You know who he's getting at: Rubio.The good news for Cruz is that one of his primary vote siphons has ended his candidacy; the bad news is that another perceived anti-Trump candidate is still actively running for president: Ohio governor John Kasich. ...
Kasich is up to one of two things: splitting the anti-Trump vote to facilitate pluralities for the billionaire or hoping that a deadlocked convention will somehow propel to the nomination a man who racked up 4% or less in seven states.
Neither intended action is commendable.
With Kasich collaborating with Trump to end the debates and draining away Cruz’s margin of victory in states where Trump cannot win a majority vote, Cruz needs to bring a partner to further marginalize Kasich out of even relative significance and to steal some of the thunder from the reigning King of Free Media.
Well, here we go...
TheResurgent: Here we go. To be sure, Rubio has not yet fully endorsed, but this is a good starting point.Related links: Today’s campaign schedules for Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Donald Trump.
We need to get Rubio and Cruz on the campaign trail together ASAP to shift the dynamics in the race and show the party what it would look like if everyone #NeverTrump unites.He didn’t endorse either Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the two other remaining candidates. But Rubio praised Cruz as “the only conservative left in the race.”
Rubio said his positive campaign message didn’t match the national mood, and said media coverage helped snowball Super Tuesday losses into the end of his campaign.
“This election was entirely driven by national media coverage, in many ways,” Rubio said, in audio of the conference call obtained by the Pioneer Press. “When the media narrative goes negative on you, and all the news is bad, it kind of knocks us off.”
Trump leading in new Arizona poll as Kasich pulls Cruz down
Marco Rubio Signals Support for Ted Cruz
Cruz Unveils His National Security Team for 2016 Campaign
REPORT: Kasich trying to SPOIL UTAH for Ted Cruz
THIS POLL is why John ‘Spoiler’ Kasich needs to get OUT OF THE RACE
UPDATE I: That is, if the Florida Senator (for now) can find it in himself...
TheBlaze: Days after dropping out the 2016 presidential race, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) announced that he does not plan to seek reelection in the U.S. Senate. He also asserted he will not be “anybody’s vice president.”Craptastic.
“I’m not interested in being vice president,” Rubio told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way. I’m not gonna be vice president. I’m not running for Governor of Florida. I’m going to finish out my term in the Senate and over the next ten months we are going to work really hard here — we have some things we want to achieve — and then I’ll be a private citizen in January.”
To make it perfectly clear, Rubio clarified, “No, I’m not running for reelection to the Senate.”
UPDATE II: Though it may not be a presidential pairing, we received at least some better news last night that Rubio may be nearing a Cruz endorsement!
Guys, the time is NOW to UNITE and do what’s right for this country, the Constitution, and conservatism!Politico: Marco Rubio is close to endorsing Ted Cruz, but the two proud Senators — and recent fierce rivals — have some details to work out first.
Cruz has to ask for the Rubio’s endorsement, and both sides need to decide that it will make a difference, according to sources familiar with the thinking of both senators.
Rubio and Cruz, who are more friendly with each other in the Senate than they are with longer-serving colleagues, occasionally chatted and patched up their sometime-rocky relationship on the campaign trail heading into Florida’s primary Tuesday, when Rubio was blown out by Donald Trump and subsequently quit the presidential race.
The buzz about a Rubio endorsement of Cruz intensified after the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Thursday reported that the Florida senator called his Texas colleague “the only conservative left in the race.”
Rubio, who returned to work Thursday in the Capitol, told reporters “I don’t have any announcement on that today” when asked about a Cruz endorsement. Rubio indicated, though, that he might have something to say soon.
“There’s time to prevent a Trump nomination, which I think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement,” Rubio said.
