Inside Rubio's Collapse

Rubio’s benefactors were aghast to see their candidate practicing Trump’s gutter politics. “Everyone went, ‘What?.?.?. Why are you going down to that level?’?” recalled one fundraiser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly. “You might as well support Trump.”

Looking back, Rubio’s supporters see these fateful days as central to his unraveling. A strategy designed to get under Trump’s skin and force him on the defensive instead backfired on Rubio, diminishing the 44-year-old senator who had spent years trying to demonstrate presidential gravitas. At rally after rally, Rubio was unintentionally personifying the caricature that Trump was perpetually drawing of him: “Little Marco".

The results were not pretty. Rubio lost 18 of the next 20 contests, with his only wins in Minnesota’s caucuses and Puerto Rico’s primary. The ultimate humiliation came on Tuesday, when Rubio performed so poorly in four states — he got just 5 percent in Mississippi — that he was shut out from gaining any delegates.

A reflective Rubio expressed regret Wednesday over his name-calling of Trump, saying at an MSNBC town hall that the insults had upset his children.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-rubios-collapse-a-fateful-decision-that-helped-unravel-his-campaign/2016/03/09/2581e17e-e617-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html