Byron York: Explaining Rubio’s defeat

Published March 16, 2016 5:28am ET



MIAMIOne of Marco Rubio’s informal circle of advisers was nervously looking at his iPhone early Tuesday evening at Rubio’s “Florida primary night celebration” at Florida International University. “The exit polls look brutal,” he told me.

He pointed to a question that asked Florida voters how they felt about the federal government — enthusiastic, satisfied, dissatisfied, or angry? Forty-five percent of the voters said they were dissatisfied, while another 40 percent said they were angry. How could the sitting senator from Florida — the highest-ranking federal official in his state — survive at the polls when 85 percent of his voters are dissatisfied or angry with the federal government he represents?

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