The final weekend before New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary was a steady one for long-time front-runners Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. But a trio of governors who need strong showings Tuesday to revive their campaigns have one big reason to feel bullish: Marco Rubio.
The Florida senator, who surged to second place in polls after a coming in third in the Iowa caucuses, spent Sunday trying to extinguish a political brushfire after he delivered the same canned answer three times within a matter of minutes at Saturday's presidential debate.
Standing to gain most would appear to be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who initiated the line of questioning that stumped Rubio and who has held more New Hampshire events than any other Republican, according to a tally from the New England Cable Network.
He had fallen to just 6 percent in a new Monmouth University Poll released Sunday but taken before the debate, far behind fellow establishment candidates Rubio, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor.
“In New Hampshire, voters are tuned in and paying attention, so what happened on that stage is important and will definitely impact the outcome of the vote,” said Jennifer Horn, chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.Decision Time
Rubio's stumble, perhaps the worst of his campaign so far, came at a crucial time. Not only was he showing signs that he may be the candidate to finally coalesce the party’s establishment wing, but he had shown in Iowa that he was attractive to Republicans deciding in the final week before the caucuses.
According to a new Monmouth University Poll released Sunday, barely half of the likely Republican voters—49 percent—say they've made up their minds ahead of Tuesday's voting. The rest remained open to switching candidates or said they have yet to decide.
“I said I would engage at the time and place of my choosing,” Christie said during a town hall in Hampton. “I engaged last night, and how do you think it went?”
His audience erupted in applause, and one woman yelled, “Great job last night.”
While Donald Trump has led in New Hampshire polls for weeks and pulled 30 percent in the new Monmouth poll, the question of who’ll place second is far from settled.
In the poll, Kasich is at 14 percent, Rubio and Bush are at 13 percent and Iowa caucuses winner Ted Cruz is at 12 percent, the poll found. The rest of the field is at or below 6 percent. The bulk of the poll was taken before Saturday night's debate.
In the Democratic race, Sanders leads Hillary Clinton 52 percent to 42 percent. Clinton on Sunday took a detour to Flint, Michigan, where she said she would make a “personal commitment” to solving the city's water-contamination crisis, and that Congress should act promptly to provide $200 million for a fix. Rubio's Stumble
After getting roughed up on the debate stage Saturday, Rubio embraced the moment at a town hall on Sunday in Londonderry, suggesting that it wasn’t a flub at all.
“You know, it’s interesting that right now at last night’s debate, ‘Oh, you said the same thing three or four times,’” Rubio said, mocking the criticism. “I’m going to say it again: The reason why we’re in trouble is that Barack Obama is the first president, at least in my lifetime, that wants to change the country.”
Todd Harris, Rubio’s top strategist, dismissed attention to the shaky debate performance, saying it was a “media narrative that staying on message is a negative thing.”
“Our goal has always been to communicate our message, and stick to it,” he said.
Pat Allen, a 66-year-old semi-retired writer who is considering supporting Rubio, felt conflicted over Rubio’s stumble. “The mistake he makes is he keeps saying the same things over and over again, but they’re very good things,” she said.
Campaigning Sunday in Nashua, an upbeat Kasich said he's always thought that the impact of debates are overestimated but is happy to benefit from what he thinks was a good outcome for him on Saturday night.
"We're going to do really well, and I understand this bus is going to South Carolina,'' Kasich told reporters outside of his campaign vehicle. He's already announced eight events on Wednesday through Friday in state with the next primary.
Kasich is likely competing for second place behind Trump with Rubio, Bush and Christie, said Tom Rath, the former New Hampshire attorney general who has advised multiple presidential campaigns and is backing Kasich.
The Ohio governor had a good debate because he didn't do anything to lose support and Rubio stumbled, Rath said. Any support that leaves the Florida senator isn’t going to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, may go to Christie, but could go to Kasich, he said.
"Our effort here, more than anything else, has been to demonstrate his relevance to the process,'' Rath said. "We've got to get a vote that manifests that relevance."Trump's Strategic Shift
Trump, who needs a convincing win in the state to erase memories of his disappointing finish in Iowa last week, made a rare retail stop on Sunday in New Hampshire. The campaign for the former reality TV show host has mostly relied on large rallies instead of the town halls, house parties and the kind of one-on-one contact with voters that is traditional in New Hampshire.
At a diner in Manchester, Trump ate eggs and bacon, shook hands with voters and returned to attacking the Republican establishment. During the debate the night before, he battled with a combative crowd, suggesting they were trying to make him look bad because they were donors for his rivals. Party leaders said the audience was mostly Republican activists, not donors.
On Sunday, Trump said the Republican National Committee should have ensured the debate crowd included more students from Saint Anselm College, where the event was held.
“The kids were scalping tickets last night,” Trump said on Sunday. “I blame the RNC for this.”Cruz and Bush
Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, joked on Sunday that his “monkey brain” wasn’t capable of staying on script like Rubio, a fellow Floridian.
“I envy people that have message discipline to say the same thing over and over again,” Bush said Sunday in Salem. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but normally it does.”
Once a front-runner, Bush dropped in the polls after attacks from Trump and verbal gaffes on the trail. There were signs of life in recent days for him, as he’s drawn larger-than- normal crowds around the state.
The winner of the Iowa caucuses, Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, mostly stayed out of the fray. He wasn't expected to repeat his performance in Iowa, which depended largely on a strong showing with the state's evangelical voters. His campaign was looking past New Hampshire, where voters tend to prefer candidates more aligned with the Republican Party’s traditional pro-business base. Cruz is expected to find more receptive voters in South Carolina, where the contest moves next.
During a rally in Peterborough on Sunday, Cruz barely mentioned the debate the night before. “Did you see the debate last night?” Cruz asked his crowd. “Is it fantastic that we have such an array of wonderful, talented, and dynamic Republican candidates for president?”
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