海角大神

One inevitable consequence of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio鈥檚 strong finish in the Iowa caucuses last week will likely be apparent Saturday night聽at the Republican debate: The target on the surging underdog's back just got a whole lot larger.

Entering the聽debate on ABC News and聽Tuesday's聽first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire, Mr. Rubio appears to be the early beneficiary of the US presidential primary shakeout that kicks in when campaigns have to actually convert books, policy papers, and bombast into warm bodies inside voting booths.

As the winnowing nears, the intensity of the attacks rises.

To be sure, Rubio has been a steady part of the considerable fray among Republican presidential candidates. He has already jousted with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over his Senate absenteeism. But now, those direct attacks are intensifying as more desperate candidates like Mr. Bush, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Ben Carson sprint for a strong finish in New Hampshire 鈥� or face pressure to fold their candidacies.

Polls show Donald Trump will likely win the New Hampshire primary. But the jostling for position is going on in the race for second or third 鈥� and the perceived momentum going into southern state primaries.聽

鈥淲ith a strong performance聽Saturday聽night, [Rubio will] take one step closer to聽 鈥� becoming a true force in the 2016 contest,鈥澛�. 鈥淏ut any major misstep could embolden one of his many mainstream rivals.鈥�

Indeed,聽Saturday鈥檚聽debate and聽Tuesday鈥檚聽primary could upend the dynamics of the presidential race, as Republicans, chastened by two losing presidential cycles, take a harder look at 鈥渢he son of a bartender and a maid,鈥� as Rubio often refers to himself on the stump, and his formula for applying conservative values to looming middle-class problems.

But any fresh attacks could also refocus Americans on some of Rubio鈥檚 ultra-conservative views, at least those which seem to favor Wall Street over Main Street, and an anti-abortion stance that extends to pregnancies caused by rape.

For Rubio, nearly tying with Mr. Trump for second place in conservative Iowa gave him momentum going into New Hampshire. 聽with Cruz, Kasich, and Bush close behind. On聽Saturday night, expect the six other invited candidates turn their lances his way, aware that any move by Rubio to distance himself from the pack will diminish their own White House hopes.

鈥淭his race is up for grabs, and can go any which way," Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, .聽Saturday聽night represents "the last opportunity for some of these candidates to break out.鈥�

For now, Trump remains the wild card candidate around whom the buzz swirls, but perhaps also for whom the bell tolls. This week, Paul Krishnamurty, a British political gambler, [New Hampshire], but the key detail is that Trump is falling fast 鈥� faster than anyone else.鈥�

Cruz, who is also Cuban-American and won the Iowa caucus vote, may also now find himself on the defensive, given charges of playing dirty tricks after one of his campaign officials told voters that Mr. Carson had bowed out of the race.聽鈥淭o the extent the latest incidents fit a pattern, Cruz may find himself playing defense and his unfavorable ratings heading higher,鈥� this week.

But expect Rubio to have to put the shields up, as well. Bush, for one, has hammered him in recent TV ads. Both, who endorsed Rubio this week, but during a TV interview was unable to remember anything significant that Rubio has done. Christie also called Rubio "the boy in the bubble" this week.

Moreover, even as Rubio presents a possible solution to the Republican Party鈥檚 recent woes in attracting Hispanic voters, his political views may be out of line with mainstream Hispanic view. Indeed, some call him "un joven viejo," meaning 鈥渁 young fogey,鈥� given his conservatism.

At the same time, there鈥檚 little doubt that a country in which could get just as jazzed about electing its first Hispanic president as it did electing its first black president, eight years ago.

As such, Rubio鈥檚 strengths can鈥檛 be discounted.

David Axelrod, Obama鈥檚 former strategist, says that Rubio has emerged as the Democrats鈥� biggest worry, especially as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has made inroads on Hillary Clinton鈥檚 frontrunner status. Rubio, Mr. , 鈥渟eems to be able to build bridges between the two factions of the Republican Party鈥� even while escaping 鈥渢he real civil war going on between populist antigovernment Republicans and the establishment conservatives.鈥�

Eventually, though, Axelrod noted, Rubio 鈥渋s probably going to have to plant his feet in one place or another.鈥�

Rubio has managed to turn his Iowa success into campaign donations and endorsements, and his polls have shot up in New Hampshire. In that way, 鈥渋t鈥檚 possible for Rubio to be the overwhelming beneficiary鈥� of the misfortunes of Messrs. Bush, Christie, Carson and Kasich, as .

But Rubio has also attached himself to more far-right policy proposals that 鈥渁re more extreme鈥� than those of other recent Republican nominees, including Mitt Romney, Mr. Beutler writes.

Rubio 鈥渉as never really had to square his appeal to electability with the fact that he鈥檚 further right than [Mr.] Romney on almost every issue 鈥β燨n Saturday聽night, maybe, he will.鈥�