Posted on 02/19/2016 2:41:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
One of the more interesting debates so far this election cycle has been over whether the party decides. Do party elites -- politicians, activists, media, etc. -- have enough power to influence the nominating contest? Can they pick a winner? Can they stop someone from winning? If so, then Donald Trump, who doesn't have a single endorsement from a sitting governor or member of Congress, should have little shot at the Republican nomination.
For much of this campaign, however, Republican Party elites weren't deciding. Most Republican governors and members of Congress haven't endorsed anyone, and the pace of endorsements has been slower than in past campaigns. But that's starting to change: More GOP elites are taking the plunge.
In fact, by a hair -- and for the moment -- Marco Rubio has overtaken the pace set by at least one past Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Rubio has picked up the endorsements of Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina this week. Indeed, Rubio has greatly increased his endorsement pace since the Iowa caucuses, picking up 42 weighted endorsement points1 in the past two-and-a-half weeks, according to the FiveThirtyEight endorsement tracker. That's nearly half of the 85 points he has overall. All the other candidates who remain in the race have received only 4 endorsement points combined since the Iowa caucuses. The second-place candidate, Jeb Bush, has 51 points, but most of those came early in the campaign, when Bush looked far more formidable; he's earned just 17 points since September.
That's not to say the party has settled on Rubio. Of the available GOP endorsement points, Rubio has only a little over 10 percent. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has nearly 80 percent of the Democratic points available.
(Excerpt) Read more at fivethirtyeight.com ...
Rubio is a RINO
Will never vote for him again
GOP establishment is desperate.
Jeb is the joker in the deck. Its wild card is Rubio!
They will lose, as he is a racist, wise Latino, unlike a smart American like Cruz, who refuses to play a race card and does not have to tell people he is smart, as Americans will decide that one.
Donald Trump 28%
Ted Cruz 19%
Marco Rubio 15%
Jeb Bush 10%
John Kasich 9% Ben Carson 6%
Undecided 13%
February 19, 2016
685 Respondents
Donald Trump 37.9%
Ted Cruz 15.2%
Marco Rubio 13.2%
Ben Carson 10.5%
John Kasich 8.5%
Who didn’t see this coming?
The bubble boy does not have a prayer.
Yup,
He’ll get nominated and then we have to suffer through that “lesser of two evils” nightmare.
RE: He’ll get nominated and then we have to suffer through that “lesser of two evils” nightmare.
Rubio looks like the “most acceptable” candidate, and unlike Cruz or Trump, is seen by the party as the better “unifier” instead of the “divider”. Kasich is probably the second choice.
Just calling it like I see it.
Early life, education, and entry into politics[edit]
Rubio was born in Miami, Florida,[1] the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina[2] and Oriales ( Garcia) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956, prior to the rise of Fidel Castro in January 1959.[3] His mother made at least four trips back after Castros victory, including for a month in 1961.[3] Neither of his parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of Rubios birth,[4] but ultimately his parents applied for U.S. citizenship and were naturalized in 1975.[3]
— Wikipedia
The RNC must deliver the amnesty candidate that the Cheap Labor Express paid for.
They won’t allow us to elect anyone who would stop them.
The Memorizer Bunny is the best they have.
Yeb! was more pathetic than I imagined.
John Jay would not have thought him a natural born citizen.
Yeh all the Trump and Cruz supporters can’t wait to jump to Rubio. LOL! Not in a million years.
Rubio RINO does not get my vote.
If I have to pick between Rubio and Kasich I pick Kasich all day long. He’s a little too moderate for me but he is a mature adult and he is actually qualified to be President which is why I won’t beach too bad if Trump picks him for VP. Rubio is just not qualified.
Not going to vote if Rubio is the candidate.
Rubio? Nope...too sweaty. He sweats during a debate with Sanders or Hillary, and it’s over...remember Nixon vs. Kennedy?
Deciding what? How to get rid of him? That would be the intelligent action.
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