Rubio rising?

[Likely Voter]

Rubio sort of confirmed that his campaign does not want him to peak early and he is playing a long game...

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Rubio certainly has very good net favorability ratings which puts him in a good position to be one of the last guys standing. He has very very low negatives and one has to wonder if Team Bush is not thinking of ways to drive those up.   

[The Other Castro]

Rubio appears to be first/tied for first on PredictIt now.

[FLgirl]

Cruz will come at him soon

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From a RedState article, "Ted Cruz vs. Marco Rubio: This Is Where We Are Headed" (I can't post link).

[Donald Trump 2016 !]

Marco Rubio is in a great spot at the moment.

-Consistent and great debate performances
-Strong campaign that's not reliant on controversy to generate support
-Bush/Trump focused on destroying eachother coupled with Bush fatigue and Jeb's declining support
-As the economy continues to improve, foreign policy (Rubio's strength) will be more important going into 2016.
-He's the best person to take advantage of Hillary's weaknesses.

I'd say he's the favorite to win the nomination.

[Mehmentum]

I do see Rubio's strength as a candidate, but I'm not convinced that the boost he's been getting recently will stick.  Rubio's been fashionable twice before in this primary season, and he faded both times.

[bagelman]

Cruz will come at him soon

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From a RedState article, "Ted Cruz vs. Marco Rubio: This Is Where We Are Headed" (I can't post link).

http://www.redstate.com/2015/09/21/ted-cruz-vs-marco-rubio-this-is-where-we-are-headed/

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I agree that, while it's clear Rubio is in the major leagues, he's hasn't won the game yet. He just hasn't made any major mistakes and has checked all of the boxes to satisfy the GOP base and some of the less far-right Tea Partiers. Time will tell how well he's doing in winter, or whatever they call "Winter" in Florida, a state with no proper winters.

Rubio's not my favorite candidate, he's kind of off-putting, but he tends to be reasonable and steadfast. He's been able to be in the regular right wing guy vs. the wingnut (Cruz) and the moderate (Kasich).

Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-etRN7Dfqw Rubio answers this question himself, September polls don't mean much according to him.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I do see Rubio's strength as a candidate, but I'm not convinced that the boost he's been getting recently will stick.  Rubio's been fashionable twice before in this primary season, and he faded both times.

The GOP Establishment has no real alternative to Trump.  Rubio has shown some staying power and resiliency.  Everyone else hasn't caught on, and I believe that the "No More Bushes" message is being received loud and clear.

It remains to be seen if Carly Fiorina has staying power.  She's not really an "outsider", and she's the one "outsider" that the Establishment would be the most likely to make an accommodation with, but only for the VP level.  This would all hinge, of course, on whether or not she shows some staying power; the attacks will be coming in three . . . two . . . one . . .

Right now, I think the GOP Establishment would like a Rubio-Fiorina ticket if they could make it work.

[FLgirl]

I do see Rubio's strength as a candidate, but I'm not convinced that the boost he's been getting recently will stick.  Rubio's been fashionable twice before in this primary season, and he faded both times.

The GOP Establishment has no real alternative to Trump.  Rubio has shown some staying power and resiliency.  Everyone else hasn't caught on, and I believe that the "No More Bushes" message is being received loud and clear.

It remains to be seen if Carly Fiorina has staying power.  She's not really an "outsider", and she's the one "outsider" that the Establishment would be the most likely to make an accommodation with, but only for the VP level.  This would all hinge, of course, on whether or not she shows some staying power; the attacks will be coming in three . . . two . . . one . . .

Right now, I think the GOP Establishment would like a Rubio-Fiorina ticket if they could make it work.

It appears I'm in the minority, but I am not for Fiorina as VP for Rubio (or anyone for that matter). I was impressed by her first debate performance, but she has problems written all over her.

She's articulate, but I agree with comments I have seen around the Internet that her seemingly impressive grasp on issues is born from rote memorization and nothing more. I don't believe she has a foundational understanding, appreciation, or passion for conservative policies. (I say this based almost solely on intuition, as I haven't really read anything about her political beliefs history.)

Also, her shoddy tenures at HP & Lucent (whether fairly critiqued or not) seem to be a source of permanent toxicity to her reputation.

And there is just an overall coldness to her. I don't see her being liked at all by the general electorate. Rather than her being the smartest and most obvious choice for Rubio (or the eventual nominee) to make, I think she is the most disastrous pick.

Plus, I imagine she ain't one Marco is too fond of. I could be wrong, but they don't seem to fit together.

[bobloblaw]

Fiorina's biggest problem is she lost in 2010

[Orser67]

And there is just an overall coldness to her. I don't see her being liked at all by the general electorate.

This is my impression of her too. I was surprised her debate performance was so well-received.

[Yeoman Dan]

If they're smart, yes. He is the only candidate in the field who is going to be able take on Trump one on one.

Rubio needs to be preparing himself NOW for Trump's upcoming linguistic kill shot.

"I like Marco. Marco is a tremendous guy, very smart, but he is still very inexperienced in my opinion, I don't think he is seasoned enough to take on the Chinese and Putin, they've very vicious guys aren't they?. We have a single-term senator in the White House right now and the Chinese and the Mexicans are making us look like chumps. Maybe in a few years he will. I on the other hand have made tremendous, huge deals before..."

[Figueira]

Fiorina's biggest problem is she lost in 2010

Indirectly, yes. Her problem is her lack of political experience, which is the result of the fact that she lost in 2010.

[Oakvale]

God I hope not. He's basically retarded and has the dullard opinions of a de-thawed Nazi war criminal who was cryogenically frozen in 1944.

[Lincoln Republican]

Rubio will be one of the last three contenders standing almost certainly. The question is though if he can beat Bush in the end, who has a much stronger war chest than him currently. I think he could, but I'd still consider Jeb the frontrunner for now, despite him not even being nearly as coherent as Rubio on foreign policy. I think there's at least a 70-75% chance that either Bush or Rubio will win the nomination in the end. Probably even higher.

But Jeb had better get his act together and soon.  I have found him to be completely underwhelming on the podium and as a campaigner, and lacking in dynamism of any sort.

[PresidentTRUMP]

As i said a while ago...Marco Rubio will be the Republican nominee as he is by FAR the best general election candidate we have....not to mention he would match up great against Hillary.

[RINO Tom]

Rubio is a good choice, and he's coming on strong.  However, he's not the only one the GOP establishment would be fine with.  They'd be perfectly content supporting Fiorina, Bush, Kasich or Christie.  Really, the only ones they'd freak out over would be Trump, Cruz, Carson or Huckabee (with Huckster by far being the biggest heart attack, and for good reason).

[Bull Moose Base]

Bush still has much more money, but maybe it'll change with Rubio probably the favorite of the esteemed group of Romney, Sheldon Adelson, Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Bros.

[Higgs]

Rubio is a good choice, and he's coming on strong.  However, he's not the only one the GOP establishment would be fine with.  They'd be perfectly content supporting Fiorina, Bush, Kasich or Christie.  Really, the only ones they'd freak out over would be Trump, Cruz, Carson or Huckabee (with Huckster by far being the biggest heart attack, and for good reason).

I think the establishment would be much happier with Huckabee than Trump or Cruz.

Also Paul is one the establishment wouldn't like