Back to New Hampshire, whose first-in-the-nation primary is tomorrow.
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The Republican frontrunner had been poking fun at his rival near the top of the polls, Sen. Chants of “Mar-co! Mar-co!” rang out several times, and boos were even offered when Rubio informed the crowd he had called Trump – the victor of the New Hampshire primary – to congratulate him. Among other things, this would delay the point at which an establishment/mainstream conservative candidate could emerge from the pack to join in the fight with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and that only works to the advantage of Trump and Cruz, who will continue working their own respective lanes in the GOP race and building up delegate counts that other candidates may find hard to compete with.
On NBC’s “Meet The Press”, Trump said waterboarding, accepted as torture internationally and now forbidden by U.S. law, is “peanuts” compared to what Islamic State group members practice. “She said he’s a p-ssy”, said Trump.
The New Hampshire stakes were high: Bush, Kasich and Christie, in particular, have bet their White House aspirations on New Hampshire, hoping a strong showing here will lead to an influx of new donor money and attention as the election moves south. ‘It was a debate, and we did great in that debate’. “So I’m really cool with whatever happens here”, he said.
On the Democratic side, New Hampshire favorite Sanders and Clinton – who narrowly won Iowa – are avoiding predictions about Tuesday and looking beyond to SC and Nevada, the next two states up in the nomination process.
Not so long ago, Republicans saw New Hampshire as the proving ground that would winnow their chockablock field of candidates.
There has been little movement in the last two days in the other metrics tested in the survey, with about two-thirds still saying they expect to see Trump win on Tuesday (64%), and about a third saying they would never vote for Trump (32%). Christie said Rubio he had not been “involved in a consequential decision where you had to be held accountable”, and compared his level of experience with President Obama’s when he was elected after one term in the Senate.
Voting in most communities in New Hampshire closes at 7 p.m. However, polls in about 20 municipalities stay open until 8 p.m.
Now, as New Hampshire holds its pivotal primary on Tuesday, the Republican presidential contender has to hope the sky does not come crashing down on him.
The Democratic race between Clinton and Sanders also got testy, with a clash over the former NY senator’s ties to Wall Street and her campaign’s attacks on his foreign policy.
Only hours from the primary, new clouds gathered around the Clinton campaign following a Politico report that the candidate and her husband were disappointed with the direction of her campaign and that a staff shakeup could be in the offing.
The former first lady insisted it was all overblown.
“Well, give my best to Carly”, Ms Clinton said to Frank Fiorina after they had swapped pleasantries about the marvels of democracy.
‘I mean, we believe – my whole campaign is built on this idea that the country’s headed in the wrong direction as a result of deliberate policies put in place by this president to change the relationship of government to our economy and America’s role in the world’.
Behind Clinton’s upbeat demeanor, however, are growing concerns within her campaign about her standing with young people, who are flocking to Sanders.
Sanders, wary of upsetting a race trending his way, stuck to core campaign themes as he addressed cheering supporters in Nashua.
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What does that tell us about Hillary Clinton’s and Bernie Sanders’ odds of 2016 success?
