Good week for Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio’s strong showing in Iowa was the beginning of a big week.
Marco Rubio may have received the third-most votes in Iowa this week, but he won big.
The Iowa caucus was Monday. Even as votes were being counted, news emerged confirming long-standing rumor that South Carolina Senator Tim Scott would endorse Rubio.
#BREAKING: Tim Scott to endorse Marco Rubio https://t.co/rgMNwxKINV
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) February 2, 2016
Scott is the first African-American Senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction and his endorsement could swing the state. According to the Washington Times:
In an interview, Scott explained that, indeed, he really only had one choice once he had done his due diligence.“When I put together a strong position on national defense and foreign policy, coupled with a compassionate attachment for people to alleviate poverty using conservative principles exclusively, Marco Rubio became the only candidate that I honestly believe can do both,” he said. . . Moreover, his blessing carries more than just symbolic weight because South Carolina is third in line in the presidential nominating process, after Iowa and New Hampshire. Scott is surpassed in popularity only by Gov. Nikki Haley (R) among Palmetto State leaders. In the interview, he acknowledged a “fairly assertive courting process” by the Republican contenders to get his backing.
Rubio is courting Haley as well and may have the inside track. Haley’s close friend and colleague Nathan Ballentine has been working with Rubio since June and formally endorsed him in January.
Proud to have @nathanballentin and @collins_neal on board #TeamMarcoSC. Join us at http://t.co/1Q4hd4TMcS pic.twitter.com/t5EErkywSX — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 16, 2015
Rubio also got Rick Santorum’s endorsement, for what that’s worth, and is looking for more. The Washington Times reports he “has also focused on winning endorsements from less tenured lawmakers, such as Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), both of whom were also elected in the 2010 Republican tidal wave.”
Rush Limbaugh joined the chorus praising Rubio, and addressed Rubio’s biggest weakness directly:
“I don’t like this idea that Marco Rubio is all of a sudden being labeled as an establishment candidate,” Limbaugh said, acknowledging Rubio’s bipartisan “baggage” of the 2013 Senate bill on immigration reform.
“Marco Rubio is no moderate, Republican centrist,” Limbaugh said. “I don’t see Marco Rubio as anything other than a legitimate, full-throated conservative.”
“Nobody’s pure, and nobody is ever free of making mistakes,” the hard-right host t added.
Limbaugh has also praised Ted Cruz, and wasn’t going so far as to endorse Rubio. Nevertheless, he clearly recognizes that the Gang of Eight debacle is probably the only thing keeping Rubio from breaking out. He also recognizes that conservatives refusing to consider Rubio because of the Gang of Eight is a mistake, and refusing to vote for him in the general would be ridiculous.
In any event, Rubio is on a roll. If momentum means anything, he’s got it, and winning South Carolina would be huge.
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Comments
IF the Gang Of Eight (which T-rump supported) were his only misstep, maybe…
But his recent statements on illegals and immigration policy in general put him out of the picture.
Cruz is the man.
I am getting so sick of T-rump and ahve started to believe that he is a Donkey plant to steal the election for Shrillary.
Are you just repeating Cruz’s lie, or making up your own?
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/23/ted-cruz-claims-donald-trump-supported-marco-rubios-gang-of-eight-amnesty-bill/
Upvotes Ragspierre comment, checks for Blue Moon
“America is experiencing serious social and economic difficulty with illegal immigrants who are flooding across our borders. We simply can’t absorb them. It is a scandal when America cannot control its own borders. A liberal policy of immigration may seem to reflect confidence and generosity. But our current laxness toward illegal immigration shows a recklessness and disregard for those who live here legally. ”
“The majority of legal immigrants can often make significant contributions to our society because they have special skills and because they add to our nation’s cultural diversity. They come with the best of intentions. But legal immigrants do not and should not enter easily. It’s a long, costly, draining, and often frustrating experience-by design. I say to legal immigrants: Welcome and good luck.”
“It comes down to this: we must take care of our own people first. Our policy to people born elsewhere should be clear: Enter by the law, or leave. ”
The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump,
p.143-45 Jul 2, 2000
So, I wonder if it is looking more like a brokered convention now.
It looks like no candidate will have a majority of delegates. The question is who controls the non elected super delegates.
It’s unlikely Trump delegates will vote for Cruz or vice versa. Opening up a brokered convention where Rubio benefits.
It always looks like a brokered convention at this point, with delegates splitting every which way.
Come March, we get a bunch of big winner-take-all primaries.
But, yeah. Rubio had a good week. And if he can pull of the 3-2-1 thing, he’ll be looking strong going into the March primaries. And if Cruz has gone 1-3-3 in those, he’ll be looking weak. But Texas is on March 1st, and if Cruz can hit 50% it’s winner-take-all for 152 delegates.
And it’s true that Rubio is no Romney or McCain or Jeb!. I’d still vote for him in the general.
@Julian – “It’s unlikely Trump delegates will vote for Cruz or vice versa. Opening up a brokered convention where Rubio benefits.”
Why? Because they’re blustering at each other now? That’s because they’re competing for the same wing of the party, not because they’re at the two extremes. Trump is the “Art of the Deal” man. If he’s not ahead, he’ll be delighted to sell his delegates for something. No idea what he’d want… an ambassadorship isn’t big enough, and a cabinet position or VP is too subordinate. Maybe the contract to build the border wall?
you mean Rubio’s now the #1 GOP establishment candidate
Marco Rubio is not who you think he is.
http://government.northcrane.com/2016-election/shocking-past-semi-nude-marco-rubio-a-male-stripper-gay-mafia-photos/
Why wasn’t comparable oppo-research on 0bama ever PUBLISHED?
Some was. I suspect the signal-to-noise ratio resulted in truthful stuff being discounted.
Wait, wait what does The Onion say about him???
What part of what’s in that article do you think is “satire”?
That he’s lied about his parents’ immigration to the U.S.?
That his academic background is marginal?
What would you like me to add — that he’s another oily bullshitting opportunist who has never had any real work experience?
OMG. When he was 17 he was in a silly high school song & dance skit. Then when he was 18 he was busted for drinking beer in a car park. OMG OMG OMG.
Really, people? Really?
Yeah, apparently Janitor is kind of a pig.
I’m seriously sitting here shaking my head. There are plenty of valid concerns about Rubio, and many of them are voiced quite competently and coherently right here by some of LI’s regular readers and commenters.
And then there’re these wacked-out OMG HE’S SO GHEY ALSO HE DRANK BEER headlines from our resident deranged Trumpkins that do nothing but discredit themselves and their cause.
Forget the sensational stuff and the gay stuff.
Look at his academic record.
Look at his work record.
This is not president material. There are plenty of salespeople who can yammer at the mouth, and schmooze their way in opportunistically — which is ALL he ever has done.
I would vote for Kashich or Bush or Cristie any day before Rubio.
I am getting pretty p….d off that more is not being made of Limbaugh’s “full-throated conservative.” Rubio co-sponsoring a Left Wing Bill That Strips College Students Of Their Rights?
“The Washington Examiner’s Ashe Schow asked each sponsoring senator’s office how CASA would ensure due process for accused students. An Ayotte spokesperson declined to answer Schow’s questions, justifying the senator’s co-sponsorship by repeating the canard that one in five college women is sexually assaulted.
A Rubio spokesperson replied, “This bill does not address this issue.” When asked whether college officials or law enforcement would have the most authority to investigate allegations, the spokesperson responded: “The victim will have the most authority.” This reflected (at best) an astonishing misunderstanding both of the need for impartial adjudication of such serious charges and of the fact that at the investigative stage there is no “victim”; there are an accuser and an accused.”
http://www.redstate.com/streiff/2016/01/05/marco-rubio-co-sponsoring-left-wing-bill-strips-college-students-rights/
PS. I hope this comes back to haunt the conservative politicians jumping on the Rubio bandwagon.
Boycott Rush!!
I’m glad you remembered that.
It shows ANOTHER very significant lapse in sound judgment.
I will keep remembering CASA. In my opinion co-sponsoring CASA reveals a more fundamental problem for a conservative than the immigration issue.
I was actually fine with forgiving Rubio his “gang of eight” mis-step — that’s never what I’ve held against him. My issues with him are two: first, all the votes he’s missed. We here in Florida elected him to be Our Voice In Washington — and he’s never there! I don’t care if he thinks it’s boring or whatever, that’s what we elected him to do and if he wasn’t prepared to do it, boring bits included, he shouldn’t have accepted the job.
And also, what Davod points out. I first heard of it last month via Glenn Reynolds (Insty), who has been all over this issue. Then I found out that KC Johnson from Minding The Campus actually did cover it way back in 2014: “THREE GOP SENATORS JOIN THE CRUSADE AGAINST DUE PROCESS.” This sort of stuff — automatically believe the alleged “victim” in all campus “rape” claims — is actually ruining young men’s lives, depriving innocent young people of their chance to achieve “the American Dream” Rubio holds so dear.
That was the last straw for me. I think Rubio’s position on this issue really needs to be more widely known.
…also, I accidentally “down-voted” Davod’s comment while trying to hit “reply”. Sorry!!
There is still plenty of drama left. Especially with Trump in the race. We are just getting the first real results (finally!!) and already Trump is showing his strongest Jekyll/Hyde traits to date. He was calm and complementary and within hours shifted to one of his most aggressive attack modes yet.
This could be back and forth at least until Super Tuesday.
Apparently the Deputy Duh Donald thing was NOT polling well…
“I’m so much into this, into New Hampshire, that I just — I don’t care about that anymore,” Trump said.
—CNN
It’s hilarious!
I paused on FOX’s Megan Kelly show last night while channel surfing and she had one of those Luntz-type panels going with her in the the FRank Luntz role. I only watched (could only watch) about ten minutes of it, but the direction was clear. It was basically Kelly interviewing members of the 20 person panel she’d chosen so each could take turns bashing Trump or Cruz, then voice support for Rubio. Over and over.
the beautiful snake in the grass
If the Republicans run Rubio, then those of us who are angry independents will just switch our votes to Sanders. If the Democrats run Hillary so it’s Rubio vs. Clinton, we’ll just stay home. We don’t care which establishment candidate we refuse to vote for. If the Republicans insist on running Rubio, they better have enough committed Republicans to elect him because it’s the only place they’ll get any support. A lot of the support for either Trump or Cruz comes from outside the party. It isn’t going to magically move to Rubio.
So you really want Hillary to be President? Suck it up and vote for the Republican nominee, whoever that might be
It makes absolutely no difference to me whether it’s Clinton or Rubio. So I’m not going to”suck it up” and vote for either one. I’m never casting a “suck it up” vote again.
No amount of frustration with the GOPe will ever be sufficient for me to vote for Bernie Sanders. If they annoint Rubio (i.e., Romney, Part Deux), however, I will not be voting for President. Period.
We agree on ‘never Sanders’, but Rubio is a lot worse than Romney imo
Rubio is up to almost 60% on betting markets.
He has been telling donors that his strategy to win the nomination is 3-2-1. 3rd place in Iowa (but knock out Trump and Est losers), 2nd place in NH, and 1st place in South Carolina(where every elected official bar Graham backs him). With media momentum, he wins his home state Florida and the election is over before Super Tuesday.
And all without serious investigation into Rubio’s background.
He might even outpace his campaign’s story. If he pulls votes from Est losers (Jeb!, Christie, Kasich), then there are more than enough votes for a sizable victory margin in New Hampshire.
If Trump gets knocked out early, Cruz becomes Gingritch, Carson becomes Cain and Rubio becomes Romney. Nothing changes in the party with the same Bush era Republicans still running things.
Rubio has no record. He’s ducked votes so he woln’t have a record. His promises are meaningless.
When we was running for the Senate he started out pro amnesty. Then he talked to a lot of us voters in Miami who told him that Miami was the murder capital of North America in the 1980s after mariel and couldn’t handle another wave anytime soon. He changes his opinion to get Tea Party support and he beat the sitting governor to get elected.
Even though he won, he was a weak candidate, producing fewer votes than other Republicans on the ballot.
Rubio looks like he’s going to win. But a proven pro amnesty liar can do more damage as an elected Republican than an elected Democrat. A lot of rock ribbed Republicans will not vote for him under any circumstances.
The general election is going to be a rerun on Clinton-Lazio. We know how that turned out.
“Rubio looks like he’s going to win.”
You need to put the bong down dude.
Where is this “3-2-1” conspiracy theory coming from? I’m guessing it’s either the Trumpservative Nuthouse or Trumpbart?
It isn’t a conspiracy theory, and it isn’t any kind of deep, dark thing Rubio only tells his contributors.
It’s a fairly sound, open strategy that has him winning, placing, or showing in the early primaries.
It’s a kinda “Duh” issue. But it apparently sounds all “woba-woba” to some. Go figure…
I’m thinking of the whole “Cruz becomes Gingritch [sic], Carson becomes Cain and Rubio becomes Romney…” thing. Except until recently, it was “Jeb becomes Romney.” All engineered by Karl Rove and the GOPe puppet-masters. Of course.
It’s not a conspiracy, it’s his campaign story that he’s pitching to his donors.
In order to get donors to donate he has to tell a story of how he’ll win.
Rubio is the Republican Obama.
Fools.
I’m done.
LOL
Met him in FLA when he was a rep there. Not the same politician that he is now. His willingness to compromise and ignore his constituents in his quest for fame is disgusting. He’s an open boarders proponent. Won’t support him.
I’m holding out for the inevitable Jeb surge. Please upthumb.
That’s low energy Henry.