Marco Rubio flashes the Hawaiian good-luck symbol from beyond the political grave.

Basically, he told the Alaska GOP that his delegates were NOT to be released to the other candidates. They remain his until the first ballot. And why is this of benign interest to people? Well

If Rubio had not lodged the request, then Trump and Cruz would have received an equal number of delegates in Alaska. Instead, the state party’s apportionment rules meant that Trump lost three delegates and Cruz lost two, which gave the Texas senator a 13-12 lead among Alaska delegates.

You think Trump wouldn’t have minded the sop of a sudden delegate tie in Alaska to distract people from the horrible week he’s having? Well, it ain’t gonna happen, now.  And it’s no skin off of Ted Cruz’s nose, either.  So, you know, good move there from Marco Rubio.

Moe Lane

PS: Rubio’s also requesting that his name be taken off the California ballot. Every little bit helps.

Marco Rubio reportedly close to endorsing Ted Cruz.

Even if true, there are apparently a bunch of details that still need to be worked out, but honestly: if Marco Rubio is serious about doing everything he can to prevent Donald Trump from becoming the nominee, it’s Ted Cruz or nobody.  It’s not even really a stretch for Rubio: him and Cruz are actually fairly close to each other in opinions, and the trash-talk between the two was never going to be particularly problematic in the long term.  There’s also the issue of Rubio’s delegates: he doesn’t have control over where they all go, but he has some control over where some of them go, and of course his opinion would carry weight with those of Rubio’s delegates that can freely go elsewhere.

One other note: Marco Rubio has, at this point, gotten one-sixth of the votes cast thus far in the Republican primaries. Contra some of the people quoted in that Politico article, Rubio’s endorsement and support is something that Ted Cruz would rather like to have. Particularly if it comes with some stumping in various critical primary states.

Moe Lane

Marco Rubio made a GREAT point about Cuba.

If Marco Rubio wins Florida after all, answers like this are going to be why.

Via John Podheretz, who is gloomier than I think he needs to be. Rubio made a really strong, really Florida-centric argument last night; and while I don’t see a path for him winning the nomination right now I do see one for him denying Donald Trump Florida’s delegates, which will be sufficient.

Moe Lane

PS: There was more, but this is all that I really wanted to share.

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, and my endorsement is…

…as before: whoever of Ted Cruz / Marco Rubio is ahead in your state. I know that that might hurt Rubio in Texas if he’s really below 20%, but them’s the breaks.  The point and the goal would be to get one of those two guys winning in as many states as possible.

Moe Lane

PS: Comments are closed on this post.  This is, frankly, for my readers’ protection, not mine. I would rather not have… unpleasantness over this.

Quote of the Day, Nice When They Listen edition.

The plan, apparently, is to just keep barreling through.  And not to be afraid to say what everybody already knew anyway:

[Senator Marco Rubio] also spoke highly of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who endorsed Trump earlier Friday in a surprise endorsement. Rubio said his New Hampshire nemesis is a “talented communicator,” before using that phrase against Trump after Thursday’s debate.

“They probably called him in to help Donald after a very rough evening last night and a rough day on the trail today,” Rubio told the Fox anchor.

Continue reading Quote of the Day, Nice When They Listen edition.

Donald Trump brings in Chris Christie to save him from the bully.

Oh, I understand the reasoning – Donald Trump was watching his semi-literate tweets get turned into killer laugh lines at Marco Rubio’s epic rally this morning – but I somehow suspect that bringing in the guy who didn’t survive a primary pummeling to go after the guy who did is not going to work out as well as Donald Trump hopes that it will.  It may not even win him the news cycle.  All Marco Rubio has to do now is just simply make fun of Chris Christie*.

Mind you: I heard this rumor a while back, and in a world where Donald Trump had had a good debate last night it might have cemented his lead today.  As it is… it looks weak on Trump’s aprt. Yes, I know that Christie is a good communicator and attack dog and money dude and whatnot, but note that he’s not in the race anymore and Marco Rubio (and Ted Cruz!) are.

See more from Leon Wolf, who I basically agree with here but I didn’t want to pass up the chance to roll my eyes.

Moe Lane

*I’m not going to, because I’m from NJ and a lot of the stuff that other people find mock-worthy doesn’t really look weird to me.  But this is just reactive, weak stuff from Trump, here.  And it won’t be the story of the day.

Erick Erickson’s endorsement for President.

Makes sense to me:

If Cruz and Rubio are too immature to stop fighting each other to attack Trump, we should force them.

If Marco Rubio is in first or second place headed into your state’s primary, vote for Rubio, even if you like Cruz.

In the same way, if Ted Cruz is in first or second place headed into your state’s primary, vote Cruz, even if you like Rubio.

The goal must be to first stop Trump.

Then we can hash it out between ourselves.

Continue reading Erick Erickson’s endorsement for President.

Rick Santorum drops out, endorses… Marco Rubio.

I did not see that coming. Although I should have. One of the aggravating things about Rick Santorum in 2012 was that I generally liked his foreign policy instincts; this would normally be a plus for a candidate, except that I kind of didn’t like Santorum’s demeanor generally.  But I can see Santorum going with Rubio on natsec grounds.

Moe Lane

PS: Yes, I can imagine that this news was distressing to some candidates out there.

Marco Rubio and the Football of Vengeance.

I was only going to chuckle about this Marco Rubio ad, but then I got to 1:27 and then I realized that I’d have to post it.  I seriously have to. It’s, like, a geek obligation and everything.

Via @EWErickson.

Moe Lane

PS: Dr. Ben Carson is a remarkably nice man. I mean, it’s like there’s no malice or spite in him at all. What the hell is he doing in American politics?