Romney shares the view, associates say, that if Donald Trump loses New Hampshire, his campaign would likely collapse, suffering back-to-back defeats in the first two contests that would strip the billionaire businessman of his “winning” brand.
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It’s a far cry from the beginning of this campaign cycle, when the acknowledged Republican front-runner was Jeb Bush.
“The four governors getting less votes than Ben Carson is nearly unfathomable”, David Carney, a long-time political operative in New Hampshire and former political director for President H.W. Bush, said.
Opening a town hall meeting at a pub in Lebanon on Wednesday, Christie labeled the 44-year-old first-term senator as the untested “boy in the bubble” while Christie himself is an old “nicked-up pick-up truck”. “And with him as our candidate: we win”.
But, as Rubio criss-crossed New Hampshire, holding back-to-back town halls, he seemed reluctant to fight back.
The New Jersey governor brushed off the significance of Florida Sen. Instead, a calm Kasich is pinning his White House hopes on the idea that voters want a candidate who says what he or she is for, not what others are against.
Williams also says Kasich can “rise above the din of toxicity infecting our national dialogue” and appeal to a wide array of voters within what he sees as a divided Republican Party, which he sees as “in trouble”.
The latest sign that things may not be going so well for Bush came in New Hampshire. This is an election for President of the United States. In saying that, they acknowledge a shift in his thinking about the race post-Iowa, and these sources tell CNN that should Romney decide to drop his neutrality before Tuesday, the all-but-certain recipient of that blessing would be Marco Rubio.
“What all of them have to show – Chris Christie and John Kasich too – is that they can be an alternative to the Trump-Cruz wing of the party”, said Jonathan Neerman, a former Dallas GOP chairman who recently left the Bush campaign for Rubio’s camp.
Rubio’s third-place finish in Iowa, where Republicans are fairly conservative, hardly proves that he is attractive to the right.
The prediction discounts the chances of fellow establishment candidates Jeb Bush and John Kasich, who are also seeking to advance in the mainstream lane to contend with GOP frontrunners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. People cheered Rubio’s arrival.
Trump’s unconventional campaign style was particularly noticeable in Iowa – a state where retail politics is hugely critical – and next to Cruz, who crisscrossed the state relentlessly to ensure he had visited all 99 counties. He challenged the Republican governor for the Senate nomination and he won.
On Wednesday he took out a full-page ad in a leading New Hampshire newspaper, the Union-Leader, attacking Rubio as not ready to serve as commander in chief.
He described Rubio as a “nice guy”, but then questioned the media’s narrative out of Iowa. “In fact, I think that law already exists”. Hyatt said the two of them have been mulling over the primary race. A repeat strong showing from Rubio would all but anoint him as that establishment bet.
“I think we all, obviously, not just disagree with it, but find it distasteful”, Rubio answered quietly.
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“Almost all of these candidates have never lost an election”.
