Rubio back in action after a difficult debate
The air was filled with a sense of nervous excitement in the packed cafeteria at Hills Garrison School, in Hudson, New Hampshire. The room was silent with the exception of the hushed murmurings of people asking, “Where’s Marco?” and “When is he going to get here?” All of a sudden, the relative quiet was broken when a young man jumped up on stage with a mic asking the crowd if they were, “Ready to see the next President of the United States!” The crowd lunged to their feet and roared, before being quickly disappointed by the explanation that Rubio was twenty minutes away. That same sense of humor prevailed throughout the remainder of the town hall gathering.
Rubio was remarkably well-composed despite having his first poor debate performance the night before. He began the town hall thanking the crowd and making a joke about how his boys were confused by the fact that Batman and Superman were here for the town hall, referencing the protesters outside who were dressed as super heroes. The bulk of Rubio’s speech was the same recycled content that anyone could have seen in the Republican debate. Despite this, Rubio was able to completely capture the attention of the crowd with his message, turning throughout his speech to address a different portion of the audience. Rubio was able to keep the audience completely silent, except for when he wanted a point to be punctuated by applause.
Regardless of his performance in the debate, Rubio continues to attract a wide variety of individuals to his campaign. Among those in attendance this Sunday morning were Charlie and Betsy Pyne, a middle-aged couple from Massachusetts. They were both supporters of Carly Fiorina earlier in the race, but have shifted their support to Marco Rubio in response to Fiorina’s lack of viability and Rubio’s perceived strength in both the current nomination and his promising potential in the general election. They were impressed with Rubio at the town hall, particularly with his off-the-cuff jokes about Marco Polo, Bernie Sanders and the comical protesters outside.
In addition to the Pyne’s, Eric Cooper was in attendance to the town hall. Cooper, a Hudson native currently living in Salem, is a strong social conservative who came to the town hall to give Rubio a last chance before voting for Cruz. Mr. Cooper thought that Rubio really struggled in the debate the night before, and wanted to ask Rubio the question of how he planned to respond to difficult questions that criticized his record like those of Gov. Christie. Cooper got the chance to ask his question during an extensive meet and greet at the end of the town hall. In response, Cooper was dismayed to see Rubio dismissing his struggle, claiming that “it was silly” and that he “didn’t want to get in the mud.” Cooper left the event prepared to vote for Ted Cruz.
