RUBIO SHOULD CONCEDE AFTER THE FLORIDA PRIMARY (MR NICE GUY)

Delegates won

1,237 needed for nomination · 1,585 available

RUBIO SHOULD CONCEDE AFTER THE FLORIDA PRIMARY (MR NICE GUY)

IS RUBIO BEING DELUSIONAL BY REMAINING IN THE 2016 RACE?

HAS HE RUINED HIS NICE GUY IMAGE?

Sources: AP, Fox News, NY Mag,  USA Today, YouTube

After months of being on the 2016 presidential campaign trail and millions of dollars donated to his coffers, U.S. Senator MARCO RUBIO (Fl) has only won one state (MINNESOTA) and one U.S. Territory (PUERTO RICO).

Marco is a really nice, articulate, handsome guy. So why isn't he winning?

At one point Marco appeared to be on the comeback until he listened to some GOP Establishment strategists who advised him to go Postal on DONALD TRUMP.

Big Mistake!

Everyone knows Trump is a Marketing Genius who eats insults for breakfast.

Marco's attacks on Trump have since backfired and now his rivals Trump & Ted Cruz are calling for him to concede from the race.

In fact as the FLORIDA Primary approaches on March 15,  it's questionable as to whether or Rubio can still carry his home state.

Should Rubio remain in the 2016 race on a wing and a prayer?

Or should Rubio stop being delusional and concede immediately following the Florida primary even if he does win the primary?

Stay tuned.

**** Marco Rubio Wins the Puerto Rico Primary, But He and the GOP Establishment Are Still Doomed

While residents of Puerto Rico aren’t allowed to vote in presidential elections, they are allowed to help select the nominees, and with most of Sunday's primary results in, Republicans on the island have overwhelming chosen Marco Rubio as their candidate, according to Decision Desk HQ and ABC News. 

He has even, so far, won more than 70 percent of the vote, meaning he's met the 50 percent threshold to keep all of Puerto Rico’s 23 delegates for himself. 

Thus, Rubio gets to give his second victory speech that corresponds to an actual victory, though the win is unlikely to make much of a difference, especially after his dismal performance in Saturday’s contests. 

Just how badly did those go? 

The New Yorker's John Cassidy has the tally:

In Kansas, Rubio had received endorsements from Republican Governor Sam Brownback and Bob Dole, the state’s longtime senator and the Republican Presidential candidate in 1996. The support didn’t do Rubio any good. The result in Maine, which is known as one of the few remaining holdouts of moderate Republicanism, was equally disappointing for him. 

After Jeb Bush dropped out of the race, Rubio must have expected to pick up some of his votes. But to the extent that anybody benefited from Bush’s departure, it appears to have been John Kasich, who came third. 

In addition, the results in Kentucky and Louisiana, where Rubio got sixteen per cent and eleven per cent of the vote respectively, confirmed his failure to make inroads in the South.

But one supposedly good sign from Rubio’s landslide win in Puerto Rico is that Florida, whose winner-take-all GOP primary is on March 15, has the largest population of Puerto Ricans in the country. 

So, theoretically, the demographics mean good future news for Rubio — not that he needs any convincing. Offering yet another optimistic spin on losing on Saturday, Rubio insisted that, “This map only gets better for us as we move forward in some of the other states.” Unless it doesn’t. 

The American Conservative’s Noah Millman offers a helpful reminder:

Florida has been polled six times this year. 

Rubio has never led. 

In the most recent February polls, he has trailed Trump by between 15 and 20 points. Florida was also polled 21 times in 2015. Rubio never led in any of those polls either. 

Rubio is significantly less-popular in his home state that Cruz is in his, or Kasich is in his — or, I’d venture, than Trump is in his. 

Rubio's best chance of winning his home state is that Cruz’s efforts to out-hustle him boost the Texan’s standing at the expense of Trump rather than Rubio, and enable the Florida Senator to win a close three-way race. Otherwise, he’s probably toast.

Millman goes on to point out that Rubio's new role in the race is to play the unwitting spoiler to any effort to beat Trump, since the best way he could now help that crusade is by dropping out and allowing his voters to shift to other non-Trump candidates and maybe turn the delegate tide. 

Fat chance of that happening, argues The Week’s James Poulos:

For all his talent and good intentions, Rubio proved that there's something much worse in this populist season than being born on third and thinking you just hit a triple. 

However subliminal, his sense of upwardly mobile entitlement was weirdly off-putting and perversely reminiscent of the entitled yes-kid who thinks he should get what he wants because he knows exactly how to give his teachers and school administrators exactly what they want. 

Rather than embodying the 20th-century Republican story of increase earned through luck and pluck, he became an avatar of the 21st-century striver whose stock in trade is his special snowflakehood. 

Nevertheless, a hard core of party bigs still seem convinced he's essential to the GOP's future. 

And left to his devices, Rubio will not drop out, before or after Florida. 

He will become a pawn in a grand yet tawdry game of thrones at the convention — and in so doing, it's safe to say, put the GOP at far greater peril of being split to pieces than anything Trump and Cruz can manage together. 

Rubio is the face of a wing of the party that acts like the future but is really yesterday's news. 

And thinks it's full of winners but, so many times already, has decisively lost.

But the Republican Establishment could still push Rubio out, right? 

Not if it requires them to acknowledge some fundamental realities they have shown zero interest in accepting thus far. 

Here's Millman again:  [T]he GOP establishment doesn’t really want to stop Trump. What they want is to back the candidate of their choosing, someone they know will be reliable on the issues that matter most to them, and who they also believe they can sell. 

They have made excuses at every twist and turn of this campaign in terms of how different things would have been if just one little thing had gone differently — and bewailed the good electoral fortune showered on candidates whom they cannot abide. 

But they cannot reconcile themselves to the fact that it’s not bad luck. 

The primary electorate really, really doesn’t want to vote for someone the party leadership has blessed. 

Frankly, they’d prefer someone completely unacceptable to that leadership.

After all, those unacceptable, uncontrollable, unaccountable candidates — Trump and Cruz — have between them won an outright majority of the vote, and sometimes an overwhelming majority, in every single primary and caucus so far, save two: New Hampshire and Vermont. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there is no anti-Trump majority to consolidate. 

There is an anti-establishment majority. 

And the only question has been which candidate, if any, will consolidate it.

So as the race currently stands, Rubio may think of himself as the anti-Trumpiest candidate in the GOP field, and may still believe he represents the party's best hope to defeat both Donald and Hillary Clinton, but by electing to stay in the race, even just through Florida, Rubio may be casting his and all his supporters' votes for Trump.

Romney Takes Puerto Rico, Now Poised To Take Illinois: Romney vs Santorum Delegate Fight

Romney and Santorum face showdown in Illinois on Tuesday


Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum launched a final campaign blitz across Illinois on Monday, the eve of their showdown in the Land of Lincoln primary that could cement Romney's front-running status or boost Santorum's conservative-backed surge in the Republican presidential race.

Tuesday's Illinois primary offers 54 delegates and follows a strong Romney victory in Puerto Rico, where the former Massachusetts governor picked up all 20 delegates at stake on Sunday by winning more than 80% of the vote.

CNN's latest delegate estimates show Romney with 519 delegates to Santorum's 239.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 138 delegates and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian champion, has 69. To secure the nomination, 1,144 delegates are needed. In the Illinois contest, delegates will be awarded proportionately.

Despite his growing lead in the delegate count, Romney still faces questions about his ability to win support from the Republican conservative base and needs a victory in Illinois to answer doubters.

An American Research Group poll released Monday indicated Romney had a solid lead over Santorum.

According to the survey conducted over the weekend, 44% of likely Republican primary voters favored Romney compared with 30% for Santorum, 13% for Gingrich and 8% for Paul. The sampling error was plus or minus 4%.

Santorum already has won contests in neighboring Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri.

Capturing Illinois would continue his momentum in the region.

The former Pennsylvania senator, who has emphasized his campaign's humble beginning against the better-financed and better-organized Romney, said over the weekend that winning Illinois would signal ultimate triumph.

"This is a pledge," Santorum said in Effingham. "If we're able to come out of Illinois with a huge or surprise win, I guarantee you, I guarantee that we will win this nomination."

On Monday, Santorum told the CBS "This Morning" program from Rockville, Illinois, that having four candidates competing for the GOP nomination could prevent any of them from securing the nomination before the August convention.

"I think it's going to be very difficult as this goes on for anybody to get to that magic number" of 1,144 delegates, Santorum said.

Santorum and Gingrich are competing for conservative support against the more moderate Romney, and Santorum told WLS radio Monday that Gingrich "has just taken the conservative vote and divided it."

"And by and large, Gov. Romney can't get above 35% of the vote anywhere," Santorum added. "That shows you he hasn't been able to close the deal in spite of enormous money advantages as you see on TV here in Illinois, and the robocalls and all the other establishment media being in his corner -- he can't seal the deal."

Romney kicked off his Monday campaigning in Springfield, saying at a pancake breakfast that he has the economic gravitas to bring growth and job creation, unlike an "economic lightweight" like President Barack Obama.

He didn't mention Santorum by name, but his rhetoric was the same as weekend criticism that also characterized his main foe as an economic lightweight.

Later, Romney used a speech at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, where Obama once served on the advisory board, to depict the presidential contest as a battle with Obama over the economy.

Romney made no mention of his GOP foes, instead focusing on what he called Obama's "assault on freedom" through stifling business regulations and high taxes.

"This November, we face a defining decision," Romney told an audience largely of college students. "Our choice will not be one of party or personality.

This election will be about principle. Our economic freedom will be on the ballot. And I intend to offer the American people a clear choice."

According to Romney, Obama's "heavy hand" has cast a pall of uncertainty over the economy, preventing entrepreneurs from investing or starting small businesses. Inventors such as Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers and Steve Jobs would have never have succeeded in the current economy, Romney claimed.

Santorum later mocked Romney for promoting "freedom" while also having passed a health insurance mandate in Massachusetts.

"Let's just be brutally honest about it," Santorum said at an event in Dixon, Illinois. "There is one candidate in this race who can never make this race about freedom because he simply abandoned freedom when he was governor of Massachusetts and he abandoned it when he promoted" federal health care reform in 2009.

Obama advisers, meanwhile, told reporters in a conference call that independent tax analysts had concluded that Romney's tax plan will increase deficits by $5 trillion over the next 10 years.

They also challenged Romney's repeated claim that the regulatory climate is slowing economic production, with Princeton economics professor Cecilia Rouse -- a former member of the president's Council of Economic Advisers -- saying there was "not actually any evidence that regulatory burden actually has a meaningful impact on employment or the economy now."

On Sunday, Romney framed his win in Puerto Rico as indicative of the territory's desire for a candidate that "most represents their feelings."

"Those people who don't think that Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look in Puerto Rico," Romney said, noting that the territory's governor and its legislative leaders are conservative. "Hispanic voters are going to vote for Republicans if we stand for something -- conservative principles that bring growth and good jobs and rising home values. That's how we're going to win, and we're going to get Latino voters to help us out."

Romney had entered the contest in Puerto Rico as the favorite. He was largely backed by the island government's political establishment, including Gov. Luis Fortuno, who campaigned with Romney last week.

Santorum created a small political firestorm on the island in the days leading up to the primary when he said English should be the principal language in Puerto Rico before it could gain statehood. Puerto Rico will vote on a statehood referendum in November.

After arriving in Puerto Rico on Friday, Romney said he would have "no preconditions" on language for Puerto Rico to gain statehood, though during a CNN debate in January he said English should be the nation's official language.

Santorum immediately hit back, accusing Romney of flip-flopping.

Romney fired back that English has been the official language of the government in Puerto Rico for more than 100 years.

The heated, see-saw allegations between the two candidates have marked much of the race for the GOP nomination, which Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, called "the nastiest I've ever seen" during an appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Asked about McCain's comment, Santorum told CBS on Monday that Romney has been the main practitioner of the kind of negative campaigning McCain referenced, in particular advertising funded by super PACs.

"It's not Rick Santorum running all the negative ads or even Newt Gingrich," Santorum said. "It's Mitt Romney who has systematically just gone out there and run a negative campaign, has had no positive vision for this country and spends billionaire dollars to tear down every single opponent that's in his path."



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Sources: CNN, Google Maps

Rick Santorum Accuses Mitt Romney Of Campaigning For "CEO Of America"

Santorum: "America doesn't need Romney as CEO"


While Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney touts his business experience as one of his strongest credentials, rival Rick Santorum blasted it on Sunday as a drawback.

“If Governor Romney thinks that he is the CEO of America and can run and manage the economy, he doesn’t understand what conservatives believe in,” Santorum said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We don’t want someone in Washington, D.C. to manage the economy," Santorum continued. "We want someone who can get Washington out of our lives.”

Romney’s campaign released a new ad in Illinois on Friday attacking Santorum for having “never run a business or a state.”

Responding on Sunday, Santorum said he had experience in private sector as a lawyer, but he argued executive experience at a company is not necessary to be commander-in-chief.

“Running a business is not the same as being president of the United States,” he told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.

Also Sunday, Santorum gave no indication that he has plans to drop out of the race should his campaign reach a point where the delegate math doesn't add up in his favor.

“What I’m hearing is that we want a conservative nominee, that the establishment is trying to push a moderate like they did in 1976 against Ronald Reagan, like they did in 1996 with Bob Dole and what they did with John McCain,” Santorum said, not ruling out the possibility of a brokered convention in August. “I think conservatives would like an opportunity to nominate a conservative, and that’s an opportunity.”

According CNN’s latest estimate, Santorum currently has 239 delegates, while Romney has 498. A candidate needs 1,144 in order to win the nomination.


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Sources: CNN, TPM, Google Maps

Romney & Santorum Battle It Out Over Puerto Rico & Illinois: "He Said; He Said" (Delegates & The English Language)

New CNN Poll:
Do you agree with Rick Santorum that Puerto Rico must have English as its principal language to become a state?

No
50%
99946

Yes
50%
99076

CNN & MSNBC are doing all they can to make Rick Santorum look Foolish because he's a Stronger Candidate then Mitt Romney is.







Santorum says Puerto Rico must adopt English for statehood


Rick Santorum on Wednesday laid out one caveat he would hold for the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico before it obtained statehood, saying the island would need to make English its principal language before it becomes a state.

Santorum portrayed the language requirement as a matter of federal law, though no language provision currently exists for territories seeking statehood. In the past, territories seeking admission to the United States have been required to adopt English as the language of state government.

Rick Santorum on Wednesday laid out one caveat he would hold for the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico before it obtained statehood, saying the island would need to make English its principal language before it becomes a state.

Santorum portrayed the language requirement as a matter of federal law, though no language provision currently exists for territories seeking statehood. In the past, territories seeking admission to the United States have been required to adopt English as the language of state government.







Romney Campaign Dings Santorum: No, Puerto Ricans Don’t Have To Stop Speaking Spanish


The Romney campaign says Rick Santorum was wrong to demand Puerto Rico make its official language English if they wish to become a U.S. state.

“Puerto Rico currently recognizes both English and Spanish as the official languages of the commonwealth,” said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul, CNN reports. “Governor Romney believes that English is the language of opportunity and supports efforts to expand English proficiency in Puerto Rico and across America. However, he would not, as a prerequisite for statehood, require that the people of Puerto Rico cease using Spanish.”

The island territory, holding a GOP primary this Sunday, is set to hold a non-binding referendum on statehood this November, pushed for by pro-statehood Gov. Luis Fortuño (who is supporting Romney) and his majority in the legislature.

On Wednesday, Santorum told the Puerto Rican newspaper El Vocero that islanders would have to be fully proficient in English, in order to genuine integrate into the main American culture — and he said, to comply with federal law — in order to be granted statehood if they wanted it.

In fact, there is no federal law, either in the Constitution or current federal statutes, establishing English as a required official language of government business in order to qualify for statehood. (Though in the past, Congress did make such a requirement for statehood in 1811 for Louisiana, where French was widely spoken, and also in 1906 regarding the Native American languages spoken in areas of Oklahoma.) But the fact remains that Spanish is the primary language of Puerto Rico, and will continue to be so as a cultural fact for the foreseeable future.

But while the idea isn’t unprecedented, it also appears to be going over like a lead balloon in Puerto Rico. Both English and Spanish are official languages there, but Spanish is by far the dominant language of everyday interaction.

Indeed, one of Santorum’s major endorsers in Puerto Rico, former territorial Sen. Oreste Ramos, has retracted his endorsement.

“Such a requirement would be unconstitutional, and also would clash with our sociological and linguistic reality, as a question of principle I cannot back a person who holds that position,” Oreste said. “As a Puerto Rican and Spanish-speaking U.S. citizen, I consider the position of Mr. Santorum offensive.”


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Sources: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps