[springwater13]

Cruz has taken down all his negative Trump advertising and replacing them with negative Rubio ads. He wouldn't be doing this unless he knows Iowa is lost and he is now fighting to keep second against a surging Rubio. Cruz finishing 3rd would kill his campaign.

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

Wow. Interesting.

[Java4Jay]

Rubio is a snake. He stood there last night, right in front of the American people, and lied about Cruz then latter states he’s a Christian.

[tennmountainman]

Cruz, after his debate performance last night, has a lot to be worried
about. Trump being the least of his worries.
Cruz was roughed up pretty good last night.

[ScottWalkerForPresident2016]

It started yesterday, which Rubio in teens in Iowa, and CNN saying Rubio's internals have him at 20% in Iowa
The media predictably declared him the debate winner, including Luntz
Rubio will finish second in Iowa, and the media will all say he won because it was a 'surprise'

The desperate establishment has one final Rubio push in them, it's looking like.

[kabar]

Panic time

[jennychase]

Now, Cruz realized that he made a career destroying move by hitting Trump.
Cruz should fire his Campaign manager Rick.

[libbylu]

I guess you are not privy to Cruz PAC and totally outside PACs ads.
They are slamming The One.

[Red Steel]

Yeah Cruz is trying to hold onto 2nd.

[1Old Pro]

Cruz is smart to stop his attacks on Trump and focus on Rubio.

[Charles Henrickson]

All three could end up in the 20s, with a possible range of 15-35%. I do think Rubio is moving up. Cruz did OK last night but not great. Trump hurt himself by his no-show. Three tickets out of Iowa, and all three will be moving on.

[Cboldt]

Yep. I still think Iowa comes out Trump-Rubio-Cruz. Three days is a long time, and Trump is going to be in towm, and his ground game might be more powerful than his opponents thought.

[Uncle Miltie]

No, Cruz takes votes from Rubio, Bush, Kasich, Christie, Fiorina, Huckster, Paul, etc. to beat Trump.

Duh.

Trump voters are a pretty hard core bunch. Look around FR.

But the others? Totally winnable.

[usafa92]

Rubio is still dangerous. The establishment sees an opening with Trump and Cruz beating each other up. I still can’t see Rubio mounting much if any of a challenge of winning in the first three states. Hopefully after that, Trump will be on cruise control.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Your postulation definitely has merit. I think the poor showing in last night’s debate coupled with the positive message coming out of Trump’s rally last night may have torpedoed Ted in Iowa.

Its my understanding that many of the local stations in Iowa aired the Veterans rally last night so it may be that more Iowans saw Trump’s rally than the debate. Not good for Ted.

[ez]

It’s starting to look like Trump v. Rubio just like it was Romney v. Santorum with Cruz playing the role of Newt getting shut out.

[wardaddy]

Smart move

[GodGunsGuts]

All the hard work has been done, so he probably wants to smack that little sellout around a little before he leaves Iowa victorious for New Hampshire.

[StAnDeliver]

"Cruz finishing 3rd not 1st would kill his campaign."

Fixed.