Narrow victories in the Kentucky caucuses and the Louisiana primary, the largest states decided on Saturday, have moved Donald Trump one step nearer to the nomination.
Primaries in Michigan, Mississippi, and Idaho on March 8, and in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and North Carolina on March 15, may prove decisive. If Marco Rubio does not win his home state of Florida, he is cooked, as is Gov. John Kasich if he does not win Ohio.
Covering politics in Jacksonville, the largest city in the country led by a GOP mayor, I’ve had a unique perspective on presidential politics in the Sunshine State this cycle.
Mayor Lenny Curry was elected for many reasons, but one of them was that in early 2015, he was able to trumpet endorsements from Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
This was in the pre-Trump era, when Bush was considered the presumptive frontrunner, and Rubio was in the conversation.
I mentioned Rubio’s difficulties in Florida earlier this week, but they may be even worse than the polls suggest. As it has done in so many other states, the Rubio campaign has neglected doing basic organizational work and has now run out of time to build the organization it absolutely has to have:
The Florida and Ohio primaries on March 15 will determine whether Trump will be able to win the nomination outright, and at least in Florida it appears that he isn’t going to be stopped. A new PPP survey from Florida not only found that Trump is leading Rubio by 20 points (45-25%), but that he has surpassed Rubio’s favorability ratings in the state. Trump is now viewed favorably by 64% of Florida Republicans compared to Rubio’s 60%. Trump’s lead is consistent with what other recent Florida polls have found, and Trump’s lead in the RCP average is 18 points.
Only in America's so-called democracy could a proven "loser" so vehemently and shamelessly condemn a current "winner" with the goal of overturning 'we, the people's' prospective leader in favor of himself. In the latest (and most desperate) action from the neocon establishment, CNN reports Romney has instructed his closest advisers to explore the possibility of stopping Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention (by revising rules for instance).