Marco Rubio Says He Will Win GOP Nomination Despite Not Winning A Single Primary And The Math Proves It
Senator Marco Rubio says that he believes he will win the GOP presidential nomination and claims that the “math” from past primary elections proves it. The current underdog claims that as more presidential hopefuls drop out of the race, more votes will add up in his favor instead of Trump. In fact, Rubio says that Trump can’t pull more than roughly 30 percent of the votes as the remaining 70 percent of the Republican party have refused to vote for Trump in previous primaries. Therefore, as the playing field narrows, Rubio says that those who had voted for candidates no longer in the running will turn their support to his campaign and that the race will become “clearer and clearer.”
To say they’re excited for @marcorubio is an understatement. The only way to describe it, is #marcomentum pic.twitter.com/eL66hRO2uK
— Team Marco Nevada (@TeamMarcoNV) February 22, 2016
The Daily Mail reports that Marco Rubio is feeling good going into future primaries despite having yet to take the top place in any of the caucuses. Rubio notes that as more GOP presidential candidates continue to drop out of the race, the cards are turning in his favor. The most recent candidate to suspend his campaign was seasoned politician Jeb Bush. Bush announced that he was suspending his campaign after a poor showing in South Carolina. Though businessman Donald Trump has consistently placed in the top in the GOP caucuses and won South Carolina with 32.5 percent of the votes compared to second place Marco Rubio with 22.5 percent.
Thank you for a great night, South Carolina! Donate now to help us continue the momentum: https://t.co/NeSfvqgVpM pic.twitter.com/raA2H6mRte
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 21, 2016
Though Trump appears to have a commanding lead over Rubio, the lead seems to be getting smaller as the GOP candidate pool narrows. The Republican presidential pool has narrowed to just five with Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Ben Carson still in the race. However, Rubio says it is really only a “three person race” as Carson has continually polled low throughout the caucuses and Kasich earned fifth place in South Carolina with just 7.6 percent of the vote, less than Jeb Bush’s 7.8 percent that resulted in his campaign suspension. Therefore, Rubio says that the race is really between himself, Trump and Cruz.
Rubio notes that though it may appear on the surface that Trump has the advantage, he notes that Trump has garnered roughly just 30 percent of the vote at each caucus. The remaining 70 percent of the vote has been split among the numerous other candidates. However, with candidates dropping out, Rubio believes that the 70 percent will turn to his campaign, and not Trump, as he believes that 70 percent would go to himself or Cruz. With fewer candidates appealing to the 70 percent majority in the Republican party, Rubio seems confident.
“So as that five or seven people continues to narrow down, I think it’s going make the race clearer and clearer. And we feel really good about this coalescing. As I explained earlier, when you have seven or eight people competing for the same chunk of votes, it’s a lot of votes, but you have seven or eight people, it’s all segmented.”
Therefore, it appears Rubio is banking on the idea that Bush, Carson, Kasich, and Cruz supporters would choose him over Trump. What do you think about Rubio’s assessment that the race will become tighter and Trump will lose his lead as more candidates drop out of the race? Does Rubio and Cruz stand a better chance of defeating Trump now that the playing field has narrowed?
[Image by Alex Sanz/AP Photo]
