Marco Rubio had taken arguably the most important debate of his career and instead of using it to cement his position as the leading alternative to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz he proved accurate Chris Christie’s recent criticisms of him as being the “boy in the bubble”.
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As he did during Saturday’s debate, Christie credited Kasich Sunday for his management of OH, but then the New Jersey Legislature turned the compliment to faint praise.
Christie attacked Rubio’s experience fiercely during the Saturday GOP debate, inspiring viral videos and a Twitter account (see videos below).
But there was no hiding this time for Rubio, with only seven candidates on stage, and Christie determined to kneecap someone, anyone, after a dismal showing in last week’s Iowa caucuses.
Republican presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a campaign stop at a high school cafeteria on Sunday in Londonderry, N.H. Because you know there was a march among the chattering class to anoint Sen.
“You have not been involved in a consequential decision where you had to be held accountable”, Christie said.
He repeated what he said last night, saying that the Keystone pipeline -everybody wants the Keystone pipeline- If you’re a conservative you want the Keystone pipeline…
It’s the morning after the last debate before New Hampshirites vote, in this case yet another contest between Republicans.
Asked whether a loss in New Hampshire would derail his campaign, Trump told the NBC News show Meet the Press: “I don’t think I need it. I hope that I get it”.
But not on Sunday, two days from the primary.
Yet it remains to be seen if Rubio’s bubble has burst altogether.
Rubio also had to talk abortion, in response to a debate exchange.
As a first-term senator with no executive experience, Rubio’s resume is remarkably similar to Barack Obama before he became president. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), a democratic socialist who would be the most liberal nominee since 1972, when George McGovern lost in a landslide.
“That’s what Washington D.C. does”, Christie said. His campaign Sunday added three events for Monday, in addition to an already-scheduled rally in Manchester.
“Oh, I’m not going to say exactly”, Kasich told CNN.
A clearly rattled Rubio responded by delivering the same line about Obama not once, but twice.
“We’re going to continue to attack Barack Obama’s record over and over and over again”, Harris said. The fundraising numbers were unverifiable.
The debate got off to a chaotic start when retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, flagging in the polls, was filmed waiting in the wings as the announcers called him to the stage in vain. She’s undecided heading into Tuesday’s election, but leaning toward Rubio.
Sanders continued to make an appeal to the youth vote, making several brief appearances in comedy skits on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Trump, who’d avoided Cruz all night, did take one shot at him at the debate’s end. “We’re dividing and conquering”, said the younger Trump of his father’s absence. “But he came across as totally scripted and kind of robotic”.
Within minutes, rival campaigns capitalized.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could win being positive?”
He told Fox News Sunday that he’s already scheduled his “first even in South Carolina” for Wednesday morning, “and we’re scheduling the Nevada trip, too”.
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Kasich, who has staked his White House hopes on New Hampshire, offered a more moderate view on immigration, saying if elected president, he would introduce legislation that would provide a pathway to legalizing immigration status, though not citizenship, within his first 100 days in office. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, had his best debate and will likely do better than expected Tuesday because he was the adult in the room. Bush says he is taking Denver because the team’s quarterback, Peyton Manning, is supporting his candidacy.
