According to this article, Marco Rubio is already benefitting from Jeb Bush’s dropping out of the race. He’s benefitting because Bush’s fundraising team has already started writing checks to Conservative Solutions PAC, the pro-Rubio PAC. In turn, Conservative Solutions PAC has already started running their first ad.
According to the article, a “pro-Rubio super PAC, Conservative Solutions PAC, released a new ad Monday, that cast Donald Trump as ‘erratic’ and Ted Cruz as ‘underhanded.’ Officials say it is part of a ‘multimillion-dollar’ campaign ahead of voting in the March 1 Super Tuesday states.” The ad takes advantage of Trump’s erratic facial contortions and his mocking of a handicapped reporter who told the truth about the protests Trump allegedly saw on 9/11.
Thus far, pundits have said that Trump is politically bullet-proof, that he can say whatever he wants without losing support. That’s an untested theory thus far. Most of Jeb’s advertising and Sen. Cruz’s advertising were spent attacking Sen. Rubio. In the few times when people have attacked Trump or when Mr. Trump has spewed his conspiracy theories about 9/11 or praised Obamacare’s individual mandate, Trump’s numbers dropped precipitously.
This ad hits Trump where he’s vulnerable. Further, it hits Sen. Cruz where he’s most vulnerable:
The biggest takeaway from the ad is that the pro-Rubio PAC didn’t hesitate in attacking Mr. Trump. That’s a stark contrast with Sen. Cruz’s habit of pulling his punches. For all of Sen. Cruz’s talk about fighting the “Washington Cartel”, he’s been wimpy when it comes to attacking Trump. Apparently, the pro-Rubio PAC isn’t wimpy.
Sen. Rubio is moving quickly to capitalize on his momentum coming out of South Carolina:
But on Sunday afternoon, Christie supporters heard from none other than Rubio. “The results we got last night in South Carolina were amazing. My opponents and the media had written us off, but we showed them.” began an email from Marco Rubio for President. In the e-mail he claimed the Republican contest was now “a three man race” but acknowledged “we have a lot of work to do” and solicited donations.
With businessman Donald Trump rapidly tightening his grip with back-to-back primary wins, Rubio’s shot at becoming the GOP nominee hinges on quickly accessing Republican “establishment” supporters, many of which were Christie’s, who pulled the plug on his campaign after the New Hampshire primary.
It will be interesting to see if this momentum helps Sen. Rubio win some Super Tuesday primaries or if this puts a dent in Sen. Cruz’s support. If it becomes clear that Sen. Cruz can’t defeat Mr. Trump, things could change quickly. That doesn’t mean Sen. Cruz would drop out of the race. It likely means that his support would drop.
I’m no PAC, but if a PAC can characterize Trump as “erratic” and Cruz as “underhanded,” I can characterize Rubio as not belonging in the deep end of the pool.
No matter how good his handlers are, his bundlers, his PACmen, still, bottom line, a lightweight. An establishment lightweight rattling his sabre. Bad news.
Rubio reminds me of Sarah Palin but with better diction and better prepped by his handlers. Yet a between the ears equivalent.
Words I’d use for Trump, “blunt,” for Cruz “scary” or more gently, “dogmatic.” Yet each has a better case than Rubio, who after all has said his parents fled Cuba because of Castro, but they seem to have left while Batista was in power. Come on, get serious.
What job has Rubio held besides career politician?
That’s your right, Eric. You’re terribly wrong but it’s your right to insist that Rubio is a policy lightweight.
The truth is that he’s the best-informed candidate when it comes to foreign policy/natsec.
Further, to say that Rubio is into saber-rattling is DFL spin. It doesn’t have anything to do with the truth. Sen. Rubio gave a dazzling explanation of how to deal with ISIS. It included Special Forces operators, US air power & Sunni ground troops from Jordan, Iraq & Egypt.
BTW, the saber-rattling line is getting old really quick.
What’s wrong with a little saber-rattling? Long overdue, I say, especially if you’ve got the cajones to swing the saber in the right direction. The current squish-in-chief can’t even name the enemy.
I’m not a Rubio fan by any means, but he is a serious policy wonk and right about most of it. Cruz is a close second, and nobody knows what Trump would do, not even from what he says he would do.
Gary, reflect back. How well did “Vietnamization” work?
And, if the Russians want to back Assad, what are the interests and stakes against letting them do the dirty work?
Where is there a need for US involvement? So the Saudis keep pricing oil in dollars? Is that it?
So others do dirty work Israel has no taste for since the last time Hezbollah handed a fight back to them after their last incursion into Lebanon? They have the IDF for their ambitions. Netanyahu is not appointed to set US military policy despite what Netanyahu may desire. What he and Rubio may desire.
Eric asked “Where is there a need for US involvement?” in Syria. ISIS’ HQ is in Aleppo. That’s where much of their radicalization network is based. Russia doesn’t care about ISIS because ISIS hasn’t hit Russia. ISIS has hit us in San Bernardino. It’s imperative that ISIS is stopped. The first function of government is to protect its people. That’s why Syria is important.