What the Heck Happened to Marco?

 

Rubio-1000x600“There is no way to sugarcoat Marco Rubio’s serious blunder at last night’s debate,” writes our own Mona Charen; the Boston Herald ran the headline, “Under fire, Marco Rubio crashes and burns”; and FiveThirtyEight begins its story on the debate with this:

We…endorse the conventional wisdom, for a change. Like most other people covering the event, we thought that Marco Rubio had a really bad night….

I had to miss the debate last night, unfortunately, but I’d assumed it could only help Marco, who seemed to be gathering strength for a strong second-place finish in New Hampshire. Jeepers. I turn my back for one little moment — and everything falls apart. (Yes, I know. It’s still early in the political year, but I’ve already reached the point at which I’ve begun feeling possessive about the whole campaign. It’s being run entirely for my own entertainment, right?)

Could somebody fill me in? What the heck happened to Marco? How bad was it? Can he recover in the next 48 hours?

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  1. ctlaw Coolidge
    ctlaw
    @ctlaw

    Somebody stole his magic boots.

    • #1
  2. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    He got a bit flustered by Chris Christie. Came across as over-coached, couldn’t think on his feet. He can recover, but it wasn’t his best night.

    • #2
  3. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    I thought Rubio did poorly at the start, much like Cruz did at the final Iowa debate, but was fantastic the rest of the night. His answer on abortion was the quote of the evening.

    • #3
  4. Judithann Campbell Member
    Judithann Campbell
    @

    I was so stunned and amazed by the fact that Rubio enthusiastically stated that he wanted women to sign up for the draft that I can’t really remember much else about the debate; Jeb Bush and Chris Christie both agreed with him. I won’t be voting for any of them.

    • #4
  5. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    These are moments when I’m grateful for the process. We’re going to learn things in the coming weeks and months.

    Is Rubio too green? Is he a lightweight? Or does he learn from mistakes and absorb blows without falling apart?

    Is Cruz really unlikeable, or is it his media caricature that’s unlikeable? Can he win non-very-conservative votes?

    I need to see more before I can make up my mind between them.

    • #5
  6. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    Rocky start. Better after. Best closing remarks.

    More here.

    • #6
  7. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Cross posted from the Member Feed:

    Nutshell

    • #7
  8. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    Yes, Marco is over. ABC and George Stephanopoulos told me so. I thought George was going to pee his pants with excitement.

    Or, maybe Rubio chose to hit Christie back a few times then flopped trying to go large and focus on Obama. It was messy.

    So after 8 debates, he flubbed 20 minutes and then . . . In case you missed it Peter, he slugged the damn ball all the way to New Jersey with a series of questions on ISIS from Radditz – questions that I had a hard time understanding and which he finessed with ease. IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT IN THE DEBATE – BAR NONE.

    And his answer on abortion – ka-ching!

    Look, this field of dreams is full of imperfect humans. But only one of them can beat Hillary or Joe. Guess who it is? And his chances are a long shot at best.

    Better to focus on what the voters are focusing on – the Super Bowl, chips and the Bush ads. We are a bit too deep into nothing here.

    By the way – EJ Hill is making me laugh all over this website today. Give that man a cigar! The man has talent.

    • #8
  9. David Sussman Member
    David Sussman
    @DaveSussman

    Saw the 1st half and yes, he had a few not so great moments appearing to be unable to pivot. However he seemed to improve in later questions.
    With the media currently fawning over him, I don’t think this will hurt him in the long run. 1st: Christie came across as a bully, and 2: I wouldn’t want to be the “chosen one” at this point. Let Cruz and Trump take incoming. Rubio really needs to percolate until Super Tuesday when I think he will become front runner.

    • #9
  10. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    His answers were like Groundhog Day the movie . It was creepy. Maybe a good VP.

    • #10
  11. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    I hate the way Christie leans on the podium.

    • #11
  12. BD Member
    BD
    @

    “Can he recover in the next 48 hours?”

    I hope not.

    • #12
  13. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    WOMEN IN THE DRAFT

    Yes, there are good reasons to oppose it. But if we are a nation of equality, we need to think through that carefully. That cannot start here and not end there. Rubio pointed out, we should not compromise standards for combat positions. That will take care of much of the concern. Also, in time of war women perform all sorts of military jobs. If they can hold a weapon, they can drive a truck, supervise loading, etc. etc. These can be dangerous jobs too, but better suited to those with less physicality. I have daughter and to be fair, I must share her chosen profession is very dangerous. Women have every right and responsibility to defend freedom – especially as they chose.

    One risk, men will feign weakness and fail qualifying tests designed to weed out women who may lack physical strength. They will do this intentionally in order to get desk jobs. Sgt Bilko and McHales Navy will be back. There are always slackers when the bullets fly. See you in Tulagi.

    • #13
  14. Quinn the Eskimo Member
    Quinn the Eskimo
    @

    Reminder: Reagan had a bad first debate against Mondale.

    Probably cost him Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

    • #14
  15. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    Quinn,

    Is this the making of comeback? Rubio, the Comeback Kid?

    • #15
  16. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Judithann Campbell:I was so stunned and amazed by the fact that Rubio enthusiastically stated that he wanted women to sign up for the draft that I can’t really remember much else about the debate; Jeb Bush and Chris Christie both agreed with him. I won’t be voting for any of them.

    Ted Cruz was at a rally this morning said something to the effect that he was in disbelief at how many of them enthusiastically think women should register for the draft.

    I was amazed as well and thought it would be a huge deal today. Apparently not so much.

    • #16
  17. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    I wish we Republicans would focus for ten minutes on what Donald Trump said about healthcare. I agree with much of what Trump said, but I would make a huuuuge wager based on his remarks that if we elect him, we will have a single-payer system within two years. His healthcare remarks sounded exactly like those of every Democrat I’ve ever known. “Blast the insurance companies–they are making all the money here!”

    His solution will be to go to a single-payer system, and the result of that will be that all of those insurance company employees who are now managing the care of the insurance company policy owners will simply shift to the government where they will pick up exactly where they left off with their insurance company employment, the only difference being that they will have the force of the law and the U.S. government behind them. Arguing with insurance companies is a piece of cake compared to arguing with the U.S. government.

    I found Trump’s remarks alarming, partly because they will play so well to the segment of the Democratic Party he is wooing. Please, let us Republicans be very careful.

    • #17
  18. Ricochet Inactive
    Ricochet
    @ChristianSpeicher

    The content of Rubios statement about Obama (that the President is not acting stupid or blundering because of his inexperience but is actually quite clever and successful in his intend to change and neutralize the United States) is very very good. This deserves to be memorized, taken to heart and repeated. I am afraid that many other candidates like Trump and Christie as well as most Americans and Westerners are rather naive when it comes to Obama and his malicious intend to weaken the US and its allies. So it might have been an akward moment on TV, but something that would make me more likely to support Marco Rubio based on his argument.

    • #18
  19. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    katievs:I hate the way Christie leans on the podium.

    I hate the way Cruz pounds on the podium like an ivy league woodpecker.

    • #19
  20. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    EJHill:Cross posted from the Member Feed:

    Nutshell

    Sheerest genius.

    • #20
  21. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    BB67,

    Women in the military – who is going to object? The NY Times and WashPOST?

    National Review has objected.

    But again. If you want equality, you have to figure out what that means and it cannot skip over everything. I am not crazy about it. But, equality does seem to limit the options here. As I wrote above, I have a daughter who opted for the danger route. Not thrilled. But respect her for it.

    • #21
  22. Eric Hines Inactive
    Eric Hines
    @EricHines

    Marco’s the annointed one.  Marco’s toast.

    180,000 Iowans have caucused.  There was a debate last night, and a few hundred thousands of New Hampshirites will vote in a couple of days.

    It’s all over.

    Jeez.

    Eric Hines

    • #22
  23. Crow's Nest Inactive
    Crow's Nest
    @CrowsNest

    Someone needs to buy Rubio a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

    In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker’s Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects:
    First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON’T PANIC. inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

    • #23
  24. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    katievs:These are moments when I’m grateful for the process. We’re going to learn things in the coming weeks and months.

    Couldn’t agree more. This is a process of discovery–every debate seems to produce valuable new information about these candidates. It can be perplexing–Lord knows, I’m more than a little perplexed today myself–but by contrast with the way most nations through most of human history have chose their leaders it’s thrilling.

    Good old American democracy. It still delivers.

    • #24
  25. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    James Madison:BB67,

    Women in the military – who is going to object? The NY Times and WashPOST?

    National Review has objected.

    But again. If you want equality, you have to figure out what that means and it cannot skip over everything. I am not crazy about it. But, equality does seem to limit the options here. As I wrote above, I have a daughter who opted for the danger route. Not thrilled. But respect her for it.

    I don’t want equality. I’ve been there done that and got the scars from 1995 embarked in USS Lincoln.

    I want chivalry and brave bloodthirsty young men manning our ramparts.

    Yes, I know, words matter and I am just stoking fires. Respectfully, you can save that part of the lecture. It isn’t getting through my thick skull.

    • #25
  26. teadawg Inactive
    teadawg
    @teadawg

    Peter, first of all, the relevant exchange begins 13.5 minutes into this video: https://youtu.be/SMWux69RDRM?t=13m

    The context makes a big difference. Christie was trying to make Rubio into Obama redux. Rubio made the valid point that Obama has been a disaster not because of his inexperience but because of his worldview. He repeated that point once or twice – so what? Politicians repeat themselves all the time. Besides, Christie didn’t let it go, but once again more than implied that electing Rubio would be a repeat of the mistake of making Obama – another one-term senator – President.

    Will this matter to NH voters? Beats me. The criteria voters use often seem bizarre to me.

    Edit: I was specifically referring to the exchange where Christie skewered Rubio for repeating talking points. I haven’t yet seen the full debate.

    • #26
  27. Flizzo Stizzo Member
    Flizzo Stizzo
    @FlizzoStizzo

    I wasn’t sure if Rubio or Bush ever plainly stated that we should require women to register with selective service or merely open it to them, but maybe those are effectively the same thing.

    If we wanted to allow women who would serve if needed in a time of war to sign up for the draft, how is that different than them being able to enlist at any time, which is the current set up.

    As a previous poster stated, the physical requirements for the most demanding positions would eliminate most women from consideration, so I don’t see the value in requiring every woman in the country to register.

    It was an odd question with odd answers.

    • #27
  28. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Peter Robinson:

    katievs:These are moments when I’m grateful for the process. We’re going to learn things in the coming weeks and months.

    Couldn’t agree more. This is a process of discovery–every debate seems to produce valuable new information about these candidates. It can be perplexing–Lord knows, I’m more than a little perplexed today myself–but by contrast with the way most nations through most of human history have chose their leaders it’s thrilling.

    Good old American democracy. It still delivers.

    Amen. This exactly why all of the heavy breathing, especially surrounding Trump before Iowa was ridiculous. Trump may be leading the polls in NH, but hardly looks unbeatable.

    We learn a lot about people when they win or lose. We are traveling very fast down the primary road, but thankfully it is a rather long and winding road. We are going to get to see a lot of scenery in short time.

    Take a deep breath and let the process work.

    • #28
  29. Paul Dougherty Member
    Paul Dougherty
    @PaulDougherty

    “Wow, that Chris Christie sure looked Presidential”, started no thread, news story or voter’s take.

    • #29
  30. Muleskinner Member
    Muleskinner
    @Muleskinner

    Judithann Campbell:I was so stunned and amazed by the fact that Rubio enthusiastically stated that he wanted women to sign up for the draft that I can’t really remember much else about the debate; Jeb Bush and Chris Christie both agreed with him. I won’t be voting for any of them.

    Maybe they were like the Generals in promoting it, channeling their inner Abraham Lincolns, paraphrasing, “The best way to get rid of a bad policy is to push it vigorously?”

    • #30
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