Nevada, Rubio’s Firewall: The Place Where He Would Win Big

— Marco Rubio started working early and put a significant amount of resources into making Nevada the one early state he could win. But despite the hype, Rubio still failed to beat Donald Trump.

National Review: “Marco Rubio is going all in to win Nevada.”

“Marco Rubio is going all in to win Nevada. Though the Florida senator has eschewed the idea that he needs to hunker down in any particular state, his campaign has quietly and steadily poured resources into the Silver State…

“Rubio’s path to the first three states is small,” says one Republican state official. “It’s obvious that his campaign sees Nevada as his firewall.”

Morning Joe: “This is his firewall”

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Mark Halperin, [Rubio] grew up here, he invested a lot of money here, the National Review said in this article, forget about the first three states, this is his firewall. They were saying that about a month or so ago when Rubio was facing a lot of criticism about not investing, they said this is the state that he was putting all of his chips on. So, it looks like he should be in a really good position to win

Lifezette: “The place where Sen. Marco Rubio would win big”

“Once heralded as the place where Sen. Marco Rubio would win big and save his campaign, Nevada could well be another major disappointment for the Establishment’s favored candidate.

“Nevada had been billed as Rubio’s “firewall.” But Donald Trump has consistently polled between 30 and 45 percent in Nevada and should easily take Tuesday’s caucuses. If Rubio can’t even “win” second place, the Establishment’s last hope could find himself TKO’d from the race for the GOP nomination.”

CNN: “Win Nevada after going 0-3 to open the race”

“Marco Rubio campaigned in Las Vegas the other day and promised folks in Nevada they would be seeing lot of him. Smart campaigns have a Plan A and a Plan B, and it’s increasingly clear Nevada is a critical piece of both for the Florida senator.

“Plan A: Get at least one win in the first three states (Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina) and then win Nevada as the exclamation point before heading home to the giant Florida GOP primary.

“Plan B: Win Nevada after going 0-3 to open the race so that Rubio survives to compete in his home state primary.”

Bloomberg: Rubio “cannot continue to declare victory when he’s coming in second or third.”

“Rubio needs to win somewhere,” Michael Bowers, a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “He cannot continue to declare victory when he’s coming in second or third. Nevada could be a good state for him to start doing that.”

The Hill: “Rubio is rolling out a series of endorsements in Nevada as he hopes for a boost”

“Marco Rubio is rolling out a series of endorsements in Nevada as he hopes for a boost heading into the state’s Republican presidential caucus on Tuesday. Within the past 24 hours, the Florida senator’s campaign has announced the backing of Rep. Cresent Hardy, Rep. Mark Amodei and Sen. Dean Heller for his White House bid.

“With others announced Monday, Rubio holds a clear lead for congressional endorsements over his rivals after the exit of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush from the GOP race on Saturday.”