What went wrong with Rubio

[dw93]

Jeb! overstaying his welcome didn't help either. If Jeb had gotten out earlier I think Rubio had the most to gain, especially from the donors.

[DINGO Joe]

He's Marco Rubio.

[TJ in Oregon]

He didn't put forth a compelling reason why he was running for president and why people should vote for him. He ended up looking like the cardboard cutout of a politician and had his infamous meltdown to reinforce the narrative against him. A part of me still wishes he'd have won though.

[Hammy]

He's an incompetent empty suit who stands for nothing

[Skill and Chance]

Was very overrated to begin with because he represented elite R opinion so well.

[I Can Now Die Happy]

'What went wrong' was that he had to face off with the most formidable political force America has ever seen: Donald John Trump -- someone even the Republican and Democratic establishments, with the aid of the MSM, big tech, academia, Hollywood, etc couldn't bring down

Anyone else would have fallen short (not trying to make a funny) in Rubio's place, it is unfair to hold his loss against him.

[Kingpoleon]

Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s trying to make America more like the rest of the world.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s trying to make America more like the rest of the world.

I fail to see why that's a bad thing.

[Leinad]

Rubio was kinda trying to appeal to the voters who kinda wanted a "True Principled Conservative" but also kinda wanted a "Sane Electable Moderate." The problem--and this is also part of why Kamala Harris isn't taking off--very few voters want both, the vast majority of them want one or the other, so there isn't really a "middle lane."

The odd thing about the 2016 race was that Trump was basically a separate faction altogether. This could've been great for Rubio if he had more support than Cruz or Kasich, as he could've consolidated the anti-Trump vote better than probably either of them. But since both of them were doing better or at least as good neither the Cruz or Kasich supporters saw the need to support a candidate they liked less who wasn't even doing better in the polls. (And they definitely weren't going to support the other because they basically have different ideologies and honestly Trump's probably closer to either Cruz or Kasich than they are to each other.)

Rubio (or in alternate timelines Scott Walker or Paul Ryan) could've filled the "not as crazy as Cruz but not as moderate as Kasich" lane and arguably could've beat Trump, but all 3 of them (including Ryan, who of course didn't run) turned out to be terribly overrated and uninspiring politicians.

[TrumpBritt24]

A big fat governor from New Jersey.

[Del Tachi]

Rubio was the Republican answer to John Edwards

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

Same with Bobby Jindal lol

[Free Bird]

On a more technical front, he didn't really have a significant ground presence from what I understand, at least according to American Carnage.