MANCHESTER, N.H. — Marco Rubio knew exactly what he was doing on Saturday night.

Marco Rubio knew exactly what he was doing on Saturday night.


Marco Rubio knew exactly what he was doing on Saturday night.

The problem was he flubbed it.

Rubio awkwardly pivoted four times to a well-rehearsed line that President Barack Obama “knows exactly what he’s doing” as he tried to drill home the idea that he’s the inevitable general election candidate – an unforced error that his rivals pounced on and that quickly went viral.

“There it is. There it is. The memorized 25-second speech. There it is, everybody,” Chris Christie charged.

It was a defining moment as Rubio’s opponents successfully turned two of his greatest strengths — his eloquence and message discipline — against him in the final debate before the New Hampshire primary, casting the Florida senator as a lightweight leader who has been lifted by little more than lofty and canned rhetoric.

Christie led the charge on stage, and rival campaigns joined in, gleefully tweeted out a new “Marco Rubio Glitch” Twitter account that captured the robotic repeats and gained more than 1,000 followers quickly after the debate wrapped up.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was representing Jeb Bush in the spin room, told reporters that Rubio only reinforced the doubts about his readiness for the White House. “He’s really good at talking points and sound bites but he was off his game tonight,” he said. “I think the case for Marco being ready to be commander in chief took a hit tonight.”

The debate’s sustained attacks forced Rubio into a defensive crouch most of the night, as the third-place Iowa finisher turned in his shakiest performance on the national stage. By the evening’s end, sweat was visible on his brow.

And after the debate stage lights went out, Rubio’s campaign furiously tried to minimize the gaffe. “What voters saw was that Marco was given repeated opportunities to hit Obama and he did,” Rubio’s senior adviser Todd Harris told reporters in the spin room.

In a fundraising email sent to reporters, Rubio’s campaign insisted that Rubio confidently laid out his accomplishments and showed he’s the conservative who can take on Hillary Clinton. “This week the other candidates made one thing clear: They were going to try and take out Marco tonight. They failed,” the email read, also stating in all caps, “AND YES, HE STUCK TO HIS GUNS ON WHY OBAMA HAS BEEN AN AWFUL PRESIDENT!!!”

The other top two finishers in Iowa, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, coasted through most of the night. It marked a stark contrast to the final debate in Iowa, when Trump was absent, and everyone targeted Cruz.

Much of the new dynamic came down to Christie, who had few notable confrontations in past debates, but relished going after Rubio on Saturday.

Christie urged Republicans not to make the “same mistake we made eight years ago” in electing a first-term senator, Barack Obama. Bush eagerly piled on. “We’ve tried it the old way,” Bush said, echoing Christie’s warning of a repeat Obama act.

When Rubio listed some of his Senate accomplishments, Christie hammered him on that, too, in particular Rubio’s backing of a bill cracking down on Hezbollah, and his spotty attendance record for Senate votes. “That’s not leadership,” Christie said. “That’s truancy.”

Rubio tried to hit back at Christie over attendance, only to have it boomerang. The Florida senator pointed that Christie only reluctantly went back to New Jersey for 36 hours during a big snow storm. "They had to shame you into going back,” Rubio said.

Christie shot back — “The shame is, Marco, you would actually criticizes someone for showing up to work."

Rubio had some missed opportunities, as well. His campaign is centered on his appeal as a next-generation Republican who can “turn the page” on the past. But when asked how he would contrast with Clinton in a general election, he left out his generational appeal entirely.

Rubio found his footing in the closing minutes with an impassioned defense of his opposition to abortion, turning the question against the Democrats.

“They are the extremists when it comes to the issue of abortion, and I can’t wait to expose them when it comes to a general election,” he said to huge cheers.

Cruz and Trump mostly returned to their détente from earlier debates. Though Cruz has talked about “Trumpertantrums” on the trail, he declined to repeat those accusations on stage and said nothing when Trump declared, “I actually think I have the best temperament.”

Trump, who has led widely in the polls here, seemed content to hew to the major themes of the campaign.

“We’re going to win with Trump. We’re gonna win,” Trump said at one point. “Our country is going to hell,” he said at another.

One of the debate’s most memorable moments came when Trump returned to spar with Bush, his favorite debate foe.

Bush had been criticizing Trump over his support for eminent domain ("Eminent domain is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump had said), when Trump lifted his finger to his mouth and shushed Bush.

"Quiet," Trump said. The crowd of more than 1,000 booed loudly.

“That’s all of his donors and special interests,” Trump shouted. The booing continued and so did Trump.

"The RNC told us we have all donors in the audience. And the reason they're not loving me is I don't want their money," Trump said.

Trump, who has promised to be “the greatest jobs president that God has ever created,” was asked how many jobs he would create and how exactly he would do it. He dodged both.

“I will bring jobs back from China, I will bring jobs back from Japan. I will bring jobs back from Mexico,” Trump said.

But Trump’s evasion went unchallenged, both by the moderators and his foes

John Kasich, who is competing for many of the same voters as Rubio, Christie and Bush, tried to stay above the fray. He joked, when he first got an opportunity to speak, that each of the 100 town halls he’s held in New Hampshire were “a lot more fun than what we saw here today.”

“A lot more positive,” Kasich said.

Ben Carson was mostly a non-factor. He complained multiple times about not getting sufficient time to speak, interjecting at one point that he was “Not here just to add beauty to the stage.”

The candidates engaged in revealing discussions of both foreign policy and the definition of torture, as Cruz tried to find a middle ground in the GOP’s approach to international intervention. He advocated for “carpet-bombing” but promised incongruously that it would be “targeted,” as well.

“Kill the enemy and then get the heck out,” Cruz summarized his international doctrine.

Cruz also said he was open to bringing back waterboarding, as did Trump, who said, “I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”

A night with Trump back on the debate stage wouldn’t be complete without a least a few slights. And he saved his sharpest barbs against Cruz for his concluding statement, giving Cruz no chance to respond, when he accused him of cheating to win Iowa last week.

“That’s because he got Ben Carson’s votes, by the way,” Trump said with a smile.

Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.

