Marco Rubio is bulking up his student leadership team, with help from those who jumped ship from Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina’s failed campaigns.
Harvard student and national co-chair of Students for Rubio, Cameron Khansarinia, said many of the student volunteers from Massachusetts and all across the Northeast who are door-knocking for Rubio ahead of Tuesday’s primary are former members of Students for Carly and Students for Jeb who have come on board with the Rubio campaign after their first-choice candidates were forced to drop out of the race.
Many expect Rubio to take up the mantle of the “establishment” candidate, following Bush’s exit from the race, and identify him as the one with the best chance to bring together widespread Republican support and challenge front-runner Donald Trump.
Khansarinia pointed out the one demographic that Trump failed to win in the Nevada caucus was the youth vote; Rubio was the most popular candidate among young voters in Nevada. But, in order to challenge Trump’s overall substantial lead, Rubio will need more candidates to drop out of the race, particularly Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cruz’s home state is one of the most crucial in the group of Super Tuesday primaries on March 1, due to the 155 delegates up for grabs. While Cruz is currently leading in Texas, some polls have Trump and Rubio closing in on him. An Emerson College poll released Wednesday had Trump with 28 percent support — just one point behind Cruz — and Rubio also posing a threat to Cruz with 25 percent support. The poll found Rubio was seen more positively than both Cruz and Trump, with 64 percent of likely Texas primary voters having a favorable view of him. Comparatively, 56 percent reported having a favorable view of Cruz, while Trump was viewed favorably by just 45 percent.
