into Tuesday’s vote.
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Still, Mr Trump was running ahead in pre-primary polls, as was Mr Sanders on the Democratic side as candidates race to collect delegates for the parties’ national nominating conventions in July.
