MARCO – AT 8:20 A.M. ET: With Scott Walker out of the GOP presidential race, Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal not getting traction, and some others treading water, attention is turning to those survivors who keep making progress. Donald Trump. Carly Fiorina. Marco Rubio. From the Politico:
Shining debate performances. Good press. Better poll numbers. And the implosion of a rival candidate.
Marco Rubio is having a moment in the GOP presidential campaign. Again.
But if it’s like Rubio’s other moments — rising to second in May after his official campaign announcement, wall-to-wall press criticizing President Barack Obama’s new Cuba policy in December — the confluence of his rise in the polls and the luck of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s early exit from the race probably won’t produce much more than a modest dose of momentum and a few favorable headlines.
Due to Rubio’s relentlessly on-message, penny-pinching campaign style, he’s reluctant to boast about his turn of fortune — or to spend freely targeting his rivals now.
Terry Sullivan, Rubio’s campaign manager, said he expects plenty of other candidates won't last.
“We need everybody not named Marco to fizzle. That is the plan. We need everybody to slowly fizzle out, and we think they will,” Sullivan said Monday, just as the news of Walker’s withdrawal broke, during a “Meet the Campaign Managers” event sponsored by Google, National Review and YouTube.
Long term, however, Walker’s abrupt departure could pay big dividends for Rubio, who immediately welcomed nine top Walker grass-roots activists and campaign staffers from three early states. At least two top Walker donors have chosen the Florida senator as well, sources said. Bush’s campaign said it had as many or more Walker alums, but declined to give a full list.
COMMENT: It's been clear for a while that Rubio's strategy is to pace himself, stay among the top contenders, then surge at the right moment. It's risky, but the payoff could be the GOP nomination, if Rubio plays his situation with skill.
September 24, 2015 |