Is Marco Rubio making his move (finally)?
Finally, Marco Rubio may be making his move.
Friends and supporters of the Florida senator and GOP presidential hopeful聽have long worried that his campaign strategy seemed curiously passive. He聽wasn鈥檛 focusing money and personal appearances on any particular early聽voting state. Instead, Senator Rubio seemed content to let the other candidates mix聽things while he slowly built momentum, or tried to.
That might have been a misreading of Rubio鈥檚 intentions. It鈥檚 possible聽instead that his big worry was timing his efforts in Iowa and New聽Hampshire. You can peak too soon in primary politics, leaving you exposed聽to negative attacks from aggrieved rivals. Look what鈥檚 happening to Ted聽Cruz at the moment: the Texas senator, who leads in Iowa polls, is getting聽hammered by Donald Trump and others on the somewhat bogus question of聽whether he (Senator Cruz) is a natural-born citizen eligible for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Rubio has turned the dial on his own Iowa efforts up to 鈥�11.鈥� He鈥檚 campaigned in the state four of the last five weeks. And he鈥檚 trying to dominate Iowa鈥檚 airwaves until the state鈥檚 Feb. 1 caucuses. Rubio鈥檚聽campaign and a super political action committee that supports him are planning to run about one-third of all political ads scheduled in Iowa in coming weeks, according to a聽 analysis.
鈥淔or Rubio, who is in third place in Iowa with 12.6 percent support here,聽according to RealClearPolitics鈥� rolling average, being on TV could help聽keep him on the minds of voters and of the pundits who control the news聽cycle,鈥� write Brianne Pfannenstiel and Jeffrey C. Kummer of the Register.聽
Rubio鈥檚 task in Iowa is made easier by the fact that he probably does not聽have to win or even place second to meet the punditocracy鈥檚 electoral聽expectations. Cruz, the current Iowa front-runner, is a favorite of the state鈥檚聽many conservative evangelical voters. The phenomenon of Trump is聽currently runner-up.
But Rubio may not be able to afford a fourth-place Hawkeye State finish.聽And he鈥檇 love to sneak up on Cruz by appealing to the nonevangelical聽conservative votes concentrated in Iowa鈥檚 urban areas.
In New Hampshire, Trump鈥檚 the front-runner, with 31 percent of the vote,聽according to RCP. Rubio is second, at 13 percent. But the Granite State is聽becoming more competitive, with Cruz and Jeb Bush trailing Rubio by only聽a few percentage points. Again, Rubio may not have to win here to gain聽momentum. But losing to Mr. Bush 鈥� or even a suddenly surging Ohio Gov.聽John Kasich 鈥� might prove fatal to the Floridian鈥檚 hope of becoming the聽establishment Republican alternative to Trump or Cruz.
One method Rubio is trying to convey momentum to the nation is using January as the month to rollout announcements of endorsements and other pledges of support.聽Some may be new; some may have been saved for the right moment.
鈥淧residential contender Marco Rubio is flooding the zone with endorsements聽and grassroots coalitions after keeping their existence under wraps for聽months,鈥� writes David M. Drucker in聽.
Last Friday alone, Rubio announced an 鈥渆xpanded鈥� leadership team in North聽Carolina, the backing of Iowa agricultural leaders, and pledges of support聽from 150 grass-roots leaders in South Carolina, notes Mr. Drucker.
