Twelve days ago, Florida Senator Marco Rubio looked like a ‘dead man”, after his disastrous debate performance, repeating a statement about Barack Obama four times.
It was embarrassing for Rubio, and even if one does not care for Rubio, anyone with any empathy had to be embarrassed for him.
Everyone thought New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would benefit from calling out Rubio, but the following week, Rubio ended up in third place, ahead of all of the Governors in the race—Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Christie, with Christie in sixth place, and out of the race.
Some would say that Christie’s collapse was fundamental justice, and one can be sure Rubio has thought that.
But now, Rubio has impressed in the most recent debate, and also, particularly in a Town Hall last night on CNN with Anderson Cooper, which had separate 40 minute discussions between Cooper and each of three candidates, rather than a debate, and with ordinary citizens asking the questions.
It is as if there has been a revival and rebirth of Marco Rubio, and on top of all this good news for him, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has endorsed him for Governor ahead of the South Carolina primary, a major boost.
Haley gained positive reaction to her reaction after the Charleston Massacre at a African American church last June, and African American Senator Tim Scott had also, earlier, endorsed Rubio.
The possibility of a serious challenge to both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz has now grown, and the “Establishment” wing of the Republican Party is likely to gather around Rubio after the South Carolina primary, and doom the chances of Jeb Bush and John Kasich, as well as Dr. Benjamin Carson.
And the idea of a Presidential ticket of Rubio and either Haley or Scott is growing—a Cuban American with an Indian American (from India) or an African American.
This would bring two “minorities” together, with Rubio being 45 and Haley reaching the same age precisely on Inauguration Day 2017, and Scott being 51—a youthful generation challenging an “old timer”, such as Hillary Clinton, age 69 by Inauguration Day, and Bernie Sanders age 75 (the oldest first term President in American history).
This ticket, more likely Rubio and Haley, could be a difficult match for either Democratic Presidential candidate!
The professor wrote about a week ago, “But this requires other candidates to drop out, including Dr. Benjamin Carson, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio in particular, as all have failed to prove they are electable.”
A response not long after, “How, my I ask, has Rubio failed to prove that he is electable?
Even by his own admission he did indeed have a sub-par debate performance last Saturday night, but why does that suddenly mean he is now unelectable?
I’m not Rubio’s biggest supporter as I do like Governor Kasich but it seems a little unfair to say that Rubio has failed to prove his electablity, simply after a bad debate performance and having a dissappointing outcome in New Hampshire. I’m not saying that he will win the nomination, but I think you would agree, that there is still much to be decided.”
How quickly things in politics can change. . . LOL
Yes, Mike, politics is VERY unpredictable. LOL
I must point out that on December 31 on this blog, I predicted a Rubio-Kasich ticket, and now that may very well happen, but we shall see! 🙂
Ronald,
I’m predicting the general-election matchup to be:
Donald Trump (R-New York) vs. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont).
And, at this point, I predict Bernie Sanders will be the next and 45th president of the United States.
WOW, D, you are really going out on the edge! LOL
You should see my article on “No Way” on History News Network, which tells of ELEVEN NO WAYS as seen at the time of Wilson, FDR, Truman, Ike, JFK, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush II and Obama, and how Trump or Sanders could win the Presidency.
The link is on the right under Articles and Op-Eds.
To get the nomination, Bernie’s going to have to make big gains among less liberal Democratic primary voters. Nearly half of the Democratic primary is moderate or even conservative.
Bernie also needs to win big with blacks and Hispanics.
What is quite puzzling to me and I would imagine puzzling to some others is the fact that Clintion is leading Sanders in Delegates by virtue of 394-44, even though she and Sanders basically tied in Iowa and she was defeated by a very large margin in NH; about 60%-38%. I understand it is due to the “Superdelegates” in her favor but just the fact that she is leading him by such a large margin seems wrong. This is not simply a knock on her, it just seems unfair to Sanders.
What/who are the “Superdelegates”?
The “super delegates” are elected politicians, and most favor Hillary over Bernie.
Personally, I think no such group should exist, and that delegates should NOT be office holders,and they should just attend as guests to the convention, without a vote, other than in the primary or caucus!
This is a political blog I read for political news in my state.
http://bluevirginia.us/
They are examples of progressives and liberals who are critical of Bernie and these are examples of a couple of articles they post about him on a weekly basis, which causes me to question if his plans are too idealistic to work.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/candidates-legerdemath/2016/02/18/45520e72-d67f-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sanderss-plans-make-republicans-look-serious/2016/02/18/4dbddb40-d684-11e5-b195-2e29a4e13425_story.html
Same experience with me, Southern Liberal. I read a variety of blogs and quite often find myself going back and forth with the pros and cons.
For the first time, Bernie is ahead of Hillary in a national poll. http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/dem-primaries/269944-sanders-ahead-of-clinton-in-national-poll
This is an opinion piece from the Blue Virginia site. This one is one of the few there that are pro-Bernie and mentions what pops into my mind when I hear him speak – He’s an FDR-style candidate. http://bluevirginia.us/2016/02/my-two-cents-humphrey-mondale-gore-kerry-clinton2008
Bernie keeps talking about a “political revolution”. That’s highly unlikely to happen in the immediate future because a good chunk of the electorate is what you’d call “low information voters”. For example, I live in a rural town that is highly dominated by conservatives and a major news source for many of them is whatever gossip they hear at the local barbershop. They’re the ones that keep electing idiots like Michelle Bachmann to Congress because they don’t know any better.
You are correct, Princess Leia!
Here’s the thing; revolutions are about hard work, mostly at the local level, not tuning in every four years or going to presidential rallies and cheering.