I posted this on RRH, so I might as well copy and paste it here:
"My point of view is that for Rubio to do as well as some here hope or project in NH, he will need to change his style a bit. He is too scripted, and his speeches too canned, and he needs to mix it up more. And he should not shy away from doing so, because Rubio is at his best when attacked. He also needs to tone down some wearing God on his sleeve while in NH. At the moment, if I lived in NH, I still would probably vote for Kasich at the moment, although I certainly would have voted for Rubio in Iowa. But I would be open to Rubio, if I became more confident he could handle the back and forth, and there was something behind his focus group tested but rather empty in substance stump speech.
But I also don’t think Rubio needs to come in second in NH to stay in the hunt, and perhaps as the favorite. It would be helpful though if he came in ahead of Cruz in NH. I really think Rubio is playing hard for South Carolina, where his evangelical light approach, mixed with pragmatism, and pleasant personality and good temperament, is a way to stay close in the piedmont, while winning big in the tidewater area, in SC. I think he thinks that is more important than NH, and I tend to agree with him. SC is the key for Rubio.
I remember back in 2008, in NH, when McCain had those splendid town hall meetings, doing real back and forth, while Romney had his “ask Romney anything” town hall meetings, but that title was false and misleading, as he just gave his lifeless and boring stump speech, and took about 3 questions, and left. I knew at that point that McCain had an excellent shot of overtaking Romney, and he did. So be forewarned Rubio. Don’t go the Romney route!
Just my two cents.
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