Florida politician temporarily out of the running for party nomination
The Republican party presidential primaries continue to escalate as another hopeful has withdrawn from the race to become the Republican presidential nominee. On March 15, 2016, Senator Marco Rubio announced this suspension of his race, following a stunning loss in his home state of Florida.
Historically, candidates have been able to rely on their home states to help in their bid for nomination, but in the case of Senator Rubio, he finished a distant second, losing to current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
Senator Rubio partially blames ongoing political media coverage for the lack of support behind his campaign.
“This election was entirely driven by national media coverage. In many ways, when the media narrative goes negative on you, and all the news is bad, it kind of knocks us off,” said Senator Rubio, in a conference call obtained by the Pioneer Press.
Senator Rubio’s remarks bring to mind the old saying “there’s no such thing as bad press,” especially when one looks at the senator’s media coverage in comparison to that of the much more controversial Donald Trump.
Trump has occupied the headlines for the entirety of the primary race, but often not in a positive light. While many articles have been written by his detractors and critics, coverage has only ignited more vigour from his supporters. Senator Rubio, on the other hand, has been viewed as the most moderate of the Republican candidates, which has pushed him into the background in comparison to his opponents.
At 44-years-old, Senator Rubio has also been criticized for being too young to earn the Republican nomination. During a focus group, one voter said “We can get Marco later,” which displays the bias that some Republican voters have in concerns to whether age qualifies experience in leading a nation.
During the primary race, Trump had given Senator Rubio the dismissive nickname of “Little Marco,” and while the playground name calling is juvenile, it has proven to be effective in pointing out concerns that Republican voters seem to share.
Senator Rubio’s defeat has proven to be a strong indicator of the electoral environment of the United States heading into the oncoming presidential race. The senator was poised to be the young, charismatic alternative to the typical stuffy Republican candidate, but it appears as if alternative Republican voters had a more radical candidate in mind with Donald Trump.
The race is now down to three candidates. Trump leads ahead in first place, while Senator Ted Cruz trails behind Trump in second, and John Kaisch—the all-but-forgotten Republican candidate—sits in third and last place.
With the race slated to end on June 7, 2016, there is still plenty of time for more surprises in the Republican primary race.