Rubio to Newsmax: I'll Do Well in Iowa

Hours after the final Des Moines Register poll showed Marco Rubio running third behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the Iowa Republican caucuses, the Florida Senator predicted to Newsmax that he expects to  "do well in Iowa."

"I don't have any idea where we'll show up when all the votes are counted, but we'll do very well in Iowa," Rubio told me as he headed into Sunday Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in West Des Moines.

According to the poll, released Saturday evening, Trump leads Cruz in the crowded GOP field by 28 percent to 23 percent. Rubio, however, pulled an unexpectedly strong 15 percent to secure third place — ahead of Dr. Ben Carson (10 percent).

Perhaps more significantly, the Floridian has the highest favorable-unfavorable ratings among the "Big Three" GOP contenders with 70 percent of likely caucusgoers judging him favorably and only 21 percent unfavorably. Cruz's favorable-unfavorable score among the same group was 65 percent to 28 percent and Trump's was 50 percent to 47 percent.

"Rubio could be gaining in the end because the Republican ‘establishment' here is coalescing around him," said Pete Jeffries of West Des Moines, onetime press secretary to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who will chair a caucus meeting Monday night.

Jeffries, who emphasized he is neutral in the presidential contest, also said that "some of the 'establishment' may go to [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie and some to Jeb Bush. It will be very interesting to see how Bush [whose father and brother were Iowa caucus winners in 1980 and 2000 respectively] does in the end."

Pointing out to Rubio that he is the lone Roman Catholic among the Big Three caucus contenders, I asked if his campaign was making a special effort to sign up fellow Catholics as supporters at the caucuses, he shook his head and replied: "No, not at all. We're treating all voters the same.

"Look, the big issue here is the same as everywhere. That is the big uncertainty about the future of our country and where we're headed. And people of all faiths talk about that."

Father Ray McHenry, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, made clear to me that, in spite of his church serving the largest parish (10,000 worshipers) in Des Moines, he and fellow priests do not make similar efforts to encourage participation in the Caucus that other faiths do.

"But this year, for the first time, we are having time for prayer and guidance before participating in the caucuses tomorrow," he said, who made an announcements of the two -hours for silent prayer at all the masses.

"A parishioner called me and asked if we should be praying for guidance in the caucuses and I told him, 'Sure, we are always praying for guidance. Let's do it.'"

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.