Marco Rubio Is Toast

If Rubio can't win his home state of Florida, it's all over.

The polls are a little mixed so far. A new survey out yesterday from Our Principals PAC (an anti-Trump operation) had Rubio just 5 points behind Trump, 35-30 percent. See the Miami Herald, "Poll for anti-Donald Trump group finds narrowing Republican presidential race in Florida."

But Quinnipiac had Trump up 44-28 over Rubio among likely Republican primary voters the other day. See, "Trump Trumps Rubio Among Florida Republicans, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Leadership Is Important Factor In Race."

But hey, Rubio's doing his best Baghdad Bob impersonation. At NBC News, via Memeorandum, "Rubio on Losses: ‘The Map Only Gets Better for Us’."

And see Politico, "Battered Rubio vows race ‘only gets better for us’: Rivals call on the Florida senator to drop out after he took a shellacking on Saturday night":

The Florida senator, badly trailing Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, lost every state and even failed to pick up delegates in some of the contests.

Despite the dismal news, Rubio offered a rosy picture of the race going forward, especially in the winner-take-all Florida primary.

“We’re going to win Florida, and you’ll find out on March 15 how confident we are,” Rubio said, in Spanish, to supporters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which holds its primary on Sunday. “Tonight we will have more delegates than we did last night,” Rubio promised. “This map only gets better for us.”

Cruz’s campaign, however, said it’s all but over for Rubio.

“It’s devastating. The Florida-or-bust strategy hasn’t worked in the past and it won’t work this time,” Cruz’s spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said. “Cruz continues to amass delegates as conservatives rally behind him and gets closer and closer to making this a two-man race between him and Trump.”

Trump eked out narrow wins in Kentucky and Louisiana Saturday night, while Cruz scored two big, surprise victories in Kansas and Maine. Rubio was left choking on their dust. He lost by double digits in Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, and in Maine, where he failed to even pick up a single delegate.Trump eked out narrow wins in Kentucky and Louisiana Saturday night, while Cruz scored two big, surprise victories in Kansas and Maine. Rubio was left choking on their dust. He lost by double digits in Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, and in Maine, where he failed to even pick up a single delegate.

Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said the Florida senator has been hurt by the heavy schedule of caucus contests and expressed hope that Rubio’s fortunes will improve with the primaries ahead. “So we feel really good about the map moving forward. And after we win the Florida primary, the map, the momentum and the money is going to be on our side,” Conant said. “At this point, nobody is on track to having the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. But after we win Florida, we are going to be on our way to doing so.”

Rubio so far has only won one state – Minnesota – and has only half of Cruz’s delegate count and one-third of Trump’s...

Keep reading.

Image Credit: Dr. Marty Fox.