NASHUA, N.H. — Marco Rubio launched a furious final full day of campaining Monday with a meet-and-greet at a local diner and a town hall meeting for employees of a major defense contractor as he sought to engineer a strong finish in the crucial New Hampshire primary.
The Florida senator, appearing to be in a close competition for second place for the Republican presidential nomination, continue to be dogged by questions about his poorly reviewed Saturday night debate performance and pummeling by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who charged Rubio with beinng ill-prepared for the White House. During his town hall meeting at BAE Systems in Nahsua, a member of the audience asked Rubio to discuss what he has accomplished during his career as an elected official.
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Yet the overall impact of the debate on voters remains unclear. Rubio has enjoyed robust support on the campaign trail over the past 36 hours, with crowds of 1,000, 700 and at least more than 500 who showed up to see him on Sunday. And on Monday, Rubio continued to roll out endorsements, including Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and new supporters in Georgia and Louisiana. The senator and his team are claiming confidence that he remains confident that he is positioned to do well here on Tuesday.
“Voters across the country and especially here in New Hampshire got to hear me say repeatedly the truth: that Barack Obama is trying to redefine the role of government in our country and America’s role in the world,” Rubio said Monday morning, during an interview with CBS. “We feel great. Look, at the end of the day, New Hampshire voters are among the most serious voters in the country, If not the most serious. They look at the issues, the underlying factors and they want to know candidates that don’t just know what they are just talking about but have a real plan and a real strategy moving forward and that is what we have built our campaign on. We feel great about the dividends that is going to pay here in about 24 hours.”
As is typical for the day before an election, Rubio’s Monday schedule was packed with campaign stops and venues that were less partisan in nature — restaurant meet-and-greets, tours of local businesses, capped off by one big overtly political rally in the evening. Donald Trump, the New York celebrity businessman, is favored to win the New Hampshire primary. Second place appears to be a race between Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also are optimistic about their chances, as is Christie.
