Ah, Marco Rubio sold the media a dummy yesterday. Ahead of the CNN debate last night, his press team briefed out that their man would go after Ted Cruz, the rival for second place, rather than the frontrunner Donald Trump. This seemed stupid. It turns out it was part of a cunning plan. We should have guessed.
In the debate, Rubio turned on Trump quite viciously. He did what the Donald has been doing to him and other candidates for months. He mocked him and it worked. He said that, if Trump hadn’t inherited $200 million from his family, he would be “selling watches on the street in Manhattan.”
Finally, somebody was insulting the Donald back. It was satisfying to watch. Referring to Trump’s plan to keep Mexicans out of the USA, Rubio said, ‘If he builds a wall the way he built Trump Towers, ‘he’ll be using illegal labour to do it.’
It was Rubio’s best performance in a debate so far. He still spoke in that slightly annoying high-pitched voice, but he can’t change that. His barbs were well-aimed and effective.
Which begs the question, why has Rubio waited this long to attack Trump so directly? In countless earlier debates, he has shied away from a direct confrontation with Trump. Was he frightened that Trump would savage him like he savaged Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham and the others?
The Rubio camp make out that the plan all along has been to make the contest a two-horse race between him and Trump, and then win from there. But surely, surely they didn’t mean to leave it this late? Rubio had a good night, but he didn’t deliver a knockout blow; a sensational media moment that would humiliate Trump and then be replayed endlessly everywhere.
Trump, of course, gave as good as he got. He called Cruz a liar — again — and Rubio a joke. He ended the debate strongest, too, and it looks like that’s how he’ll end the nomination process. Team Rubio will feel pleased this morning, but they should be asking themselves why they waited so long to turn nasty.
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