New Hampshire could be a turning point in Marco Rubio's candidacy. Or it could be where he goes bust. Rubio struggles to find his footing After once looking solid at second, his team is aiming to secure a ‘top-tier’ finish.

NASHUA, N.H. — He was supposed to be giving Donald Trump a run for his money. Instead, Marco Rubio could be on the verge of blowing it.

With just hours before New Hampshire begins voting, Rubio looked dead on his feet, delivering the “low-energy” performance Trump has so effectively attached to Jeb Bush. Standing at a lectern at BAE System’s headquarters Monday morning, Rubio was every bit the junior senator, giving a subdued speech on national defense and the state of play in the Middle East.


“We face a critical moment,” Rubio told a group of more than two-dozen BAE employees. “I tell anyone who will listen, 2016 will be a turning point for America.”

New Hampshire could be a turning point in his candidacy, as well.

Rubio was expected to finish second here, propelled by a strong third-place showing in Iowa. His biggest goal — trounce Jeb Bush and force some of the establishment lane candidates to drop out in order to consolidate support and poach donors from other camps.

But after a week of getting repeatedly beaten up — first by his Republican opponents for giving a canned stump speech and not engaging with the press, and then for his dismal debate performance Saturday — it’s unclear he’ll be able to best Sen. Ted Cruz or the cadre of governors like John Kasich, who have spent significant time campaigning here.

And the donors who had been looking favorably at Rubio's camp have become less enthusiastic after his debate performance Saturday, when he froze up and awkwardly repeated one of his talking points on President Barack Obama's agenda to change the country.

The latest UMass/7News tracking poll released Monday morning and Monmouth University’s poll out Sunday have Rubio, Kasich, Cruz and Jeb Bush all around 12 and 14 percent. Donald Trump continues to hold a significant lead at around 30 in several polls. Those polls barely account for Rubio’s dismal debate performance where Christie bested him as Rubio repeated the same line about President Barack Obama’s leadership. A poll released by a pro-Kasich super PAC had Rubio falling to fourth place.

Over the past two days, Rubio has doubled down on his messaging about Obama’s leadership and vision for America. He told the BAE employees he would say it “a million times” because it was what he believed. And he has reiterated it in TV interviews and on the campaign trail.

Rubio’s camp insists they are sticking to the playbook they mapped out weeks ago — holding a mix of rallies and town halls where Rubio answers questions from the crowd. Rubio has plans to go to several polling locations Tuesday.

Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer announced her endorsement of Rubio Monday afternoon. He also laid out his leadership team in states such as Louisiana and highlighted that he scored a local Nevada public official’s endorsement who had previously supported Bush.

Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said they are ready for New Hampshire and beyond.

“While New Hampshire is ‘must win’ for several campaigns, we just want to finish in the top tier,” Conant said. “Our campaign is built for the long haul — as other candidates drop out after New Hampshire, the party will continue to unite behind Marco.”

After holding mostly highly produced town halls and rallies this week, Rubio held smaller events Monday that voters here are well known for liking and capped his day with attended by several hundred people despite several inches of snow continuing to fall.

As the day wore on, Rubio gained energy. He stopped at local restaurants and bars, including the Village Trestle in Goffstown, N.H. where he spoke to roughly 100 people about his vision for the future of the country before working the room shaking hands and posing for pictures.

“Every time I wake up in the morning and I’m out there doing this and it reminds me of why this is so important,” Rubio told the crowd. “America is a people. America is a nation. And our people and our nation have a chance to be greater than we’ve ever been. All you need is leaders that give you the chance to fulfill your potential.”

Yet while Rubio worked the voter crowd, he has kept his distance from the press. Rubio hasn’t taken questions from the traveling press — besides individual TV interviews — since Thursday. It’s a stark contrast to his GOP rivals Chris Christie and Bush, who have taken questions on multiple occasions as they try to bolster their positions in the race.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie kept up the barrage of attacks, reminding the crowd of Rubio’s performance in Saturday’s debate where he criticized the Florida Republican for his lack of executive experience and his reliance on scripted talking points.

“When the lights get that bright, you either shine or you melt,” Christie said, without mentioning Rubio by name. “We cannot afford to have a president who melts.”

Christie was even more direct in brief comments to reporters afterward. “Sen. Rubio proved he is not ready,” he told a clutch of TV cameras.