Talk Elections

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Own creation - modification

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The 2016 Republican Iowa caucuses on February 1 2016, were concluded through pretty close results between Ted Cruz (who won the Iowa caucuses with 28 % of the vote), Donald Trump (who got 24 %) and Marco Rubio (who got 23 % of the vote).

If I made a timeline about an alternate scenario in which Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses, it would not be interesting because I think that Trump would still have won the Republican nomination if he won the Iowa caucuses.

So I decided to make a timeline about what would have happened if Florida Senator Marco Rubio, rising star of the Republican Party, won the Iowa caucuses.

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After Mitt Romney's lost the 2012 US presidential election to Barack Obama, the Republican Party must decide which way to turn.

In 2013, first year of Barack Obama's second term as President of the United States, America faces many divisions among its people. The GOP is divided, mostly on immigration issues due to the Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have gave access to American citizenship for illegal immigrants. The American people is also divided on the gun control issue.

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The Syrian Civil War opposing the dictatorial regime Bachar al-Assad, supported materially and militarily by Russia for economic purposes, and the Syrian rebellion intensifies, triggering debates on whether the United States should intervene militarily to support the Syrian rebellion. The Ukrainian revolution of 2014 is marked by protests against Russia's political and economic influence on Ukraine. After multiplied protests, pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych resigns, thus gradually freeing Ukraine from Russia's influence and orienting Kiev to the European Union, a tendency reinforced by the election of Petro Proshenko as President of Ukraine on May 2014. But days after Yanukovych fled Kiev on February 2014, an armed pro-Russian rebellion opposed to the Europeanization emerges in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, multiplying attacks against the Ukrainian army. Determined to protect it's economic interests in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's Russia intervenes militarily in Ukraine, annexes Crimea, and materially supports the pro-Russian rebellion, all actions marking a violation of territorial integrity.

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Due to US troops' and US allies' troops withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, this country witnesses the emergence of the jihadist group of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a branch of Al Qaeda operating in Iraq and Syria. Led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS takes most of the western part of Iraq and approaches Baghdad. It also extended its territory in eastern Syria. ISIS' rise forced the United States and their allies, including their Arab partners, to start an air-based military intervention in Iraq and Syria in order to fight ISIS through airstrikes.

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Partly due to such increasing international insecurity and to Obama's decreasing job approval, the 2014 midterm elections were concluded through successes by the Republican Party who increased its dominance in the House of Representatives by gaining 13 more seats, which puts the party at 247 seats against 188 seats for the Democrats. Republicans also took control of the U.S. Senate by gaining 9 Senate seats, thus putting it at 54 seats against 46 seats for the Democrats. So Republicans control both chambers of the Congress, which is likely to complicate President Obama's political agenda.

At the end of 2014, the Obama administration normalized the relations between the United States and Cuba, thus reinforcing the possibility that the Cuban embargo would be lifted, a policy opposed by Republicans who think that it would increase the Castro regime's tyrannical and oppressive influence on the Cuban people. In 2014 and 2015, many innocent African-Americans were killed by white policemen or white supremacists (including in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 2015), which divides the country, triggers riots and contributes to the emergence of Black Lives Matter, a movement fighting for the African-American cause. On June 26 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States legalized gay marriage. On October of the same year the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement of nuclear non-proliferation on Iranian nuclear, is adopted, thus lifting US sanctions against Iran though it increased concerns among the American people since the lifting of US sanctions would allow Iran to earn the necessary revenues to develop its uranium in order to construct nuclear weapons, which would be a threat to international security. And on December 2015, President Obama ratified the Paris Agreement dealing with, greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

Obama's second term is also marked by an improvement of the economic situation through the decrease of unemployment rate. Job creation under Obama's presidency is mostly due to tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses, support to U.S. automobile industry and decreased imports of foreign oil and gas, thus reducing the unemployment rate to 5 % in January 2016. Yet, it's one of the slowest economic growths America has ever known due to increased taxes and regulations on the American people, businesses and energy industry, to a low GDP, to low minimum wage and to an increased national debt that almost hits 20 trillion dollars. In 2015, Obama has urged Congress to ratify a 12-nation free trade pact called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade deal that would lower tariffs and increase economic and trade relations between the United States and Asian countries in the Pacific region, except for China and North Korea, thus making America competitive in Pacific and Asian markets.

In 2015, national security concerns emerged among the American people due to multiplied terrorist attacks around the world, notably two attacks in Paris (January and November) and two attacks on the United States’ territory (the first one in Garland, Texas, on May 2015 and the second one in San Bernardino, California, on December 2015).

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Source : (Own modification, original image attribution: [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/the-republican-rivals-gather-in-cleveland/400712//John Minchillo] via Associated Press)

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Meanwhile, the 2016 US presidential election race starts. On March 2015, Texas Senator Ted Cruz becomes the first Republican to announce his candidacy for President of the United States. A week later, it was Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's turn. On mid-April, former First Lady, former New York Senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces that she launches a second presidential bid, eight years after her failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. The next day, Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio announces his candidacy for President of the United States, declaring that yesterday is over and that America must look to the future. In total, 6 Democrats and 17 Republicans are running for President in the 2016 election cycle. This high number of candidates among Republicans makes the 2016 Republican primary race the most wide-open contest.

But one of the most controversial candidacies among Republicans is businessman, reality television and real estate developer Donald Trump's candidacy who declared his candidacy in mid-June 2015 while declaring that Mexican are « rapists, criminals and drug dealers ». Donald Trump calls for a deportation of all illegal immigrants, plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican borders to stop illegal immigration and seeks to renegotiate free trade deals. Trump multiplies it's controversial comments, especially on John McCain's war hero status, and mocked disabled reporter with the following words : « Uh, I don't know what I said. Uh, I don't remember. » He also promises to fight terrorism by killing women and children of terrorists. Despite these controversial comments, Donald Trump rises in the polls for the Republican nomination and even rises to the top of all the 17 Republican candidates for President. This is mostly due to the American people's increasing fatigue towards politicians and political elites which, they believe, abandoned them. Donald Trump's rise is also due to his populist message. This anti-establishment sentiment is not only felt among Republicans : it's also felt among Democrats due to Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders' candidacy. Sanders opposes free trade deals and unveiled an agenda more progressive than Hillary Clinton's by promoting a 15 $ minimum wage, free education and by making green energy development one of his main priorities. This agenda helps Sanders to become Hillary Clinton's main rival for the Democratic nomination.

The 2016 presidential race goes on through markable or controversial declarations, presidential debates, town-halls, rallies, fundraising events and visits across the country, mostly in early voting states in the primary season. While Bernie Sanders gradually reduces the gap between him and Hillary Clinton in the polls, Marco Rubio dominates the debate stages thanks to his strong debate performances, especially on his voting attendance record in the Senate, on Hillary Clinton, on economic issues, on social issues and foreign policy issues. Rubio's debate performances helps him to progress in the Republican primary polls by rising from 7th place to third place behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Rubio even edges his mentor and fellow Floridian former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (son of former President George H. W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush) when it comes to endorsements and becomes the favorite of the establishment.

As of January 2016, 12 of the 17 Republican presidential candidates are still in the race. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former New York Governor George Pataki and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham dropped out of the race due to their weak showing in the polls and their struggle to gain attraction and to raise money. Rick Perry endorsed his fellow Texan Ted Cruz while George Pataki endorsed Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham endorsed Jeb Bush. On the Democratic side, on only 3 of the 6 Democratic candidates are still in the race. Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Professor at Harvard Law School Lawrence Lessig dropped out of the race.

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The Iowa caucuses of February 1 2016 are getting closer and closer and all the presidential candidates are strongly and fiercely investing their efforts in this rural state in order to boost their campaigns. On the Republican side, it's a close race between Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio while the Democratic contest is announced to be a dual between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

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According to a poll released by Opinion Savvy on January 29, Marco Rubio is getting closer and closer to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the voting intentions in Iowa. So Rubio's presidential campaign decided to intensify its efforts in Iowa in order to win that state. The Florida Senator targets the Polk county (Des Moines' location), the Woodbury county (which seat is Sioux City), the Linn county (where Cedar Rapids is located), the Scott county (Davenport's county) and all the rural counties neighboring these urban counties.

Since agriculture is Iowa's main economic activity, Rubio promises, on campaign trail, to boost America's agriculture by cutting taxes for businesses, including tractor and seed companies, to help them to innovate and to manufacture more tractors and seeds in order to create jobs, improve agricultural technologies, ensure Iowa's and America's subsistence. This agenda is reiterated in an ad titled « Prosperity and subsistence » and that airs in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

« Prosperity and subsistence » advertisement narration :
Narrator :
In this time of economic stagnation, the American people, including farmers, are struggling to recover and to prosper. Many farmers lost their jobs and rising inflation raised the cost of buying agricultural products, which hurts agricultural businesses. We need to reverse this situation. Marco Rubio has a plan to help farmers.

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As President, Marco Rubio will cut taxes for businesses, including tractor and seed companies, to help them to innovate and to manufacture more tractors and seeds, which will boost job creation, improve agricultural technologies, ensure Iowa's and America's subsistence, reduce the food prices through the reduction of inflation and reduce Americans' dependence on food stamps, which will reinforce their purchasing power and give them more access to food. That's how we're going to make sure that the American people will live better lives by finding good-paying jobs, fulfilling their food needs and accomplishing their agricultural activities.

Marco Rubio for prosperity and subsistence!

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Marco Rubio : I'm Marco Rubio and I approve this message.

In an effort to attract Iowa's evangelical voters, Rubio's campaign broadcasts an ad that describes the Florida Senator's plan to defend the freedom of religion. The ad titled « Fight for Liberty » airs in Iowa and South Carolina.

« Fight for liberty » advertisement narration :

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Narrator : Fighting terrorism is necessary not only to ensure international security and to save innocent lives but also to defend freedom of religion. In the Middle East, ISIS is persecuting Christians and Muslims who are not sharing their views and even beheaded many of them.

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It's in violation of freedom of religion, an important wall defending justice, freedom, democracy as well as gender equity and an important element of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. If we take military action in the Middle East, we will not only destroy terrorism and reinforce security as well as innocent lives but also save Middle East Christians from persecution, which will save freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble and the right to petition.

If you want freedom to be maintained and your values to be defended here and abroad, I'm asking for your support.

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Marco Rubio : I'm Marco Rubio and I approve this message.


In an effort to attract Iowa voters who selected the economy as the most important issue, Rubio's campaign broadcasts an attack ad against Ted Cruz on his VAT tax plan in order to question Cruz's conservative credentials while describing Rubio's economic plan. The ad titled « Principled Fiscal Conservative » airs in Iowa.

« Principled Fiscal Conservative » advertisement narration :

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Narrator : Iowa is a great example of America's economic prosperity and opportunity.

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CNBC's list of "Top States for Business in 2010" has ranked Iowa as the sixth best state in the nation. Scored in 10 individual categories, Iowa was ranked 1st when it comes to the cost of doing business, 12th when it comes to business friendliness, 16th in education, 17th in both the cost of living and the quality of life, 20th in workforce, 29th in technology and innovation and 32nd in transportation.

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While Forbes Magazine ranked Des Moines among the top 10 of the best places in America to do business, it ranked this city at the first place in 2010 and 2013, which means that Des Moines was described as the best place to do business in the United States. This is mostly due to strong educational attainment (with 36 % of Des Moines' population who has a college degree and 92 % of this city's population who possesses a high school diploma) and also because energy costs here are 22 % below the national average, the cost of living in Des Moines is 10 % below the national average and business costs here are 18 % below the national average. Economic growth here outpaced the U.S. as a whole by 68 % since 2010. Here is an example of this matter of fact : Des Moines is a major center for the insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. And Des Moines is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group, Meredith Corp., Ruan Transportation, EMC Insurance, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, MidAmerican Energy Company and Firestone Agricultural Tire Company.

So Des Moines is a great symbol of America's prosperity coming from free enterprise and free market as well as ingenuity, hard-work and entrepreneurship of the American people. Prosperity does not come from big government policies.

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But unfortunately, Ted Cruz seeks to impose a value added tax like they have in Canada and European socialist countries, which will be harmful to new and marginal business activities, make America a harder place to do business and plummet consumerism by taxing it, thus hurting consumers' purchasing power and decrease businesses' competitiveness and their ability to produce, to sell and to create jobs.
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Obama and Pelosi said they're open to a value added tax. President Reagan opposed it. No wonder that conservatives called the Cruz scheme a liberal's dream because it makes it so easy to raise taxes.

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As Marco Rubio understands, Iowa represents an example of the importance of making America the best place in the world to do business, a goal that requires fully utilizing our energy resources, bringing our debt under control, repealing and replacing Obamacare, making higher education faster and easier to access, promoting free trade, reducing the cost of doing business in America and cutting taxes and regulations on the American people and on business owners, which will bring a stronger purchasing power to our people and increase our businesses' ability to grow, to expand, to produce, to sell and to create jobs.
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These are all policies that Marco Rubio will adopt as President of the United States. As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, he is candidate who has the best experience to ensure job creation, to make America the best place in the world to open and expand a business and to lead our country to permanent prosperity and opportunity.

So Iowa, for the sake of a new American prosperity and a New American Century, vote Rubio on Monday.

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Marco Rubio : I'm Marco Rubio and I approve this message.

Rubio's foreign policy speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa :

Iran wants Israel's death, which means a genocide against Judaism. That's why we can't let Iran getting nuclear weapons not only because it will threat international peace and security but also because it will represent a threat to freedom of religion, a basic element of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States alongside freedom of the press and freedom of the speech. That's why we need more sanctions against Tehran to make sure Iran won't get the necessary capitals to develop it's nuclear program. That's why we have to reinforce our defense relations with our local allies by creating an intergovernmental military alliance that I call the « South-Western Asia Defense Alliance » (that would include America, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Jordan, Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) not only to fight jihadism in the Middle East but also to increase pressure on Iran and prevent it from pursuing its nuclear program. We need strength and collaboration with our allies if we want peace and we need peace to ensure liberty's defense.


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In the days preceding the Iowa caucuses, Rubio receives endorsements from the Des Moines Register and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, which could help him winning Iowa. In addition, Colorado Senator Cory Gardner announced his endorsement to Senator Rubio and campaigns for him in Iowa.

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail




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                       The North
                         Ted Cruz focused on the northern corner of Iowa, an evangelical stronghold. But he's not alone in this region since Ben Carson is also competing there and Iowa caucus winners Mike Huckabee (2008) and Rick Santorum (2012) are hoping to repeat their successes.
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                                                                                                                  ()                                                  ↖↑↗                                                        
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Border towns, businessmen and agricultural counties
Marco Rubio focused mostly on center, western and eastern Iowa, heavily Republican areas with active business communities, agricultural industries and evangelicals.

Nowhere men
Due to their poor showing in the Iowa polls, moderate candidates such as Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie decided to skip Iowa to focus more on New Hampshire, a friendlier state where much less evangelical voters will be voting unlike Iowa.

Next up : the Iowa caucuses

CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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« Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election center and I have John King and Anderson Cooper accompanying me. Welcome to the coverage of the 2016 Iowa caucuses that are announcing very hot. Will Iowa maintain Donald Trump's momentum or will it undermine it and give other candidates a new boost. Iowans are gathering across the state for the leadoff contest at the presidential contest.

Blitzer : « It's 8 pm. Based on the entrance polls, it looks like it's a three-man race on the Republican side : Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz in the lead thanks to massive support among evangelicals in Iowa's northern counties. »

Blitzer : « It's 9 : 30 pm. Marco Rubio rises to the top. The Florida Senator takes the lead with 27 % of the vote, edging Ted Cruz and Donald Trump as he wins the Dubuque county (home to Dubuque). Rubio also wins most of the counties around the Woodbury county, Sioux City's county, such as the Ida county, the Cherokee county, the Sioux county and the O'Brien county.»

Nice TL! How do you include the tick sign on election results, I haven't been able to figure it out!

I found it on Microsoft Word among the signs. So if you have Microsoft Word, you can find it and copy/taste it.

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Thank you, Iowa.

So this is the moment they said would never happen.

For months, for months they told us we had no chance. For months they told us because we offer too much optimism in a time of anger, we had no chance. For months they told us because we didn't have the right endorsements or the right political connections, we had no chance. They told me that we have no chance because my hair wasn't gray enough and my boots were too high. They told me I needed to wait my turn, that I needed to wait in line. But tonight, tonight here in Iowa, the people of this great state have sent a very great and clear message. After seven years of Barack Obama, we are not waiting any longer to take our country back.

This is not a time for waiting. For everything that makes this nation great now hangs in the balance. This is a time where we need a president that will preserve, protect the constitution of the United States. Not one that undermines, attacks, and ignores the constitution of the United States. This is a time for a president who will defend our Second Amendment rights. Not a president who undermines them. This is a time for a president that will rebuild the US military, because the world is a safer and a better place when the United States has the most powerful military in the world. This is no ordinary election. 2016 is not just a choice between two political parties. 2016 is a referendum. A referendum on our identity as a nation and as a people. In America, there are only two ways forward for us now.

We can either be greater than we've ever been or we can be a great nation in decline. Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton get elected, if they were to win, we will be a great nation in decline. If they win, Obamacare becomes permanent. If they win, these unconstitutional executive orders from this president become permanent. If they win, our military continues to decline. And if they win, the balance of our Supreme Court will be controlled by liberal justices for over a decade or longer. They cannot win.

Hillary Clinton is disqualified from being the president of the United States because she stored classified and sensitive information on her email server, because she thinks she's above the law. Anyone who lies to the families of people who lost their lives in service of this country can not be commander in chief of the United States. And so tonight I thank you here in Iowa. I thank you because tonight we have taken the first step, but an important step toward winning this election.

If I am our nominee — and I will be our nominee, thanks to what you have done here in this great state — when I am our nominee, we are going to unify this party, and we are going to unify the conservative movement. When I'm our nominee, we are going to grow the conservative movement. We're going to take our message to the people who are struggling paycheck to paycheck. To the students living under the burden of student loans. To the families struggling to raise their children with the right values, we will take our message to them and bring them to our side. When I am our nominee, we will defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or whoever they nominate.

I want to thank an all powerful and mighty God for the chance that he has given us to be a part of this endeavor here in Iowa. It's been a phenomenal experience. I want to thank my wife and my family. And I want to thank all of you for this contribution to our victory here in the Huckeye state.

I want to thank a good friend of mine, Gov. Mike Huckabee, for his service to our country. He's announced tonight he's suspending his campaign. We have tremendous admiration for Gov. Huckabee and we thank him for all he's done.

Two centuries ago an extraordinary generation living in one place at one time in America — colonists of an English colony — declared their independence from the most powerful empire in the world. They did it with the powerful words and principle that our rights come from our creator, they do not come from our government. And the rest is a two-century history of the most extraordinary nation known to mankind. I know America is special. I was raised to people who knew what life was like outside of America.

I was raised by people who came to this country with nothing, they barely spoke English at the time. They had no money. My father stopped going to school when he was nine years old, he had to go work.

He would never go back to school. He would work for the next 70 years of his life. My parents arrived in this country, they struggled. They were discouraged but they persevered. Less than a decade after they arrived here with nothing, my father a bartender on Miami beach, they owned a home. Not a mansion, but a safe and stable home in a safe and stable neighborhood. Decades later they would retire with dignity and security. And the most important thing of all for them, they left all four of their children with a life better than their own. This was the purpose of my parents' life: to give their kids, us, the chance to do all the things they never could.

That's not just my story. That's our story, that's America's story. That's the story of your parents — you know the stories of your parents who sacrificed and gave up so much so you could be what they could not. It's the story of those parents today who are doing the same for their children. It is this that makes America special. And this is what we fight now to preserve.

This is the kind of country that I want to leave for my children. This is the kind of country your children deserve to inherit as well. And this is what we must now decide. Whether we will remain that kind of country, or whether we will be the first generation to lose it. It's an important choice. And one that each generation before us has had to make. For America is not a special country by accident. America is a great nation. Because each generation before us did their part. Each generation before us sacrificed, they confronted their challenges, they embraced their opportunities, and for over two centuries, each generation has left the next better off than themselves.

Now the time has come for us to do the same. Now the moment has arrived for this generation of Americans to rise up to the calling of our heritage. Now the time has come for us to take our place and do what we must. And when I'm elected president of these great United States, we will do our part.

When I am elected president, when we together achieve this victory, we will embrace all the principles that made America great and we will apply them to the unique challenges of this new century. When our work is done, here is what history will say of this generation. It will say that we lived in the early years of this new century, in an uncertain and difficult time, but we remembered who we were. We rose up to the challenge of our time. We confronted our problems and solved them. Because they did, the American dream didn't just survive; it reached more people and changed more lives than ever before. Because we did, our children and grandchildren grew up to be the freest and most prosperous Americans that ever lived.

Because we did what needed to be done, the 21st century wasn't just as good as the 20th century, it was better. It was a new American century. This is the task before us. And I thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ, I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to come this far with each of you.

I am grateful to you, Iowa, you believed in me when others didn't think this night would be possible. When perhaps you were lost in the daily narrative, perhaps it was time to step aside, you believed in me. You walked with us, you made the calls and knocked on doors. You made a huge difference tonight. I will be back here in October of next year and September of this year because — I said next year, I'll be back next year too — but I'm going to be back in October and September of this year because when I'm our nominee, we are going to win Iowa, and we are going to win this election for this country. And so Iowa thank you so much. We will never forget you, we will see you soon again. And New Hampshire, we will see you in the morning. Thank you, God bless you. Thank you very much.

Gender

                      Men (52 %)               Women (48 %)

Bush                  2 %                            3 %
Carson               8 %                            11 %
Christie              2 %                             2 %
Cruz                  27 %                          26 %
Fiorina               1 %                             2 %
Huckabee           2 %                             2 %
Kasich               2 %                              2 %
Paul                  5 %                              5 %
Rubio                28 %                            24 %
Santorum          1 %                              1 %
Trump               24 %                            23 %

Age

                     17-29 (12 %)              30-44 (16 %)         45-64 (46 %)         65 and older (27 %)

Bush                  1 %                            2 %                        2 %                         4 %
Carson               10 %                           6 %                       10 %                        10 %
Christie              2 %                             2 %                       2 %                          1 %
Cruz                  25 %                           29 %                      27 %                     26 %
Fiorina               1 %                             2 %                        2 %                         2 %
Huckabee           1 %                             1 %                        2 %                         2 %
Kasich               2 %                              2 %                        2 %                         2 %
Paul                  11 %                            7 %                         3 %                        2 %
Rubio                29 %                            28 %                       26 %                      25 %
Santorum          1 %                              0 %                         1 %                        1 %
Trump               18 %                            21 %                       24 %                      25 %

Race

                   White (97 %)              Non-white (3 %)
Bush                  2 %                             n/a                     
Carson               9 %                            n/a                       
Christie              2 %                              n/a                     
Cruz                  26 %                            n/a                   
Fiorina               2 %                              n/a                       
Huckabee           2 %                              n/a                       
Kasich               1 %                               n/a                       
Paul                  4 %                             n/a                         
Rubio                29 %                             n/a                       
Santorum          1 %                               n/a                         
Trump               22 %                             n/a
               
Ideology

       Very conservative (40 %)       Somewhat conservative (45 %)         Moderate (14 %)         
Bush                  1 %                            2 %                                           4 %                       
Carson               9 %                           11 %                                          6 %                       
Christie              1 %                             2 %                                          3 %                         
Cruz                  40 %                           18 %                                       8 %                       
Fiorina               2 %                             2 %                                          2 %                       
Huckabee           2 %                             2 %                                         1 %                         
Kasich               0 %                              2 %                                         6 %                         
Paul                  2 %                            5 %                                           5 %                       
Rubio                23 %                           33 %                                        33 %
Santorum          2 %                              1 %                                         0 %                       
Trump               19 %                            23 %                                       32 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (13 %)         Economy/Jobs (27 %)         Terrorism (25 %)        Govt. spending (32 %)

Bush                  1 %                            3 %                               1 %                         2 %
Carson               7 %                           9 %                               8 %                         11 %
Christie              1 %                             2 %                             2 %                         1 %
Cruz                  34 %                           17 %                           31 %                       26 %
Fiorina               1 %                             2 %                             1 %                         3 %
Huckabee           1 %                             1 %                            2 %                         2 %
Kasich               0 %                              3 %                            0 %                         2 %
Paul                  1 %                              4 %                              1 %                         9 %
Rubio                10 %                            35 %                        33 %                      24 %
Santorum          0 %                              1 %                           2 %                          1 %
Trump               44 %                            23 %                         19 %                       18 %

Top candidate quality

                     Can win (21 %)          Shares my values (42 %)    Tells it like it is (14 %) Can bring change (21%)

Bush                  2 %                            3 %                                          1 %                         2 %
Carson               1 %                           15 %                                         6 %                        8 %
Christie              1 %                             1%                                          3 %                          2 %
Cruz                  20 %                           35 %                                       10 %                     23 %
Fiorina               1 %                             2 %                                        3 %                         3 %
Huckabee           0 %                             2 %                                        0 %                         2 %
Kasich               2 %                              2 %                                       1 %                         2 %
Paul                  1 %                            6 %                                          3 %                        5 %
Rubio                49 %                            29 %                                      10 %                      22 %
Santorum          1 %                              2 %                                        0 %                        1 %
Trump               22 %                            4 %                                       62 %                      31 %

Marco Rubio's victory in the Iowa caucuses boosted him in the polls and raised from third place to second place in the nationwide primary polls, thus considerably threatening Donald Trump's path to the nomination. So Rubio is likely to be the main target of all the other candidates from the establishment such as Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich. If Rubio is to win the nomination, he will have to eliminate all the other establishment candidates as soon as possible. New Hampshire should be the state deciding who will be the favorite of the establishment. Rubio has to finish at least second in New Hampshire to keep his chances alive.

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After his victory in the Iowa Republican caucuses, Marco Rubio received many endorsements, notably from two former rivals for the Republican nomination : Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana Governor, and Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania Senator. He's also endorsed by South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, wich could help Senator Rubio in the South Carolina primary in two and a half weeks. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey also announced his endorsement to Marco Rubio. The Florida Senator is even endorsed by Congressman Trey Gowdy, one of the most conservative Representatives from South Carolina.

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On the campaign trail in New Hampshire, Donald Trump slammed Ted Cruz by accusing him of orchestrating dirty tricks during the Iowa caucuses :

Donald Trump : Yesterday, during the Iowa caucuses, not before or after, Ted Cruz said that my friend Dr. Ben Carson dropped out of the race, so many people voted for Ted instead of Ben. But you know what, Ben Carson is still in the race. He did not dropped out.

So Ted Cruz lied about Ben Carson during the Iowa caucuses in order to win more votes, hoping that it would help him winning the Iowa caucuses. But it did not work for him because despite of Ted's, I mean Lyin' Ted's dirty tricks, Marco Rubio won this state and topped Lyin' Ted. So remember how we henceforth should call Ted.

Crowd : Lyin' Ted, Lyin' Ted, Lyin' Ted (chant)

Donald Trump : So Lyin' Ted helds the Bible high, puts it down and then he starts lying. We will bring change in Washington, believe me, and the American people will no longer feel betrayed by career politicians.

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After making poor performance in the Iowa Republican caucuses, Ohio Governor John Kasich indicated that he would drop out of the race if he doesn't finish at least third in New Hampshire.

« If we don't do well, we're not going to be dragging around like some band of minstrels who beg people to come to our show, » Kasich said at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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Date : February 4, 2016

Place : Durham, New Hampshire

Host : NBC News

Moderators : Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow

Podium order :

                                
Question from Chuck Todd : Three days ago, Senator Marco Rubio surprisingly won the Iowa Republican caucuses and is making progress in the polls. Now he raised in second place in Republican national polls and in the New Hampshire primary polls, thus becoming Donald Trump's main rival for the Republican nomination. So let me ask you the following question : assuming that Marco Rubio becomes the Republican nominee, what will be the main argument you would use against him if you're the Democratic nominee? Secretary Clinton you go first.


Hillary Clinton : Well Chuck, during all my career, I've been tested over and over again whether it's as First Lady of the United States, as Senator of New York or as Secretary of State and thanks to my leadership, we improved social services for everyday Americans and we led an effective fight against terrorism. Senator Rubio does not have the national security experience to lead this nation. Now he's missing many Senate votes in order to focus on his campaign, which means that he's missing occasions to take a position on very important issues.

Chuck Todd : Senator Sanders?

Bernie Sanders : First of all, Secretary, I don't think that attacking Senator Rubio on his vote record will be enough to win the White House. Do you remember during the third Republican primary debate in Colorado last October when Jeb Bush used this argument against Senator Rubio? This attack backfired because Rubio slammed Bush for using this argument only against politicians running for the same office while Governor Bush did not complained about John McCain's vote record when Senator McCain was running in 2008. So if you're running against Rubio as the Democratic nominee, he could turn this argument against you because when you were Senator, you missed many votes as well when you were running in 2008. I don't even remember you complaining about Barack Obama's vote record in 2008 or about John Kerry's vote record in 2004.

But let's come back to your question Chuck. Senator Rubio's positions are very conservative : he's against abortion on every circumstance, he's in favor of free trade and oil drilling. He's in favor of sending ground troops in the Middle East to fight terrorism, which will be a disastrous for stability in the Middle East. Senator Rubio is sharing positions with Secretary Clinton because, Secretary, you voted in favor of military intervention in Iraq in 2002, you supported the military intervention in Libya in 2011 as Senator Rubio did while I opposed it. When you were Secretary of State, you supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership as Senator Rubio did while I opposed it because unlike you I will always defend our workers. When it comes to energy, you remained unclear about energy issues because you did not answer the question on whether you would be in favor of a carbon tax, which Senator Rubio, of course, opposes. I'm in favor of it and I will make sure that we put fossil energies aside and ensure energy independent through developping green energies. You remained unclear on whether you would raise the minimum wage to 15 $/hour, which Senator Rubio opposes and which I support.

So let me say this, Secretary, if you are too similar to conservatives, how can we trust you to lead this party? How can you lead us to victory?

That's why I should be the nominee because my nomination will bring all progressives and liberals voters, which will help us defeating whoever the Republicans will chose as their nominee, even Senator Rubio.

February 2, 2016

Education policy speech - University of New Hampshire, Manchester, New Hampshire
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We are a nation of immigrants and diversity is a good reputation for America. We need to make sure they can be integrated while our borders are secured. I was raised paycheck to paycheck and many immigrant families are living paycheck to paycheck so their kids don't have the same chance as other families to have the skills to succeed in America's schools.

The America my parents came to 60 years ago was one where you could find a middle income job even without a higher education. That is how they succeeded to the middle class, working as a bartender and a maid. But they desperately wanted their children to have even more than that. Giving us the chance at a better life was their American Dream. My parents did not make enough to save for our education. But I managed to use Pell grants, student loans, work study and summer jobs to pay for a four-year degree and eventually law school.

Not all college majors have the same success rate in terms of students' connection with good jobs. At the national level, majors like business, liberal arts, and hospitality have underemployment rates at 50 percent if not more. There are more graduates than jobs in these sectors. Meanwhile, engineering, health services and education all have underemployment rates under 25 percent. It's imperative that we reverse this tendency.

We need to promote school choice, which will cost families, including these immigrant families living paycheck to paycheck, less and produce higher outcomes compared to public education. It will grant parents the power to orientate their children out of poorly-performing schools assigned by zip code and look for better education elsewhere. It will expand opportunities for low-income students—especially minorities—to attend high-quality schools that would otherwise be accessible only to higher-income families, thus increasing their chances of success and of entry into the workforce.

China & India graduate more science & engineering PhDs, which is boosting their innovation knowledge faster than ours, boosting their industries and helping them creating much more new businesses and jobs than we do. So we need to increase education investing to make it easier to create the jobs of tomorrow and help students studying in business administration or in engineering to create, open and develop new businesses that will create more jobs thanks to increased knowledge. New Hampshire can be proud of one of its remarkable families : the Sununu family, a great and honorable family of innovators that is prominent in the fields of business and politics represents a great example of job creation and prosperity through knowledge. Let's give all American people this chance.

That's how we will create the good-paying jobs of tomorrow and strengthen America's reputation as the land of opportunity.

That's what we can call the knowledge economy. We must put our children's needs first, ahead of the teacher unions' interests. School choice will give a chance for all Americans to accomplish the American Dream. By investing in education, we will create more companies and remain the number one country in the world in terms of job creation.

Thank you! Que Dios bendiga los Estados Unidos de América!

February 3, 2016

After learning that John Kasich would drop out of the race if he doesn't finish at least third in New Hampshire, Rubio's presidential campaign decided to produce negative ads against Kasich in order to drown him in the Granite State. So the Florida Senator's campaign orchestrated ad filmings during the day.

In the same day, Rubio makes debate preparations because he's certain that he will be one of the main targets during the next debate in Goffstown, NH, since he won the Iowa caucuses.

February 4, 2016

Senator Rubio's presidential campaign broadcasted an ad attacking Governor Kasich on comments during an interview in 2006. At that time Kasich said during this interview that « no matter if George W. Bush or John Kerry won the 2004 US presidential election, America will be fine ». The ad titled « Lack of judgement and leadership » airs in New Hampshire.

« Lack of judgement and leadership » advertisement narration :

During an interview in 2006, John Kasich showed that lack of judgement, especially on national security.

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John Kasich's quote during the interview :  « If Kerry OR Bush wins, America will be fine. »

No, Governor!

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If John Kerry won the 2004 presidential election, America would not have been fine. Under a Kerry presidency the government would have got bigger and bigger, taxes on the American people would have been raised, we would have been much more dependent on foreign oil due to higher taxes on energy industries, government spending would have considerably expanded, the deficit would have been much higher today and President Kerry would have imposed protectionism, thus making us less competitive in the world economy. Many American jobs would have been lost under a Kerry administration.

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On national security, if John Kerry was elected President, our defense budget would have been reduced, thus decreasing our troops' readiness, which would have encouraged terrorists to commit more attacks against us and our allies. Osama Bin Laden would still have been on the run today, Al Qaida would have won and democracy would have been in much stronger danger around the world.

We need to cut taxes for all the American people and business owners in order to make them able to hire and to reinforce our consumers' purchasing power. We have to encourage oil drilling in order to make us energy independent and to develop renewable energies with a part of the revenues from oil drilling. We need to promote free trade to make us competitive in the world economy through lower tarifs. We must cut government spending and balance our budget.

We have to increase our military spending, which will help us modernizing our military and to fight terrorism more effectively.

That's what Marco Rubio will do as President of the United States.

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So the choice for this election is clear : lack of judgement and risky ideas or proven leadership.

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I'm Marco Rubio and I approve this message.

Wow Rubio, are you seriously invoking John Kerry? A secretary of state that hasn't been relevant for 12 years?

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Date : February 6, 2016

Place : Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire

Host : ABC News

Moderators :  David Muir and Martha Raddatz

Podium order based on the candidates' standing in the polls :

Kasich   Bush   Cruz   Trump   Rubio   Carson   Christie

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Chris Christie : The fact is that what we need to have in this country is not to make the same mistake we made eight years ago. The fact is it does matter when you have to make decisions and be held accountable for them. It does matter when the challenges don't come on a list of a piece of paper of what to vote yes or no every day, but when the problems come in from the people that you serve.

I like Marco Rubio, and he's a smart person and a good guy, but he simply does not have the experience to be president of the United States and make these decisions. We've watched it happen, everybody. For the last seven years, the people of New Hampshire are smart. Do not make the same mistake again.

Marco Rubio: Well, I think the experience is not just what you did, but how it worked out. Under Chris Christie's governorship of New Jersey, they've been downgraded nine times in their credit rating. This country already has a debt problem, we don't need to add to it by electing someone who has experience at running up and destroying the credit rating of his state.

And let me tell you this, Chris : President Obama did not fail because of his experience. He failed because of his ideas that weakened our national defense, encouraged our ennemies, weakened free enterprise through bigger government, higher and excessive regulations and higher taxes that weakened the American people's purchasing power.

As President, I will do exactly the opposite by reinforcing our military, cutting taxes for all the American people and encouraging free enterprise.

And leadership means taking the right decisions and that's exactly what I did through my career in the Senate by approving sanctions against the Hezbollah, reforming the VA, military intervention in Libya that contributed to Gaddafi's fall, by supporting recent free trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and by voting in favor of the crusade we are leading against ISIS in the Middle East. I took all these decisions for the good of the American people. So don't question my leadership, that's not a badge of honor.

APPLAUSE

[...]


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Martha Raddatz : Governor Kasich, Senator Rubio recently attacked you for your statement during an interview in 2006 during which you said, I quote : « If Kerry OR Bush wins, America will be fine. » What did you mean by that?

John Kasich : What I meant is that our party was still controlling both chambers of the Congress, the Senate and the House of the Representatives. So the Congress would have been able to block any policy put in place by a Kerry administration if these policies' eventual results would not have been good for the American people whether it's on economic issues or foreign policy issues. And if the 2008 Financial crisis ere still to happen, then the Democrats would have been blamed for this, not the Republicans.

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Marco Rubio : Well Governor, even if our party controlled both houses of the Congress under a Kerry administration, John Kerry would still have used his veto in order to pass his policies, which would not have been good for our country. When it comes to the 2008 financial crisis, one of the reasons why it happened is because we lost the 2006 midterm elections, so the Democrats were able to block any policy that President Bush put in place in order to grow the US economy. As a result, we remained dependent on foreign oil, government spending raised, our deficit got bigger and our budget remained unbalanced.

If Kerry became President in 2004, international terrorism would have been stronger, much more innocent people would be dead today and we would have lost the War on Terror. Kerry's liberal agenda would have destroyed the economy and killed many American jobs or overshipped them overseas.

We can't afford to elect at the White House another man with judgement deficit like Barack Obama. We need a leader that will bring America to a safer, more prosperous and brighter future. And I believe I am that leader.


APPLAUSE

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Yesterday, during a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, son of former New Hampshire Governor John H. Sununu and Republican candidate for Governor of New Hampshire, announced that he gives his endorsement to Senator Marco Rubio. Here are some quotes from his speech :

Marco Rubio will keep the American Dream alive by reforming our immigration system, by fixing our education system to make it more accessible to the American people, by getting us energy independence to allow us to develop alternative energies, by making American businesses competitive, by cutting taxes for all Americans including the middle class, by standing with our precious allies and by modernizing our military. He has both the right economic background and the right foreign policy background to lead our nation to success, security, victory and unity.

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Yesterday in Durham, New Hampshire, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush echoes Marco Rubio's recent attacks against John Kasich. Here the some parts of his speech :

I l like Governor Kasich, but we need to tell things like they are. My friend Senator Rubio is right : my brother kept us safe. After 9/11, he drastically increased defense budget, which helped us reinforcing our military and to reinforce our alliances. As a result, we overthrowed the Taliban regime, killed many of Al Qaida's leaders, including Osama Bin Laden (even if it's under Barack Obama), overthrowed Saddam Hussein, restored democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And if we kept the majority in the Congress in 2006, under my brother's presidency, we could have avoided the 2008 Financial crisis by taking advantage of all of our resources, including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, etc. By pursuing tax cuts, our people's purchasing power would have been stronger, thus avoiding stronger unemployment rate as it happened in 2008.

That's why if I'm President I will accomplish what my brother couldn't have.

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We first have to clinch energy independence through increased oil drilling and production, which will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, boost America's automobile industry and deprive terrorists and dictarors in the Middle East of providing money from oil imports. Energy independence will also bring massive job creation in America and give us enough funds, which a part will be invested into the development of alternative and renewable energies, especially nuclear, solar, wind and hydrolelectricity, which will allow us to create jobs and to reduce our ecological footprint. The Energy Information Administration reported that New Hampshire's energy consumption and per capita energy consumption are among the lowest in the country. We need to increase it if we want to create new jobs. New Hampshire represents a perfect example of this desire to develop the electric industry since the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear reactor in New England and provides about 30 % of New Hampshire's electricity. I have a plan to boost our electric industry as well as our nuclear industry. I support an expansion of the Quebec–New England Electric Power Transmission (also called Northern Pass Transmission) to create new American jobs and develop new electric technologies that will help us creating more jobs. I will also, as President of the United States, in the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) woo French investors with electric industry skills in order to help our electric and nuclear industries growing thanks to nuclear technologies adopted by France, one of our greatest partners and one of the greatest electric powers in the world. That way, not only new American jobs will be created, but more Americans will have access to electricity.

These presidential candidates need to quit indulging in alternate history.

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail

()Working-class south                                                                  
With his populist and protectionist message, Donald Trump
is appealing among blue-collar workers in southern and center New Hampshire.
↓↘                                                                            

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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« Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Welcome to the coverage of the 2016 New Hampshire primary, the first primary in state. »

Blitzer : « It's 8 pm. and we can project that Donald Trump is leading in the Cheshire county with 32 % of the vote over Marco Rubio's 16 %. »

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

Blitzer : « It's 9 : 30 pm. Donald Trump wins the Strafford and Belknap counties while Senator Rubio wins the Merrimack county. Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush are battling for third place. »

Gender

                      Men (52 %)               Women (48 %)

Bush                  11 %                            16 %
Carson               2 %                            3 %
Christie              5 %                             4 %
Cruz                  12 %                          11 %
Fiorina               4 %                             4 %
Kasich               8 %                              9 %
Rubio                22 %                            23 %
Trump               35 %                            30 %

Age

                     18-29 (15 %)              30-44 (17 %)         45-64 (49 %)         65 and older (19 %)

Bush                  12 %                            7 %                        12 %                         16 %
Carson               1 %                           2 %                       2 %                        2 %
Christie              2 %                             4 %                       7 %                          6 %
Cruz                  17 %                           12 %                      11 %                     9 %
Fiorina               2 %                             5 %                        4 %                         5 %
Kasich               7 %                              9 %                        15 %                         16 %
Rubio                22 %                            24 %                       14 %                      16 %
Trump               35 %                            36 %                       34 %                      30 %

Race

                   White (96 %)              Non-white (4 %)
Bush                  13 %                             n/a                    
Carson               2 %                            n/a                      
Christie              4 %                              n/a                    
Cruz                  12 %                            n/a                    
Fiorina               4 %                              n/a                                              
Kasich               8 %                               n/a                                              
Rubio                22 %                             n/a                                              
Trump               34 %                             n/a
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (26 %)       Somewhat conservative (45 %)         Moderate (27 %)        
Bush                  9 %                            13 %                                           16 %                        
Carson               4 %                           2 %                                          1 %                      
Christie              3 %                             9 %                                          6 %                          
Cruz                  23 %                           9 %                                       4 %                      
Fiorina               5 %                             4 %                                          4 %                                                
Kasich               4 %                              11 %                                         18 %                                                
Rubio                16 %                           17 %                                       17 %                      
Trump               36 %                            34 %                                       33 %


Party identification

       Republicans (55 %)       Independents (42 %)        
Bush                  12 %                            11 %                                                                  
Carson               3 %                           2 %                                                                
Christie              5 %                             5 %                                                                  
Cruz                  12 %                           9 %                                                              
Fiorina               4 %                             4 %                                                                                          
Kasich               9 %                              13 %                                                                                        
Rubio                22 %                           20 %                                                            
Trump               33 %                            35 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (15 %)         Economy/Jobs (33 %)         Terrorism (24 %)        Govt. spending (26 %)

Bush                  5 %                            15 %                               16 %                         12 %
Carson               2 %                           2 %                               4 %                         2 %
Christie              2 %                             5 %                             7 %                         6 %
Cruz                  21 %                           6 %                           12 %                       13 %
Fiorina               2 %                             4 %                             3 %                         6 %
Kasich               4 %                              17 %                            10 %                         11 %
Rubio                12 %                            20 %                        21 %                      17 %
Trump               52 %                            30 %                         28 %                       32 %

Top candidate quality

                     Electability (12 %)          Shares my values (34 %)    Tells it like it is (24 %) Can bring change (28 %)

Bush                  10 %                            17 %                                          3 %                         11 %
Carson               1 %                           4 %                                         2 %                             1 %
Christie              4 %                             3%                                          9 %                            5 %
Cruz                  6 %                           21 %                                       2 %                        10 %
Fiorina               0 %                             5 %                                        2 %                              5 %
Kasich               11 %                              16 %                                       4 %                         15 %
Rubio                37 %                            19 %                                      15 %                         16 %
Trump               31 %                            14 %                                      59 %                         37 %

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Thank you New Hampshire.

Even though we didn't finished at the top, even though we finished second here in the Granite State, we can still win the Republican nomination. Remember 1996 (when Bob Dole finished second in New Hampshire behind Pat Buchanan but still won the nomination), 2000 (when John McCain won New Hampshire largely over George W. Bush who won the nomination) and 2008 (when Barack Obama won the nomination despite finishing second in New Hampshire behind Hillary Clinton).

In this time of economic stagnation, we need to embrace free enterprise and economic freedom in order to ensure massive job creation and economic prosperity for all by cutting taxes for all the American people, which will reinforce their purchasing power, clinching energy independence through increasing oil production and drilling that will get us more revenues that will be invested for renewable energy development, expanding free trade to reduce the cost of trading and to make us competitive in the world economy, making education accessible for all of our people, balancing the budget, invest a part of future budget surpluses into the development of infrastructure and championing businesses to reinforce their capacity of growing, expanding, innovating, producing and hiring.

In this time of war and growing terrorism, terrorists and all tyrannical regimes supporting terrorism are threatening international security and freedom by attacking us for what we believe. Iran and North Korea are developping their nuclear weapons and a nuclear attack from these nations would be very catastrophic and cost hundreds of thousands of lives or worse. Russia and China are pursuing their expansionist policies by deploying military troops in the territory of their neighbours to take control of these zones for economic, patriotic and territorial purposes, thus violating their neighbours' territorial integrity. We need to increase defense spending, to reinforce and modernize our military, deploy all the necessary troops and arsenal in the Middle East to fight and destroy terrorism and free Syria from Bachar el-Assad's tyranny, insanity and corruption. We need to reinforce and expand our alliances in the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent to defeat terrorism and stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism and around the Pacific to prevent North Korea from pursuing it's nuclear program and to stop China's agression in the South China Sea. We also have to stand with Ukraine by training the Ukrainian troops and providing them all the necessary weapons and arsenal to defend their country against Russia effectively, defeat these pro-Russian terrorists supported by Vladimir Putin and taking their country and Ukraine's national resources back.

Now, time has come for us to turn the page and to engage in this fight for liberty. New Hampshire sent a message based on it's official moto : either we live free or we die. For us, the choice is very easy : living free. But to live free, we have to fight for freedom and that's what I'm going to do in the economic area and in the foreign policy area as the 45th President of the United States of America!

Let's go to South Carolina to continue this fight for freedom, justice, democracy, prosperity, security and national unity.

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Thank you New Hampshire. Thank you folks.

All over this campaign, we invested most of our efforts on New Hampshire. But these are disapointing results. In this time of uncertainty for our party's future and our country's future, I estimated that it's not worth to pursue this race until the convention. For this reason, I suspend my campaign. I want to thank all the Americans who supported me. I won't endorse anyone for now. But I will surely not endorse Donald Trump. I will endorse whoever has the best chance to beat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, to defend our values and to bring America back on the right direction.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless America.

Due to John Kasich's and Chris Christie's withdrawal from the race, Marco Rubio has become the favorite of the Republican establishment. The South Carolina Republican primary is announced to be very crucial for two reasons : first because since 1980, whoever won the South Carolina Republican primary, except for Newt Gingrich in 2012, became the eventual Republican nominee. The other reason of the importance of this primary is that Jeb Bush is counting on the Palmetto State to revive his campaign. In fact, his brother George W. Bush is still popular there and many South Carolinians approve the War on Terror that Bush 43 launched. If Jeb loses in South Carolina, he's likely to drop out of the race.

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After the New Hampshire primary, the remaining Republican presidential candidates are getting major endorsements.

Just after John Kasich dropped out of the race, former New Hampshire Senator John E. Sununu and a former Kasich supporter, gave his endorsement to Senator Marco Rubio. The Florida Senator even got a bigger endorsement from Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

I spent 25 years in the private sector and I know what it takes to get small business growing again and to make America working again to make it the best place in the world to open a new business. Marco Rubio lived the American Dream and he understands the meaning of hard-working. He's a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He understands what it takes to grow the economy, to create jobs and to ensure permanent economic prosperity in America, Romney said yesterday during a Rubio rally in Manchester, NH.

Donald Trump got endorsement from former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and from Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, the most anti-amnesty Republican.

Jeb Bush got Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval's endorsement.

()

On February 12, Antonin Gregory Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, died at 79 years old. His death triggered debates among Republican presidential candidates about how to nominate future judges.

February 10, 2016

-Speech in Charleston about the importance of taking care of military veterans after their military service :
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I understand our veterans struggle to adapt. My older brother Mario Rubio is a military veteran and he represents to me an example of the living conditions of our veterans. I always support him just like all other veterans to help them to earn the best post military service life they would ever know. I have a clear record on improving our veterans lives.

In 2011, I cosponsored the AGREE Act alongside Democratic Senator Chris Coons. This bill gave tax credits for veterans opening a business franchise, so it helps them to find a good paying job and to prosper after their military service.

I successfully co-sponsored the 2014 VA reform law by introducing a measure empowering the VA secretary to hold managers accountable for incompetence, negligence and corruption and to care more about veterans than bureaucrats because it's another way to reward our veterans for their military service and their sacrifices for America.

If I'm elected President of the United States, our veterans will be rewarded for their valiant service to their country not only through medals of honor but also through health services.

If we take care of our veterans, as I always did and will always do, they will be thankful of the services we'll give to them just as we are thankful of their service for our country, for freedom and for our national security. I will use this leadership as President of the United States. So I can promise you that our future military veterans will have access to the same services as the current veterans do.

God bless our men and women in uniform, God bless our veterans and God bless the United States of America.

-Speech on African-Americans' living conditions - Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC :

In the last eight years, African-Americans' living conditions have not improved. Racism is still alive today and the violent deaths of African-Americans, including here in Charleston (2015) and in Ferguson (2014), demonstrated it, whether these murders were committed by criminals, terrorists or policemen. If you are white in America, you cannot fully understand what it means to be black in America. The racial tensions got worse than they were ten years ago and the economic depression we are actually living has deepen racial inequalities. We need a reformed criminal code, which criminal regulations and laws are easier to understand, a reform of civil forfeiture by which people suspected of crimes will be deprived of private property. We also need economic growth for all the American people, including African-Americans. So we have to promote school choice to give them an easier access to education and to champion our automotive industry by increasing oil and gas productions and cutting taxes on business because Detroit, capital of the American automotive industry, is now in bankruptcy, which have cost too many jobs, especially among African-Americans, and could contribute to the bankruptcy of other great cities of the Midwest (a region where a massive African-American population is living) like Chicago, Milwaukee, etc.

Since the beginning of its existence, the Republican Party has been an inclusive party and will keep this status. That's why Abraham Lincoln has freed African-Americans from slavery and that's why I appreciate Governor Haley's decision to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House after the Charleston shooting in 2015, because we will never tolerate discrimination because the American people must stay united and stand with an optimistic agenda like mine that will create jobs and opportunity in order to restore the American Dream.

February 11, 2016

-Foreign policy speech - The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, SC :
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In the U.S. Senate, I'm chairing the Committee on Foreign Relations, I know how diplomacy works. As President, I will use my diplomatic experience to strengthen our relations with our allies and create new alliances. I cited the example of a military collaboration similar to NATO between the powers of the Pacific to prevent any Chinese aggression or any North Korean nuclear attack against its neighbours. I also cited the example of a military collaboration between our country, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight Islamic terrorism and prevent any nuclear attack by Iran. Such alliances can work because all these countries have common goals like fighting Islamic terrorism, stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons or prevent a geopolitical crisis in the Pacific.

With our military power and with the collaboration of our allies, we will manage to defeat our enemies and that's why I will promote strength through unity as commander-in-chief. Like we always say since America's birth : « United We Stand ».

I supported sanctions on Hezbollah, which made this terrorist organization less capable of threatening Israel by supporting Palestinian extremists, of helping militarily the Assad regime in Syria and of helping Iran in getting nuclear weapon. Just like Iran, Hezbollah is threatening freedom of religion by threatening Israel, a Jewish nation. With Mossad's collaboration, we'll be able to discover any conspiracy fomented by Hezbollah against us and our allies, making our foes in the Middle East weaker and making this region safer than it was ever before.

In the last eight years, the world has grown more dangerous while our military suffered disastrous defense cuts. The threats to our nation and international security and peace like ISIS, Al Qaida, Iran, Russia, Syria, China and North Korea have continued to multiply. With a military built for the 20th century rather than the 21st, how can we expect a strong national security? As Commander-in-chief, I will restore American strength by giving our troops the training and equipment to combat successfully the threats they will face, by increasing defense spending to ensure our armed forces' readiness and to modernize our military. I will extend the size of the Marine to 182 000 men and the size of the Army to 490 000 to reverse the cuts in military spending and allow us to send more troops in Europe to stop the Russian agression.

I will recapitalize our Navy and increase the size of our fleet to at least 323 ships by 2024, reversing cuts that have slashed our fleet to its smallest size since World War I. Because a major part of this effort must be to ensure a large and modern U.S. submarine fleet, I will order at least two Virginia-class submarines to be built each year.

South Carolina has an important role to play in this process. The Navy’s Nuclear Power School, located just outside of Charleston, helps train the next generation of officers and enlisted sailors to operate many of the vanguard ships in our fleet. In all, defense spending accounted for more than six billion dollars in economic activity in South Carolina in 2014. That’s $1,262 per resident. A strong defense industrial base is necessary to our national security and our local economies as well, and that is why I will oppose more rounds of base realignment and closure, which endangers vital military installations in the Palmetto State and across the country.

To make sure that the 21st Century will be an American century, we need a strong American military, an element of our security and prosperity. And that's why I am running for president. For a long time, South Carolina has made a vital contribution to our defense and when I am Commander-in-chief it will continue to help ensure that Americans are safe and free. Thank you, God bless our men and women and uniform, God bless our veterans and God bless America.

February 12, 2016

-Foreign policy speech at Nuclear Power School in Goose Creek, SC :

In this time of growing international threats, we need to increase defense spending to counter these threats, which requires improving our military. We can do it by balancing the budget through tax cuts, job creation, free market policies as well as research and innovation supporting. Many military universities and colleges here in South Carolina like the Nuclear Power School partnered to ensure military arsenal improvement by research and innovation. That way, once the budget balanced, we can use the budget surplus to innovate our military arsenal, making our military much more powerful, our enemies much weaker and the world much safer.

We must show our solidarity with our allies, including Ukraine. We need to arm the Ukrainian troops and bring them military training. Russia is training and arming the pro-Russian rebellion, well Ukrainian troops will be able to defeat this insurgency and to defend their country with American military knowledge and weapons. Turkey's geographical position in proximity with Ukraine as well as a deployment of our fleet and our allies' fleets will help us to surround the pro-Russian insurgents occupying Crimea. Then, it will be easier to free Crimea and give it back to Ukraine. By supplying powerful submarines to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Naval Forces will be able to defeat the Russian Navy on the Black Sea if Russia ever decides to launch naval attacks against Ukraine.

By the way, if we increase diplomatic and economic sanctions against Russia, it will devalue Russian gas, which will make Ukraine more independent from Russian gas and orientate this nation to American gas that will be less expansive and will make Ukraine richer thanks to a partnership with a friendlier nation like ours.

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Date : February 13, 2016

Place : Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina

Host : CBS News

Moderator :  John Dickerson

Podium order based on the candidates' standing in the polls :


()

Donald Trump : Obviously, the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake. All right? Now, you can take it any way you want, and it took -- it took Jeb Bush, if you remember at the beginning of his announcement, when he announced for president, it took him five days. He went back, it was a mistake, it wasn't a mistake. It took him five days before his people told him what to say, and he ultimately said, "it was a mistake." The war in Iraq, we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, we don't even have it. Iran has taken over Iraq with the second-largest oil reserves in the world.

BOOING

George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East. You do whatever you want. You call it whatever you want. I want to tell you. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Jeb Bush : I'm sick and tired of Barack Obama blaming my brother for all of the problems that he has had. And, frankly, I could care less about the insults that Donald Trump gives to me. It's blood sport for him. He enjoys it. And I'm glad he's happy about it. I am sick and tired of him going after my family. My dad is the greatest man alive in my mind. And while Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe. And I'm proud of what he did.

APPLAUSE

And he has had the gall to go after my brother.

Donald Trump : The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign, remember that.

BOOING

[...]

()

Marco Rubio : I just want to say, at least on behalf of me and my family, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11, not Al Gore.

APPLAUSE

I think you can look back in hindsight and say a couple of things, but he kept us safe. And not only did he keep us safe, but no matter what you want to say about weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was in violation of U.N. resolutions, in open violation, and the world wouldn't do anything about it, and George W. Bush enforced what the international community refused to do. And again, he kept us safe, and I am forever grateful to what he did for this country.

APPALAUSE

Donald Trump : How did he keep us safe when the World Trade Center -- the World -- excuse me. I lost hundreds of friends. The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush. He kept us safe? That is not safe. That is not safe, Marco. That is not safe.

BOOING

Marco Rubio : The World Trade Center came down because Bill Clinton didn't kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him.

APPALAUSE

[...]

Ted Cruz :  In a Republican primary, everyone talks tough on immigration. Everyone is against illegal immigration in a Republican primary. But as voters, we've been burned over and over again by people that give us a great campaign speech and they don't walk the walk.

There are sharp differences on amnesty. If you look at the folks on this stage, when Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer and establishment Republicans were leading the fight to pass a massive amnesty plan, I stood with Jeff Sessions and Steve King and the American people and led the fight to defeat that amnesty plan. That moment was what Reagan would call "a time for choosing." When it comes to deciding which side of the line you're on, the Rubio-Schumer amnesty plan...

BOOING

...apparently supported by the donor class, which is why Washington supported it. The Rubio-Schumer amnesty plan passed the Senate and it was on the verge of passing the House.

House leadership intended to take it up and pass it with the Democrats overruling most of the Republicans. And the question for anyone on illegal immigration is where were you in that fight? Where did you stand? You are right. There is a difference between Senator Rubio and me on this question.

Marco Rubio : We're going to have to do this again, OK? When that issue was being debated, Ted Cruz, at a committee hearing, very passionately said, I want immigration reform to pass, I want people to be able to come out of the shadows. And he proposed an amendment that would legalized people here.

Not only that, he proposed doubling the number of green cards. He proposed a 500 percent increase on guest workers. Now his position is different. Now he is a passionate opponent of all those things.

So he either wasn't telling the truth then or he isn't telling the truth now, but to argue he is a purist on immigration is just not true.

APPLAUSE


Ted Cruz : You know, the lines are very, very clear. Marco right now supports citizenship for 12 million people here illegally. I oppose citizenship. Marco stood on the debate stage and said that.

But I would note not only that, Marco has a long record when it comes to amnesty. In the state of Florida, as speaker of the house, he supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. In addition to that, Marco went on Univision in Spanish and said he would not rescind President Obama's illegal executive amnesty on his first day in office.

I have promised to rescind every single illegal executive action, including that one.

Marco Rubio : Well, first of all, I don't know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn't speak Spanish. And second of all, the other point that I would make...

Ted Cruz : ¿ Marco, así es como lo quieres? Ahora mismo, dígalo - en español, si quieres.

Marco Rubio : Look, this is a disturbing pattern now, because for a number of weeks now, Ted Cruz has just been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lies about Planned Parenthood. He lies about marriage. He's lying about all sorts of things.

APPLAUSE

And now he makes things up. The bottom line is this is a campaign and people are watching it. And they see the truth behind all these issues.

No you brainless robot, the world trade centre came down because the Bush Administration ignored an intelligence report saying "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US"

()

Date : February 13, 2016

Place : Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina

Host : CBS News

Moderator :  John Dickerson

Podium order based on the candidates' standing in the polls :


()

Ted Cruz : I like Donald, he is an amazing entertainer but his policies for most of his life...

Donald Trump : Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

Ted Cruz : For most of his life his policies have been very very liberal. For most of his life, he has described himself as very pro- choice and as a supporter of partial birth abortion. Right now today as a candidate, he supports federal tax payer funding for Planned Parenthood. I disagree with him on that.

That's a matter of principle and I'll tell you...

Donald Trump : You are the single biggest liar. You probably are worse than Jeb Bush. You are the single biggest liar. This guy lied - let me just say - this guy lied about Ben Carson when he took votes away from Ben Carson in Iowa and he just continues. Today, we had robo-calls saying "Donald Trump is not going to run in South Carolina," -- where I'm leading by a lot."

I'm not going to vote for Ted Cruz. This is the same thing he did to Ben Carson. This guy will say anything, nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn't have one endorsement from any of his colleagues. He's a nasty guy.

Ted Cruz : Donald has this weird pattern, when you point to his own record he screams "liar, liar, liar." You want to go...

Donald Trump : Where did I support it? Where did I support it? Hey Ted! Where did I support it?

Ted Cruz : If you want to watch the video, go to our website at Tedcruz.org.

Donald Trump : Hey Ted, where did I support it?

Ted Cruz : You can see it out of Donald's own mouth.

Donald Trump : Where did I support it?

Ted Cruz : You supported it when we were battling over defunding Planned Parenthood. You went on...

Donald Trump : That's a lot of nonsense.

Ted Cruz : You said, "Planned Parenthood does wonderful things and we should not defund it."

Donald Trump : It does do wonderful things but not as it relates to abortion.

Ted Cruz : So I'll tell you what...

Donald Trump : Excuse me. Excuse me. there are wonderful things having to do with women's health. But not when it comes to abortion.

[...]

Donald Trump : Let me tell you. Ted Cruz wanted John Roberts. Ted Cruz, with your brother (pointing to Jeb Bush), wanted John Roberts to be on the United States Supreme Court. They both pushed him, he twice approved Obamacare.

Ted Cruz : I did not nominate John Roberts. I would not have nominated John Roberts.

Donald Trump : You pushed him. You pushed him. You worked with him and you pushed him. Why do you lie? Why do you lie?

Ted Cruz : Donald, adults learn not to interrupt people.

Donald Trump : Yeah, yeah, I know, you're an adult.

()
On February 17, Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina, announced that she endorses Florida Senator Marco Rubio, giving the presidential hopeful a huge boost just days before the state's crucial Saturday primary.

"If we elect Marco Rubio, every day will be a great day in America. I wanted somebody with fight, I wanted somebody with passion, I wanted somebody who had the conviction to do the right thing, but I wanted somebody humble enough to remember he works for all the people. I wanted somebody who could show my parents that the best decision they ever made for their children was coming to America," said Haley, who is a first-generation Indian-American.

February 15, 2016

-Abortion policy speech at Greenville Health System in Greenville, South Carolina :

Abortion is never good. Everybody, whether or not they are yet eligible to vote, has the right to live. And like I said, if we tolerate abortion, future generations are likely to look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies who we never gave them a chance to live. This is not only a social issue, it's also an economic issue. One of the main reasons why the Glorious Thirty (1945-1972) were so prosperous was the great number of young baby boomers who were available to find a job and work. Today, it's exactly the opposite : many baby boomers are going to retirement, which hurts our workforce and slows our GDP and our economy. So if we want longer term economic growth and prosperity, we need to fight abortion in order to let future generations live and make sure that our workforce will get stronger and stronger, making our economy growing again. That's what I'm going to do if I'm elected President of the United States on November 8th 2016 and inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States on January 20th 2017 while reiterating my pledges for the country and saying « So help me God! ».

Thank you, may God bless America.

February 16, 2016
-Bus trip to Greer, South Carolina
-Barnstorm in Greer, SC
-Barnstorm in Spartanburg, SC
-Economic policy speech at the BMW manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina :

South Carolina is one of the most prosperous states in our country. Industrial production is South Carolina's most vital economic activity, particularly the automotive industry. The Palmetto State is among the states with the lowest tax rates on businesses, the most competitive wages for workers and the weakest unionization in America, which classified South Carolina among the states creating the most favourable environment for businesses in the United States, which helped this right-to-work state to attract some large companies like BMW and brought positive effects on South Carolina's economy. During the recession in the late 2000s, South Carolina's unemployment rate peaked at 12 % at the end of 2009. But as the 21st century progressed, including during the time Nikki Haley was Governor of South Carolina, the Palmetto State managed to attract new companies by reducing corporate income tax rate to 5 %, by abolishing state property tax, local income tax, inventory tax, sales tax on manufacturing equipment, wholesale tax and unitary tax on worldwide profits and by having industrial power or materials for finished products, which boosted job creation and innovation in South Carolina. As Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, a great job creator in the private sector (she worked in her mother's clothing business, Exotica International, was named to the board of directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce and of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, became treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners before becoming president of the South Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners) and in political life as well, cut taxes, opposed regulations and successfully invited business to move to South Carolina by considerably lowering the cost of doing business in the Palmetto State, which created over 80 000 new jobs in South Carolina during the 6 years of Haley's leadership as Governor and reduced the local unemployment rate from 12 % in 2009 to 5 %.

We need to embrace energy independence to make us able to produce our own energies and free trade to make us competitive in the world economy, reform our education system, balance the budget, and champion business. If Governor Haley's economic policies worked in South Carolina, it can work for ALL the country as well. So if I'm the next President of the United States, one of the elements of my economic agenda will be to cut taxes for all the American people and for business owners, to eliminate regulations and to lower the cost of doing business in the United States, which will attract companies to move to the United States. It will also help our future entrepreneurs to open new businesses in America, to innovate, to create jobs and to ensure America's prosperity.

Thank you God bless our entrepreneurs, God bless our workers and God bless America.

February 17, 2016

-Bus trip to Rock Hill, SC
-Barnstorm in Rock Hill, SC
-Energy policy speech at Carolina Energy headquarters in Rock Hill, SC
-Foreign policy speech at Kings Mountain National Military Park in Rock Hill, SC
-Bus trip to Charleston, SC
-Attends Haley's rally in which Rubio gets Haley's endorsement

February 18, 2016

-Bus trip to Columbia, SC
-Foreign policy speech at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC
-Meet with college voters at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC
-Economic policy speech in Columbia, SC
-Barnstorm in Columbia, SC


February 19, 2016

-Bus trip to Myrtle Beach, SC
-Economic policy speech in Myrtle Beach, SC
-Foreign policy speech at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in Myrtle Beach, SC

February 20, 2016

-Bus trip to North Charleston, SC
-Foreign policy speech at Charleston Air Force Base in North Charleston, SC
-Economic policy speech in North Charleston, SC
-Barnstorm in North Charleston, SC
-Bus trip to Charleston, SC
-Watch the development of the South Carolina primary results

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail


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Conservative upstate
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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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« Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Welcome to the coverage of the 2016 South Carolina Reublican primary and the Nevada Democratic caucuses. »

Blitzer : « It's 8 pm and we can project that Donald Trump is leading in northwestern counties. »

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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Blitzer : « Now let's turn our attention at the Nevada Democratic caucuses. It's 10 : 30 pm and we can project that Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders in most of this state's center counties. »

Gender

                      Men (51 %)               Women (49 %)

Bush                  11 %                            10 %
Carson               7 %                            8 %
Cruz                  21 %                          20 %
Rubio                33 %                            37 %
Trump               33 %                            25 %

Age

                     18-29 (10 %)              30-44 (17 %)         45-64 (46 %)         65 and older (27 %)

Bush                  6 %                            6 %                        10 %                         15 %
Carson               11 %                           10 %                       7 %                        4 %
Cruz                  26 %                           25 %                      21 %                     17 %
Rubio                 33 %                            34 %                       27 %                      31 %
Trump              24 %                            25 %                       35 %                      33 %

Race

                   White (96 %)              Non-white (4 %)
Bush                  9 %                             n/a                     
Carson               7 %                            n/a                                           
Cruz                  22 %                            n/a                                                                 
Rubio                30 %                             n/a                                             
Trump              32 %                             n/a
               
Ideology

       Very conservative (38 %)       Somewhat conservative (43 %)         Moderate (17 %)         
Bush                  5 %                            8 %                                           13 %                       
Carson               8 %                           7 %                                          4 %                         
Cruz                  34 %                           16 %                                       7 %                           
Rubio                24 %                           30 %                                       42 %                     
Trump               29 %                            33 %                                       34 %

Ever served in the U.S. military?

               Veterans (17 %)       Non-veterans (43 %)       
Bush                  8 %                            10 %                                                                   
Carson               4 %                           7 %                                                                   
Cruz                  19 %                           25 %                                                                         
Rubio                37 %                  25 %                                                             
Trump              32 %                             33 %                                       


Most important issue

             Immigration (10 %)         Economy/Jobs (29 %)         Terrorism (32 %)        Govt. spending (26 %)

Bush                  3 %                            8 %                               9 %                         11 %
Carson               7 %                           6 %                               7 %                         8 %
Cruz                  23 %                           14 %                           23 %                       26 %
Rubio                16 %                            39 %                        33 %                      31 %
Trump               51%                            34 %                         28 %                       24 %

Top candidate quality

                     Electability (15 %)          Shares my values (37 %)    Tells it like it is (16 %) Can bring change (31 %)

Bush                  8 %                            12 %                                          4 %                         8 %
Carson               2 %                           11 %                                         4 %                             6 %
Cruz                  16 %                           32 %                                       5 %                        18 %
Rubio                54 %                            37 %                                      12 %                         25 %
Trump               20 %                            8 %                                     76 %                         44 %

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Thank you South Carolina!

While President Obama expands taxes and regulations on businesses and the American people, all the country, including the Palmetto State, is worrying about its economy and its jobs. I listened to South Carolinians and I proposed to reduce the cost of doing business in America just like Governor Haley did for the cost of doing business in South Carolina, which will make our companies competitive and more able to produce, to innovate, to grow, to expand and to create jobs. By listening to your concerns about America's economic situation and proposing such solutions, I earned your support and I'm thankful of it because our kids, including my daughters Amanda and Daniella and my sons Dominick and Anthony, as well as all future generations deserve a better future than the one Hillary Clinton is preserving and they will earn this better future if we win on November.

While President Obama is proving himself weak on fighting international terrorism, all the country, including South Carolina, a state with military tradition, is worrying about international security. I listened to South Carolinians and I took the pledge to promote peace through strength by modernizing our military, increasing our military presence on strategic points, reinforcing our alliances and by fighting and destroying terrorism through military strength. By understanding your concerns, I proposed a strong foreign policy solution that will bring permanent international peace and freedom, so I earned your support and I thank you for that!

Thanks to this victory here in South Carolina, we got closer to the Republican nomination. South Carolina makes nominees. South Carolina makes presidents. Let's keep it up and we will finally bring our party together, bring the American people together with my optimistic agenda, which will lead us to victory against whoever the Democrats will nominate and help us putting America back on track and on the right direction.

Thank you! God bless you all, God bless South Carolina and God bless America.


Thank you South Carolina. Thank you, brother for your great contribution to this campaign. Thank you mom and dad.

I'm proud of the campaign that we've run to unify our country and to advocate conservative solutions that will give Americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their God-given potential. But the people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken and I really respect their decision, so tonight I am suspending my campaign.

But I'm not suspending my fight for the American people's cause because tonight I give my endorsement to my friend Senator Marco Rubio. Marco is the candidate with the best foreign policy experience to keep our country safe, to fight terrorism and to restore freedom and democracy around the world. Marco is the only one candidate who will be able to defend our values, to restore the American Dream and to make our country prosperous again. Marco is the only candidate who will be able to diversify our party by attracting new young voters and non-white voters to the Republican Party. And, finally, Marco is the only one candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, thus making his agenda a reality and making sure that this agenda will lead America to a brighter, safer and more prosperous future.

Thank you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

According to recent polls, Marco Rubio benefits from his victory in the South Carolina primary and from Jeb Bush's withdrawal from the race. Now he has the backing of all the Republican establishment and gets many endorsements from Jeb Bush's former supporters. The Florida Senator reduced the gap between him and Donald Trump in Republican primary national polls. He trails the real estate developer by only 7 percentage points. When it comes to the Nevada Republican caucuses, Rubio and Trump are in a dead-heat in the polls released in the Silver State. Donald Trump, who was the clear Republican favorite for 7 months, realized that the nomination is not guaranteed for him.

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After Jeb Bush dropped out of the race, Marco Rubio got many endorsements from former Bush supporters, especially South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham who described the young Florida Senator as the « most qualified to lead this nation and to ensure its security. » Senator Rubio is also endorsed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, which could help him to win the Nevada caucuses on February 23.

While Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mike Huckabee's daughter, endorsed Donald Trump, the former Arkansas Governor and former presidential candidate remains neutral for now.

Ted Cruz received Texas Governor Greg Abbot's endorsement.

February 21, 2016
-Flight to Las Vegas, Nevada
-Foreign policy speech at Paris Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV :
Here we stand, in front of the replica of the Eiffel Tower, built in Paris in 1889 to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution that freed the French people from tyranny and corruption and during which was signed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a rampart defending the following values that we are sharing : « liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression ». But last year, ISIS committed two terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 and expanded its operations around the world through further terrorist attacks, threatening our values of liberty, gender equality, justice, freedom of religion and freedom of speech. That same year, we also suffered terrorist attacks committed by ISIS on the United States' territory in Garland, Texas, and in San Bernardino, California. After every of those attacks emerged solidarity campaigns in defence of freedom. But Barack Obama neglected the fight for freedom by cutting defense spending needed to fight radical Islamic terrorism and prevent further terrorist attacks. As President, I will not only increase defense spending and our military's readiness but also strengthen our military alliances because we have common goals with our allies : reinforcing security and defending liberty, justice and integrity. By deploying ground troops and expanding our military alliances, we will destroy radical Islamic terrorists, whether it's ISIS, Al Qaida, Hezbollah, Al-Nusra Front, Al-Shabaab or Boko Haram, then assist countries in the throes of terrorism in their reconstruction by training new armed forces, building houses, schools, groceries, markets, hospitals and police stations as well as by creating democratic institutions to reinforce security, freedom, democracy and justice, which will reinforce peace and save many innocent lives around the world as well as liberty and justice.

-Visit to the Nevada Test Site for a speech about the importance of stopping Iran's nuclear program and North Korean aggression as well as preventing nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists.
-Economic policy speech in Las Vegas, NV
-American Dream policy speech at Sam's Town Hotel, where Rubio's father worked as a bartender
-Rally in Las Vegas, NV, alongside Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval   
-Fundraising event at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV
-Marco Rubio's presidential campaign broadcasts an T.V. ad about Rubio's plan to create economic opportunities for Hispanics. The ad titled « Hispanics for Prosperity » airs in Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Arizona both in English and Spanish.
   
« Hispanics for Prosperity » advertisement narration (English version) :

The Obama Administration has been ineffective when it comes to create jobs for the American people, including Hispanics. We need to give Hispanics the opportunity to learn English while maintaining their language and cultural heritage in order to open up economic opportunities for them, because I believe we should not close these opportunities for any of our fellow citizens because their first language is another one than English. School choice will give positive results to Hispanics : lower education costs for families, including immigrant families living paycheck to paycheck, production of higher outcomes, in contrast to public education. It allow parents guide their children out of poorly-performing schools assigned by zip code and grant them better education elsewhere. It will expand opportunities for low-income students—notably minorities—to attend high-quality schools that would otherwise be accessible only to high-income families, thus giving them a fair chance of success and an easier path to the workforce.

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By promoting free trade with Latin America, we will give our businesses, including Hispanic small businesses in the United States thanks to language opportunities and their fluency in Spanish and English, new opportunities to innovate, to increase their competitiveness, to get new consumers by giving them access to American products, to create jobs in our country and ensure their business' expansion here and around the world. Thanks to their bilingualism, Hispanics will be dominant among the importers, exporters, translators and executives who ensure such a cultural and commercial exchange. And like I said, our innovation and competition capacity comes from our open markets as well as our constant quest for new markets.

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Thanks to my pro-growth agenda to open economic opportunities for Hispanics and create jobs for them, this large community will earn the same opportunities as any other American, because America is the land where everything is possible.

I'm Marco Rubio and I approve this message.

« Los hispanos para la prosperidad » advertisement narration (Spanish version) :

El Obama Administración ha sido ineficaz a la hora de crear puestos de trabajo para el pueblo estadounidense, incluyendo a los hispanos. Tenemos que dar a los hispanos la oportunidad de aprender Inglés, manteniendo su lengua y su patrimonio cultural con el fin de abrir nuevas oportunidades económicas para ellos, porque creo que no debemos cerrar estas oportunidades para cualquiera de nuestros conciudadanos, ya que su primer idioma es otro que Inglés. La elección de escuela dará resultados positivos a los hispanos: los costos de educación más bajos para las familias, incluyendo las familias de inmigrantes de cheque a cheque, la producción de los resultados más altos, por el contrario viven a la educación pública. Se permite a los padres a guiar a sus hijos de las escuelas-funcionando mal asignados por el código postal y les otorgan una mejor educación en otros lugares. Se ampliará las oportunidades para los estudiantes -en particular las minorías de bajos ingresos, para asistir a escuelas de alta calidad que de otro modo sólo será accesible a las familias de altos ingresos, lo que les da una oportunidad razonable de éxito y un camino más fácil a la fuerza de trabajo.

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Al promover el libre comercio con América Latina, vamos a dar a nuestros negocios, incluyendo las pequeñas empresas hispanas en los Estados Unidos gracias a las oportunidades de idiomas y su fluidez en español e inglés, nuevas oportunidades para innovar, para aumentar su competitividad, para llegar a nuevos consumidores, dando a tener acceso a los productos estadounidenses, para crear puestos de trabajo en nuestro país y garantizar su expansión empresarial 'aquí y en todo el mundo. Gracias a su bilingüismo, los hispanos será dominante entre los importadores, los exportadores, los traductores y los ejecutivos que garanticen un intercambio, cultural y comercial. Y como he dicho, nuestra capacidad de innovación y la competencia proviene de nuestros mercados abiertos, así como nuestra constante búsqueda de nuevos mercados.

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Gracias a mi agenda pro-crecimiento para abrir oportunidades económicas para los hispanos y crear puestos de trabajo para ellos, esta gran comunidad ganará las mismas oportunidades que cualquier otro americano, porque Estados Unidos es la tierra donde todo es posible.

Soy Marco Rubio y apruebo este mensaje.

February 22, 2016
-Speech at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV
-Immigration policy speech in Las Vegas, NV
-Rally in front of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Fundraising event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV
-Speech at Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park in Las Vegas, NV
-Meet with college voters at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, NV
-Economic policy speech at World Market Center Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV
-Barnstorm in North Las Vegas, NV
-Flight to Elko, NV
-Barnstorm in Elko, NV
-Fundraising event at Stockmen's Casino & Hotel in Elko, NV
-Immigration policy in Elko, NV
-Flight to Sparks, NV
-Role of government policy speech in Sparks, Nevada :

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Over 80% of Nevada area is owned by the federal government. It's time to stop this intrusion of the federal government in the life of Nevadans and of all Americans. The government shall just clear the way for our citizens in order to let Americans be successfull. This means that the government will cut taxes, repeal Obamacare and replace it with a better plan, improve our education system and make our country safer.

-Meet with the voters and the donors at Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, NV

February 23, 2016
-Bus trip to Carson City, NV
-Barnstorm in Carson City, NV
-Bus trip to Reno, NV
-Economic policy speech in Reno, NV
-Immigration policy speech in Reno, NV
-Meet with college voters at the University of Nevada in Reno, NV
-Speech and fundraising event at Silver Legacy Reno in Reno, NV
-Economic and manufacturing policy speech at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, NV
-Rally at the Reno Events Center in Reno, NV
-Fundraising event at Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, NV
-Flight to Henderson, NV
-Barnstorm in Henderson, NV
-Bus trip to Las Vegas, NV
-Barnstorm in Las Vegas, NV
-Speech and fundraising event at Silverton Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV
-Watch the development of the results of the Nevada Republican caucuses

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail


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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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« Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Welcome to the coverage of the 2016 Nevada Republican caucuses. »

Blitzer : « It's 8 pm and we can project that Marco Rubio leads in the Clark county (Las Vegas' location) where he and his family lived for a few years in the 1980s, which helped him to develop connections in the region and does well among Hispanics and Mormons. »

Gender

                      Men (52 %)               Women (48 %)

Carson               4 %                            5 %
Cruz                  22 %                          18 %
Rubio                35 %                            46 %
Trump               39 %                            31 %

Age

                     18-29 (7 %)              30-44 (18 %)         45-64 (42 %)         65 and older (33 %)

Carson               11 %                           6 %                       4 %                        5 %
Cruz                  16 %                           21 %                      21 %                     15 %
Rubio                 50 %                            38 %                       32 %                      31 %
Trump              28 %                            35 %                       43 %                      49 %

Race

                   White (85 %)                Latino (8 %)                     Other Non-whites (7 %)                    
Carson               5 %                              3 %                                          n/a                                          
Cruz                  19 %                            16 %                                         n/a                                                                
Rubio                34 %                             49 %                                     n/a                                              
Trump              42 %                         32 %                                           n/a
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (40 %)       Somewhat conservative (45 %)         Moderate (15 %)        
Carson               4 %                           4 %                                                     4 %                          
Cruz                  32 %                           14 %                                                  6 %                            
Rubio                33 %                           36 %                                           47 %                      
Trump               31 %                            46 %                                            43 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (20 %)         Economy/Jobs (29 %)         Terrorism (19 %)        Govt. spending (27 %)

Carson               3 %                           4 %                               6 %                         5 %
Cruz                  18 %                           12 %                           20 %                       24 %
Rubio                23 %                            47 %                        44 %                      41 %
Trump               56 %                            37 %                         33 %                       30 %

Top candidate quality

                     Electability (24 %)          Shares my values (30 %)    Tells it like it is (20 %) Can bring change (24 %)

Carson               2 %                           8 %                                         2 %                             4 %
Cruz                  10 %                           39 %                                        5 %                        17 %
Rubio                62 %                            36 %                                      16 %                         20 %
Trump               26 %                            17 %                                     77 %                         59 %

()

Thank you Nevada.

Thanks to our victory in Nevada, we proved my ability to expand and grow our party due to a strong appeal among Hispanics because as one of them and since I was myself raised paycheck to paycheck I know their concerns and they will live better lives by fixing our immigration system to give them access to American citizenship, giving them better education through school choice, and allowing them to prosper through the ratification of a free trade agreement between the United States and Latin America.

Nosotros, el pueblo de los Estados Unidos todos somos uno y vamos formar una Unión más perfecta.

We made a great step to the diversification of our party and that's how we're going to beat the Democratic nominee.

Now let's go to Super Tuesday and we will make a step much closer to the nomination and to America's victory in November.

Thank you, God bless Nevada and God bless America.

New polls are showing that Marco Rubio reduced the distance for the lead of the GOP field. Now, Donald Trump leads nationally by only 3 percentage points. We are approaching Super Tuesday and Senator Rubio shows well in the polls in the more moderate states such as Virginia, Vermont, Massachusetts and even in some southern states like Arkansas, Georgia and Oklahoma. This most be due to John Kasich's former supporters' orientation to Senator Rubio.

As Ted Cruz did not win a single primary yet, the Texas Senator seems to be in trouble : Donald Trump trails him in Cruz's home state of Texas by only 6 percentage points, which forces Senator Cruz to focus mostly on Texas in order to avoid losing his home state, which would be a humiliation for him.

How did Rubio win Nevada? The state GOP loves Trump with all his casinos and there are lots of non college-educated whites. Trump won easily there IOTL.

Because Rubio passed a part of his childhood in Las Vegas. In addition, Rubio created a coalition of Hispanics and Mormons, which helped to win Nevada just like Mitt Romney largely won Nevada twice in 2008 and 2012 due to his strong performance among Mormons. Plus, Trump is not the only candidate with connections with Nevada casinos : Rubio's father worked as a bartender at the Sam's Town Hotel and her mother worked as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. And also, because of Rubio's early victories in Iowa and South Carolina, he made progress in the polls in the Silver State. By the way, Rubio is endorsed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval.

February 24, 2016
-Flight to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
-Speech at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma City, OK, in an effort to attract Hispanic voters
-Energy policy speech at Chesapeake Energy Corporation headquarters in Oklahoma City, OK
-Gun ownership policy speech in Oklahoma City, OK
-Counterterrorism policy speech at the Oklahoma City National Memorial in Oklahoma City, OK
-Rally at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK
-Bus trip to Norman, OK
-Meet with college voters at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, in an effort to attract young voters
-Fundraising event at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, OK
-Bus trip to Tulsa, OK
-Economic policy speech at Skelly Oil Company headquarters in Tulsa, OK
-Rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK
-Town-hall meeting at the McFarlin Library in Tulsa, OK
-Economic policy speech in Tulsa, OK
-Debate preparation

February 25, 2016
-Flight to San Antonio, Texas
-Energy policy speech at Valero Energy headquarters in San Antonio, TX
-Foreign policy speech at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX
-Dinner with the voters at the Azuca Nuevo Latino in San Antonio, TX
-Bus trip to Houston, TX
-Debate preparation
-Marco Rubio participates at the 10th Republican presidential primary debate with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson in Houston, TX

But Nevada was one of Trump's best states in the primary.

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Date : February 25, 2016

Place : University of Houston in Houston, Texas

Host : CNN

Moderator :  Wolf Blitzer

Podium order based on the candidates' standing in the polls :


()

Marco Rubio : My point that I made was you had criticized Mitt Romney for self-deportation. You said that his strategy of self- deportation is why he lost the election.

And I think people in Florida would be surprised, because, in fact, the article that was today, they interviewed a number of people that would have been willing to do those jobs, if you would have been willing to hire them to do it.

Donald Trump : I criticized Mitt Romney for losing the election. He should have won that election. He had a failed president. He ran a terrible campaign. He was a terrible candidate.

Marco Rubio : Well, in fact, I agree we should have won and I wished we would have, but, in fact, you did criticize him for using the term "self-deportation." I mean, that's on the record and people can look it up right now online. But, again, I just want to reiterate, I think it's really important, this point. I think it's fine, it's an important point that you raise and we discuss on immigration. This is a big issue for Texas, a huge issue for the country. But I also think that if you're going to claim that you're the only one that lifted this into the campaign, that you acknowledge that, for example, you're only person on this stage that has ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally. You hired some workers from Poland...

Donald Trump : No, no, I'm the only one on the stage that's hired people. You haven't hired anybody. You've had nothing but problems with your credit cards, et cetera. So don't tell me about that.

Marco Rubio : He hired workers from Poland. And he had to pay a million dollars or so in a judgment from...

Donald Trump : That's wrong. That's wrong. Totally wrong.

Marco Rubio : That's a fact. People can look it up. I'm sure people are Googling it right now. Look it up. "Trump Polish workers," you'll see a million dollars for hiring illegal workers on one of his projects. He did it.

(APPLAUSE)

[...]

Marco Rubio : If he builds the wall the way he built Trump Towers, he'll be using illegal immigrant labor to do it. The second thing about the trade war -- I don't understand, because your ties and the clothes you make is made in Mexico and in China. So you're gonna be starting a trade war against your own ties and your own suits. Why don't you make them in America?

Donald Trump : Because they devalue their currency -- they devalue their currencies...

Marco Rubio : Well, make them in America.

Donald Trump : Let me just tell you, they de-value their currencies. China, Mexico, everybody. Japan with the cars. They de-value their currencies to such an extent that our businesses cannot compete with them, our workers lose their jobs...

Marco Rubio : And so you make them in China and in Russia.

Donald Trump : But you wouldn't know anything about it because you're a lousy businessman.

Marco Rubio : Well first of all, I'm seating the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Secondly, I don't know anything about bankrupting four companies. You've bankrupted. I don't know anything about starting a a university, and that was a fake university. There are people who borrowed $36,000 to go to Trump University, and they're suing now. And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump : And they actually did a very good job, but I've won most of the lawsuits.

Marco Rubio : Most of the lawsuits.

Donald Trump : here's a guy that buys a house for $179,000, he sells it to a lobbyist who's probably here for $380,000 and then legislation is passed. You tell me about this guy. This is what we're going to have as president.

Marco Rubio : Here's a guy that inherited $200 million. If he hadn't inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches.

Donald Trump : That is so wrong. We'll work on that. I took $1 million and I turned into $10 billion.

Marco Rubio : Oh, OK. One million.

Donald Trump : I borrowed $1 million...

Marco Rubio : Better release your tax returns so we can see how much money he made.

Donald Trump : I borrowed $1 million, I turned it into $10 billion...

Marco Rubio : Oh, he doesn't make that money.

[...]

Marco Rubio : You may not be aware of this, Donald, because you don't follow this stuff very closely, but here's what happened. When they passed Obamacare they put a bailout fund in Obamacare. All these lobbyists you keep talking about, they put a bailout fund in the law that would allow public money to be used, taxpayer money, to bail out companies when they lost money. And, we led the effort and wiped out that bailout fund. The insurance companies are not in favor of me, they hate that. They're suing that now to get that bailout money put back in.

Here's what you didn't hear in that answer, and this is important guys, this is an important thing. What is your plan? I understand the lines around the state, whatever that means. This is not a game where you draw maps...

Donald Trump : And, you don't know what it means. The biggest thing we've got, and the reason we've got no competition, is because we have lines around the state, and you have essentially.

Marco Rubio : We already mentioned that plan, I know what that is, but what else is part of your plan?

Donald Trump : You don't know much.

Marco Rubio : So, you're only thing is to get rid of the lines around the states. What else is part of your healthcare plan.

Donald Trump : The lines around the states and it was almost done, not now. You get rid of the lines, it brings in competition. So, instead of having one insurance company taking care of New York, or Texas, you'll have many. They'll compete, and it'll be a beautiful thing.

Marco Rubio : So, that's the only part of the plan? Just the lines?

Donald Trump : The nice part of the plan -- you'll have many different plans. You'll have competition, you'll have so many different plans.

Marco Rubio : He's repeating himself.

Donald Trump : No, no, no.

Marco Rubio : I just watched you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago. I see him repeat himself every night, he says five things, everyone's dumb, he's gonna make America great again, we're going to win, win win, he's winning in the polls and the lines around the state. Every night.

Dana Bash : Mr. Trump, could you talk a little bit more about your plan?

Donald Trump : We're going to have many different plans because competition...

Marco Rubio : He's done it again.

()

CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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Blitzer : « Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Welcome to the coverage of the 2016 South Carolina Democratic primary. »

Blitzer : « It's 8 pm. We can project that Hillary Clinton leads largely in the Palmetto state's southern counties, including in Charleston. Clinton's big lead in South Carolina must partly be due to her strong support among African American voters. »

Due to his strong debate performance against Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio finally edged Donald Trump in the national polls for the Republican nomination. Right now, the Florida Senator surpassed Trump in Georgia and Oklahoma. Ted Cruz increased his lead in his home state of Texas, which could be a good sign for the Texas Senator who seeks to avoid humiliation through a defeat in his own home state. So he started to campaign in more southern states such as Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. But is it too late for him, two days before Super Tuesday? We will see it on March 1.

February 26, 2016
-Flight to Little Rock, Arkansas
-Breakfast with the voters at the Starbuck's facility in Little Rock, AR
-Town-hall meeting at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, AR
-Foreign policy speech at the  MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock, AR
-Speech at the Mosaics Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, AR
-Speech ahead of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, AR, where Rubio slams Hillary Clinton's for her dishonesty and her « weak foreign policy ». Rubio also highlighted the fact that he is the Republican candidate most likely to beat Hillary Clinton, referring to the polls. In fact he said :

I am the one candidate that Hillary Clinton doesn't want to face. But I'm sorry to tell you, Secretary Clinton, that you will have to face me.

-Bus trip to Fort Smith, AR
-Veteran policy speech at the Spirit of the American Doughboy in Fort Smith, AR
-Health care policy speech in Fort Smith, AR
-Bus trip to Fayetteville, AR
-Meet with college voters at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR
-Barnstorm in Fayetteville, AR
-Barnstorm in Hope, AR
-Barnstorm in Bettonville, AR
-Economic policy speech at Walmart headquarters in Bettonville, AR
-Fundraising event at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bettonville, AR
-Flight to Atlanta, Georgia

February 27, 2016
-Speech at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA
-Rally at The Phoenix statue in Atlanta, GA
-Speech at the Millenium Gate Museum in Atlanta, GA
-Fundraising at the World of Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, GA
-Rally at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA
-Meet with college voters at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA
-Dinner with the voters at the Varsity headquarters in Atlanta, GA
-Innovation policy speech at the Museum of Design Atlanta in Atlanta, GA
-Speech at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, GA
-Barnstorm in Athens, GA
-Meet with college voters at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA
-Bus trip to Augusta, GA
-Speech at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum in Augusta, GA, in an effort to attract African American voters
-Foreign policy speech at Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA
-Barnstorm in Augusta, GA
-Bus trup to Savannah, GA
-Trade policy speech at the Port of Savannah, GA
-Meet with college voters at Savannah State University in Savannah, GA
-Rally at the Grayson Stadium where Rubio slams Trump. Here some parts of his speech :
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If Donald Trump becomes our nominee, the conservative movement in the Republican Party will be taken over by a con artist portraying himself as the fighter of the ordinary person fighting for the working man. But he spent years sticking it to the working people. Unlike Donald, I didn’t inherit hundreds of millions. He calls me a choker. He’s a con artist. He spent 40 years sticking it to the people he claims to be fighting for.

-Flight to Montpelier, Vermont

February 28, 2016
-Barnstorm in Montpelier, VT
-Barnstorm in South Burlington, VT
-Speech at the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, VT
-Meet with college voters at the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT
-Rally at Battery Park in Burlington, VT
-Speech at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington, VT
-Flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota
-Energy policy speech at Xcel Energy Inc. headquarters in Minneapolis, MN
-Speech at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN
-Rally at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN
-Fundraising event at Target Center in Minneapolis, MN
-Speech at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis, MN
-Bus trip to Saint Paul, MN
-Speech at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN
-Economic policy speech at Ford Twin Cities assembly plant in Saint Paul, MN
-Speech at Minnesota Museum of American Art in Saint Paul, MN
-Meet with college voters at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, MN
-Agriculture policy speech before the Corn water tower in Rochester, MN
-Speech at the Chateau Theatre in Rochester, MN
-Flight to Boston, Massachusetts

February 29, 2016

-Freedom of religion policy speech at the old South Church in Boston, MA
-Free trade policy speech at the Port of Boston in Boston, MA
-Energy policy speech at General Electric Company headquarters in Boston, MA
-Economic policy speech at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, MA
-Speech in front of the statue of George Washington at Boston Public Garden in Boston, MA :

Boston represents a great symbol of America's values : freedom, democracy, justice and integrity. In 1774, just before the American Revolution, Boston became the birthplace of America's fight for economic freedom, for free enterprise and against government intrusion in the economy. By cutting taxes for all the American people as well as for business owners, we will stop our companies' offshoring and make sure our future business owners will decide that America is the best place in the world to open a new business, which will increase their capacity of innovating, expanding, producing and hiring. Free trade will make our companies more competitive in the world economy by reducing the cost of trading, getting us more international consumers and bringing innovation, which will pursue further job creation here in the United States.

Boston also represents a symbol of America's independence and freedom after our fight against the British Empire's colonial oppression. Today, our freedom is threatened again, but this time by terrorism. Just like they did here in Boston in 2013, terrorists recently attacked us in Garland and San Bernardino. But by increasing defense spending, reinforcing our security measures, reinforcing and modernizing our military and working with our allies, we will defeat international terrorism and all the tyrannical regimes supporting terrorism for the sake of international security, justice and freedom, thus saving innocent lives.

-Flight to Richmond, Virginia
-Fundraising breakfast at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia
-Speech at the St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia
-Innovation policy speech at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, VA
-Meet with college voters at the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA
-Foreign policy speech at the USS Wisconsin battleship museum in Norfolk, VA
-Defense policy speech at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, VA
-Speech at Nauticus in Norfolk, VA
-Economic policy speech at Dominion Enterprises headquarters in Norfolk, VA
-Fundraising event at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, VA
-Meet with college voters at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA, in an effort to attract African-American voters
-Speech in front of the MacArthur Statue in Norfolk, VA, about Rubio's record on reforming the VA and improving veterans' living conditions
-Rally at Harbor Park in Norfolk, VA
-Counterterrorism policy speech at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, VA
-Rally at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach in Virginia Beach, VA
-Economic policy speech at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach, VA
-Foreign policy speech at Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress in Chesapeake, VA
-Infrastructure policy speech in Chesapeake, VA
-Education system reform policy speech in Chesapeake, VA

March 1, 2016
-Speech at the Naval Shipyard Museum in Portsmouth, VA
-Speech at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, VA
-Foreign policy and free trade policy speech at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA
-Defense policy speech at Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) in Arlington, VA
-VA policy speech at Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington, VA
-Speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA
-National defense and security policy and foreign policy speech ahead of the Pentagon in Arlington, VA
-Barnstorm in Arlington, VA
-Speech at the Alexandria Library in Alexandria, VA
-Speech at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VA
-Bus trip to Richmond, VA
-Barnstorm in Richmond, VA
-Rally with supporters at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA, to watch the development of the Super Tuesday results

Donald Trump

-New Jersey Governor and former presidential candidate Chris Christie
-Maine Governor Paul LePage

Marco Rubio

-Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton
-Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander

Ted Cruz

-Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett Packard CEO and former presidential candidate

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail

Alabama

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Arkansas


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Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are focusing their campaigns on Arkansas' northern and center counties, where they hope to make gains among evangelicals.

Georgia

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail

Minnesota


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Oklahoma

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Tennessee

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Cruz and Trump are competing for the Tennessee's rural conservative voters. Rubio could pick up some delegates along the eastern part of the state bordering Virginia, as well as in the urban areas around Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis.

Texas

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Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail

Vermont

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In Bernie Sanders' home state of Vermont, Donald Trump could exploit Sanders' message against free trade, which could help Trump winning among populist voters. But now that Marco Rubio is the only remaining establishment candidate, he could get massive support among former Jeb Bush's, John Kasich's and Chris Christie's supporters, which could help him to prevail in Vermont.
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Virginia

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Evangelical and populist vote
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump should have an advantage in Virginia among evangelicals. Trump's message of economic populism may also play well in struggling areas of Southside and Southwest Virginia.

Hillary Clinton vs Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio : 51 %
Hillary Clinton : 47 %

Hillary Clinton vs Ted Cruz

Hillary Clinton : 49 %
Ted Cruz : 46 %

Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton : 53 %
Donald Trump: 41 %

Bernie Sanders vs Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio : 50 %
Bernie Sanders : 45 %

Bernie Sanders vs Ted Cruz

Bernie Sanders : 57 %
Ted Cruz : 40 %

Bernie Sanders vs Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders : 55 %
Donald Trump : 42 %

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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« Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Welcome to the coverage of Super Tuesday 2016. »

Blitzer : « It's 7 pm and we can project that Donald Trump leads in Alabama after sweeping this state's northern counties. »

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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Blitzer : « It's 9 : 30 pm and we can project that Marco Rubio leads Donald Trump by 6 points in Virginia. »

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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Blitzer : « Meanwhile, Donald Trump leads largely in Tennessee though Rubio wins the Williamson county, the Davidson county (home to Nashville), the Knox county (Knoxville's location) and the Shelby county (Memphis' location). »

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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Blitzer : « When it comes to the Colorado Democratic caucuses, Bernie Sanders wins this state's western and center counties, including Denver. »

Gender

                      Men (49 %)               Women (51 %)

Carson               8 %                            12 %
Cruz                  22 %                          21 %
Rubio                19 %                            29 %
Trump               52 %                            38 %

Age

                     18-29 (13 %)              30-44 (21 %)         45-64 (43 %)         65 and older (23 %)

Carson               15 %                           11 %                       9 %                        9 %
Cruz                  21 %                           23 %                      18 %                     24 %
Rubio               32 %                            28 %                      21 %                      22 %
Trump                33 %                            38 %                       52 %                      45 %

Race

                   White (93 %)                       Non-white (7 %)                    
Carson               10 %                                       n/a                                          
Cruz                  22 %                                      n/a                                                                
Rubio                23 %                                       n/a                                              
Trump              45 %                              n/a
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (38 %)       Somewhat conservative (40 %)         Moderate (20 %)        
Carson               11 %                           11 %                                                  9 %                          
Cruz                  29 %                           17 %                                                  13 %                            
Rubio                19 %                           25 %                                                   37 %                      
Trump               41 %                       47 %                                                  41 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (11 %)         Economy/Jobs (33 %)         Terrorism (26 %)        Govt. spending (26 %)

Carson               7 %                           11 %                               10 %                         10 %
Cruz                  21 %                           16 %                           22 %                       27 %
Rubio                10 %                            30 %                        24 %                      26 %
Trump               62 %                            43 %                         44 %                       37 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (14 %)          Shares my values (28 %)    Tells it like it is (19 %) Can bring change (36 %)

Carson               7 %                           19 %                                         3 %                             9 %
Cruz                  17 %                           34 %                                        10 %                        19 %
Rubio                41 %                            27 %                                      9 %                         26 %
Trump               37 %                            20 %                                     78 %                         46 %



Gender

                      Men (52 %)               Women (48 %)

Carson               5 %                            5 %
Cruz                  27 %                          29 %
Rubio                33 %                            37 %
Trump               35 %                            29 %

Age

                     18-29 (9 %)              30-44 (17 %)         45-64 (42 %)         65 and older (32 %)

Carson               9 %                           4 %                       5 %                        5 %
Cruz                  32 %                           23 %                      31 %                     27 %
Rubio               29 %                            34 %                      31 %                      37 %
Trump                30 %                            39 %                       33 %                      31 %

Race

                   White (96 %)                       Non-white (4 %)                    
Carson               5 %                                       n/a                                          
Cruz                  29 %                                      n/a                                                                
Rubio                31 %                                       n/a                                              
Trump              35 %                              n/a
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (40 %)       Somewhat conservative (42 %)         Moderate (17 %)        
Carson               6 %                               3 %                                                  2 %                          
Cruz                  42 %                    22 %                                                  15 %                            
Rubio                25 %                               38 %                                                  47 %                      
Trump               27 %                               37 %                                                  36 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (10 %)         Economy/Jobs (29 %)         Terrorism (26 %)        Govt. spending (32 %)

Carson               2 %                           5 %                               5 %                         4 %
Cruz                  26 %                           24 %                           29 %                       33 %
Rubio                18 %                            38 %                        33 %                      37 %
Trump               54 %                            33 %                         33 %                      26 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (11 %)          Shares my values (38 %)    Tells it like it is (19 %) Can bring change (30 %)

Carson               2 %                           8 %                                         1 %                             3 %
Cruz                  23 %                           40 %                                        17 %                        23 %
Rubio                55 %                 42 %                                      14 %                         28 %
Trump               20 %                            10 %                                     68 %                         46 %



Gender

                      Men (49 %)               Women (51 %)

Carson               4 %                            5 %
Cruz                  20 %                          22 %
Rubio                34 %                            41 %
Trump               42 %                            33 %

Age

                     18-29 (10 %)              30-44 (21 %)         45-64 (47 %)         65 and older (22 %)

Carson               6 %                           9 %                       4 %                        3 %
Cruz                  24 %                           25 %                      22 %                     16 %
Rubio               38 %                   33 %                      34 %                      41 %
Trump                32 %                            33 %                       40 %                      40 %

Race

                   White (88 %)                       Non-white (12 %)                   
Carson               4 %                                       14 %                                           
Cruz                  22 %                                      18 %                                                                 
Rubio                36 %                                       41 %                                             
Trump              39 %                              27 %
               
Ideology

       Very conservative (38 %)       Somewhat conservative (42 %)         Moderate (18 %)         
Carson               6 %                               5 %                                                  4 %                         
Cruz                  36 %                    16 %                                                  8 %                           
Rubio                24 %                               40 %                                                  47 %                       
Trump               34 %                               40 %                                                  41 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (9 %)         Economy/Jobs (30 %)         Terrorism (27 %)        Govt. spending (31 %)

Carson               1 %                           6 %                               5 %                         5 %
Cruz                  24 %                           20 %                           19 %                       25 %
Rubio                18 %                            39 %                        38 %                      39 %
Trump               57 %                            36 %                         38 %                      31 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (13 %)          Shares my values (31 %)    Tells it like it is (18 %) Can bring change (36 %)

Carson               1 %                           9 %                                         2 %                             5 %
Cruz                  20 %                           35 %                                        6 %                        19 %
Rubio                54 %                      46 %                                      15 %                         30 %
Trump               25 %                            10 %                                     78 %                         46 %

Gender

                      Men (52 %)               Women (48 %)

Carson               3 %                            2 %
Cruz                  10 %                          9 %
Rubio                35 %                            43 %
Trump               52 %                            46 %

Age

                     18-29 (15 %)              30-44 (18 %)         45-64 (43 %)         65 and older (23 %)

Carson               n/a                           1 %                       4 %                        2 %
Cruz                  n/a                            8 %                      12 %                     6 %
Rubio               n/a                             46 %                      31 %                      41 %
Trump                n/a                            45 %                       53 %                      51 %

Race

                   White (92 %)                       Non-white (8 %)                   
Carson               3 %                                       n/a                                           
Cruz                  9 %                                      n/a                                                                 
Rubio                38 %                                       n/a                                             
Trump              50 %                              n/a
               
Ideology

       Very conservative (18 %)       Somewhat conservative (44 %)         Moderate (33 %)         
Carson               7 %                           2 %                                                  1 %                         
Cruz                  26 %                           8 %                                                  3 %                           
Rubio                20 %                           39 %                                                  51 %                     
Trump               47 %                       51 %                                                  45 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (16 %)         Economy/Jobs (33 %)         Terrorism (31 %)        Govt. spending (17 %)

Carson               2 %                           3 %                               3 %                         2 %
Cruz                  11 %                           6 %                           8 %                       19 %
Rubio                13 %                            50 %                        39 %                      46 %
Trump               74 %                            42 %                         50 %                       33 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (15 %)          Shares my values (31 %)    Tells it like it is (26 %) Can bring change (26 %)

Carson               0 %                           5 %                                         1 %                             3 %
Cruz                  5 %                           20 %                                        1 %                        8 %
Rubio                46 %                           61 %                                      16 %                         32 %
Trump                49 %                             14 %                                     82 %                         57 %



Gender

                      Men (50 %)               Women (50 %)

Carson               5 %                            8 %
Cruz                  32 %                          33 %
Rubio                32 %                            36 %
Trump               31 %                            22 %

Age

                     18-29 (11 %)              30-44 (20 %)         45-64 (42 %)         65 and older (27 %)

Carson               n/a                           8 %                       6 %                        3 %
Cruz                  n/a                            32 %                      34 %                     35 %
Rubio               n/a                             35 %                      30 %                      35 %
Trump                n/a                            25 %                       30 %                      27 %

Race

                   White (91 %)                       Non-white (9 %)                   
Carson               5 %                                       n/a                                           
Cruz                  34 %                                      n/a                                                                 
Rubio                34 %                                       n/a                                             
Trump              27 %                              n/a
               
Ideology

       Very conservative (43 %)       Somewhat conservative (38 %)         Moderate (18 %)         
Carson               6 %                               6 %                                                  6 %                         
Cruz                  42 %                    30 %                                                  17 %                           
Rubio                25 %                               40 %                                                  42 %                       
Trump               27 %                               24 %                                                  35 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (9 %)         Economy/Jobs (34 %)         Terrorism (23 %)        Govt. spending (32 %)

Carson               n/a                           7 %                               4 %                         7 %
Cruz                   n/a                           24 %                           32 %                       39 %
Rubio                 n/a                            41 %                       33 %                       30 %
Trump                n/a                            29 %                         31 %                     24 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (13 %)          Shares my values (44 %)    Tells it like it is (15 %) Can bring change (27 %)

Carson               0 %                           9 %                                         0 %                             7 %
Cruz                  31 %                          44 %                                        8 %                        30 %
Rubio                52 %                 37 %                                      8 %                         26 %
Trump               17 %                            10 %                                     84 %                         37 %



Gender

                      Men (50 %)               Women (50 %)

Carson               5 %                            8 %
Cruz                  26 %                          23 %
Rubio                26 %                            31 %
Trump               43 %                            38 %

Age

                     18-29 (8 %)              30-44 (17 %)         45-64 (46 %)         65 and older (29 %)

Carson               6 %                           9 %                       6 %                        6 %
Cruz                  21 %                           29 %                      25 %                     21 %
Rubio               35 %                          27 %                      29 %                      28 %
Trump                38 %                35 %                       40 %                      45 %

Race

                   White (94 %)                       Non-white (6 %)                   
Carson               6 %                                       n/a                                           
Cruz                  24 %                                      n/a                                                                 
Rubio                29 %                                       n/a                                             
Trump              41 %                              n/a
               
Ideology

       Very conservative (41 %)       Somewhat conservative (40 %)         Moderate (16 %)         
Carson               7 %                               6 %                                                  7 %                         
Cruz                  39 %                    16 %                                                  12 %                           
Rubio                20 %                               35 %                                                  36 %                       
Trump               34 %                               43 %                                        45 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (11 %)         Economy/Jobs (33 %)         Terrorism (26 %)        Govt. spending (28 %)

Carson               4 %                           6 %                               7 %                         8 %
Cruz                  30 %                           18 %                           20 %                        34 %
Rubio                17 %                            36 %                        29 %                      25 %
Trump               50 %                           40 %                          44 %                      33 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (12 %)          Shares my values (37 %)    Tells it like it is (21 %) Can bring change (28 %)

Carson               1 %                           12 %                                         3 %                             4 %
Cruz                  15 %                           41 %                                         8 %                        21 %
Rubio                57 %                       35 %                                     8 %                         20 %
Trump               27 %                            12 %                                     80 %                         52 %

Gender

                      Men (50 %)               Women (50 %)

Carson               4 %                            4 %
Cruz                  45 %                         41 %
Rubio                21 %                            30 %
Trump               31 %                            25 %

Age

                     18-44 (32 %)              45 and older (68 %)

Carson               6 %                           3 %                    
Cruz                  41 %                            44 %                    
Rubio               27 %                             25 %                
Trump                26 %                            28 %

Race

                   White (92 %)                       Hispanic (10 %)             Other non-white (8 %)                  
Carson               3 %                                       4 %                                    n/a      
Cruz                  44 %                                      36 %                                      n/a                        
Rubio                24 %                                       34 %                                   n/a        
Trump              29 %                              26 %                                   n/a
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (39 %)       Somewhat conservative (43 %)         Moderate (17 %)        
Carson               4 %                           3 %                                                  5 %                          
Cruz                  57 %                           37 %                                                  26 %                            
Rubio                16 %                           29 %                                                 36 %                      
Trump               23 %                       30 %                                                  34 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (10 %)         Economy/Jobs (32 %)         Terrorism (25 %)        Govt. spending (30 %)

Carson               6 %                           4 %                               2 %                         5 %
Cruz                  49 %                           38 %                           38 %                       50 %
Rubio                10 %                            33 %                        27 %                      24 %
Trump              35 %                            26 %                                  34 %                       21 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (12 %)          Shares my values (41 %)    Tells it like it is (16 %) Can bring change (29 %)

Carson               3 %                           4 %                                         3 %                             4 %
Cruz                  33 %                           58 %                                        16 %                        43 %
Rubio                 42 %                          28 %                                      7 %                         24 %
Trump               22 %                            10 %                                     74 %                         30 %



Gender

                      Men (53 %)               Women (47 %)

Carson               5 %                            5 %
Cruz                  32 %                          9 %
Rubio                52 %                            55 %
Trump               34 %                            31 %

Age

                     18-44 (24 %)              45 and older (76 %)

Carson               3 %                           4 %                    
Cruz                  10 %                            9 %                    
Rubio               60 %                             53 %
Trump                27 %                            34 %

Race

                   White (97 %)                       Non-white (3 %)                    
Carson               4 %                                       n/a                                          
Cruz                  10 %                                      n/a                                                                
Rubio                52 %                                       n/a                                              
Trump              34 %                              n/a
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (24 %)       Somewhat conservative (43 %)         Moderate (28 %)        
Carson               7 %                               5 %                                                  3 %                          
Cruz                  19 %                    8 %                                                  5 %                            
Rubio                47 %                               52 %                                                  58 %                      
Trump               27 %                               35 %                                                  34 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (11 %)         Economy/Jobs (37 %)         Terrorism (22 %)        Govt. spending (26 %)

Carson               n/a                           7 %                               5 %                         4 %
Cruz                   n/a                           24 %                           8 %                       13 %
Rubio                 n/a                            62 %                       44 %                       56 %
Trump                n/a                            29 %                         43 %                     27 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (14 %)          Shares my values (33 %)    Tells it like it is (22 %) Can bring change (29 %)

Carson               n/a                           7 %                                         2 %                             5 %
Cruz                  n/a                          13 %                                        3 %                        10 %
Rubio                n/a                70 %                                      21 %                         54 %
Trump               n/a                            10 %                                     74 %                         31 %



Gender

                      Men (53 %)               Women (47 %)

Carson               4 %                            9 %
Cruz                  16 %                          15 %
Rubio                42 %                            45 %
Trump               35 %                            31 %

Age

                     18-29 (12 %)              30-44 (21 %)         45-64 (45 %)         65 and older (23 %)

Carson               3 %                           8 %                       7 %                        5 %
Cruz                  21 %                           11 %                      17 %                     18 %
Rubio               48 %                          53 %                      36 %                      41 %
Trump                28 %                28 %                       40 %                      36 %

Race

                   White (86 %)                       Non-white (14 %)                    
Carson               5 %                                       12 %                                          
Cruz                  17 %                                      12 %                                                                
Rubio                43 %                                       46 %
Trump              35 %                              30 %
              
Ideology

       Very conservative (32 %)       Somewhat conservative (40 %)         Moderate (25 %)        
Carson               6 %                               7 %                                                  6 %                          
Cruz                  31 %                    11 %                                                  7 %                            
Rubio                27 %                               43 %                                                  64 %                      
Trump               36 %                               39 %                                        23 %

Most important issue

             Immigration (8 %)         Economy/Jobs (45 %)         Terrorism (19 %)        Govt. spending (25 %)

Carson               5 %                           5 %                               6 %                         9 %
Cruz                  25 %                           13 %                           17 %                        18 %
Rubio                28 %                            49 %                        45 %                      41 %
Trump               42 %                           33 %                          32 %                      32 %

Top candidate quality

                   Electability (17 %)          Shares my values (32 %)    Tells it like it is (15 %) Can bring change (35 %)

Carson               3 %                           10 %                                         3 %                             7 %
Cruz                  9 %                           28 %                                         7 %                        14 %
Rubio                63 %                       52 %                                     18 %                         36 %
Trump               25 %                            10 %                                     72 %                         43 %

Thanks to his successes on Super Tuesday, Marco Rubio increased his lead in the polls over Donald Trump. These are good news for the Florida Senator who could be right now in good shape to win the next key primaries such as Michigan, his home state Florida, Ohio and Illinois. According to the most recent polls, Ted Cruz is struggling to catch Donald Trump's advantage among evangelicals, a group that was supposed to compose his main base but instead went to Trump. We'll have to see in the next few days to who Ben Carson's withdrawal will be the most beneficial : Donald Trump or Ted Cruz?

Recent national polls show that Marco Rubio is the only Republican candidate able to beat Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, which, who knows could help him in his quest for the Republican nomination.

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After his victories on Super Tuesday, Florida Senator Marco Rubio became the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination. He scored new major endorsements, notably from Kentucky Senator and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Maine Senator Susan Collins, Idaho Senator Jim Risch and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who described the Florida Senator as the candidate with the « best knowledge to keep the American Dream alive, to grow the economy and to create jobs. » In addition, Rubio is endorsed by former Kansas Senator, former Senate Majority leader, 1976 Republican VP nominee and 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole who estimates that Rubio is « the only one who can unify this party. »

Donald Trump is endorsed by Ben Carson, who dropped out of the race yesterday.

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Thank you my friends!

Thanks to your support, we had a big night tonight and we are now approximately in half way from the nomination. After eight years of Barack Obama marked by growing terrorist threat and sluggish economic growth, the American people decided to go to the polls on this Super Tuesday in order to decide who is the best to lead America for the future, to bring justice, security, prosperity and national unity back in the United Staes of America. I listened to your worries and concerns, I proposed real solutions and the American people finally found his way and followed it in order to get out of crossroads. I'm proud to see our party growing due to a greater vote participation today on Super Tuesday. More minority voters, especially Hispanics and African-Americans, went to the polls today than ever before in a Republican presidential primary race because they are disappointed of Barack Obama's failure and they want to earn a better life, they want to prosper through tax cuts, stronger purchasing power, free trade with Latin America, education system reform and immigration system reform. And that's exactly the agenda I'm proposing.

That way, todos el pueblo de los Estados Unidos de America se brindará a esos detenidos una oportunidad justo de prosperar en America, el tierra de las oportunidades.

This great victory on Super Tuesday will push us to win the Republican nomination, to unite and grow our party, to promote an agenda that will bring America together, to defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders on November and to bring this country back on track and in the right direction, which includes energy independence, free trade for the sake of our economic competitiveness in the global economy, a fairer education system, budget balance, business championing, stronger military, stronger international security and stronger national unity.

We need to move in this direction right here right now and this direction will lead us to a New American Century.

Thank you, may God Bless the United States of America.

   
March 2, 2016
-Flight to Louisville, Kentucky
-Economic policy speech at the General Electric facility in Louisville, KY
-Rally at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY
-Fundraising event at the Frazier Museum in Louisville, KY
-Speech at the Kentucky Center in Louisville, KY
-Speech at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, KY
-Meet with college voters at University of Louisville in Louisville, KY
-Economic policy and foreign policy speech at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY
-Barnstorm at the Fourth Street Live! in Louisville, KY
-Supper with the voters at the Hard Rock Cafe at the Fourth Street Live! in Louisville, KY
-Bus trip to Frankfort, KY
-Meet with college voters at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, KY, in an effort to attract African-American voters
-Barnstorm in Frankfort, KY
-Bus trip to Lexington, KY
-Economic policy speech at Lexmark International headquarters in Lexington, KY
-Meet with college voters at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY
-Foreign policy speech at Memorial Hall at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY
-Speech at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, KY
-Rally at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY
-Foreign policy speech at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky in Lexington, KY
-Speech at First African Baptist Church in Lexington, KY, in an effort to woo the African-American vote
-Debate preparation

March 3, 2016
-Flight to Detroit, Michigan
-April Fool's Day rally with supporters in Detroit, MI
-Rally at the Spirit of Detroit in Detroit, MI
-Fundraising event at the Fisher Building in Detroit, MI
-Speech at the Eastern Market Historic District in Detroit, MI
-Education policy speech in Detroit, MI
-Meet with college voters at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI
-Innovation policy speech at the Metropolitan Center for High Technology in Detroit, MI
-Fundraising supper with the voters at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit in Detroit, MI
-Breakfast with the voters at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit in Detroit, MI
-Economic policy speech at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, MI
-Energy policy speech at Detroit Diesel Corporation headquarters in Detroit, MI
-Economic policy speech at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, MI :

Due to Barack Obama’s and big government policies such as high taxes and regulations on businesses and on energy industry, America’s automobile industry is declining. Detroit represents a great example of this matter of fact. In the last eight years, Detroit is in downturn due to the struggles that our automobile industry is facing. And in 2013, Detroit declared bankrupt, which killed tens of thousands of jobs. It risks of causing a domino effect : since automotive manufacturing is one of Chicago’s main economic activities, Detroit’s bankruptcy risks of putting Chicago into bankruptcy as well, which will hurt the U.S. economy. If we don’t take action, this domino effect will hit Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Cleveland, etc. Barack Obama's failed economic policies caused the offshoring of many of our companies, which cost much more American jobs.

But I have a plan to relaunch America’s automotive industry : by cutting taxes and abolishing regulations on businesses of all sizes (small, medium and big), including automotive industry companies and manufacturing industries, we will increase our companies’ capacity of open, to grow, to expand, to produce, to innovate and to create jobs. If I’m President, I will reduce the cost of doing business in America, which will convince our future business owners that America is the best place in the world to open a new business, which will help them to lead successful business careers and to create jobs. We also need to embrace energy independence, which requires using all of our sources of energies and increasing oil drilling and production. As President of the United States, I will double permits on federal lands, approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline as well as oil drilling in ANWR. Under my administration, we will build a transcontinental pipeline from Pennsylvania to California. We will also drill oil resources on the Arctic by increasing the number of oil platforms and by encouraging the manufacturing of underwater tankers that will be able to exploit underwater oil and gas resources. That way, we will be able to encourage oil exploitation, drilling and production without hurting the environment. That way, we will not only bring massive job creation in America but also get all the necessary revenues for the development of renewable energies such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear energies, which will bring, as a result, the development of an automotive industry manufacturing cars that will function through renewable energies, thus making America the world energy superpower and helping us creating jobs for the American people, for all Americans from all social classes.

My plan to get us energy independence will also relaunch and grow our automotive industry because it will encourage automotive manufacturing in America. It will also reduce the cost of buying American cars, which will, thanks to a stronger purchasing power, encourage our consumers to buy more American cars rather than Asian cars that will be more expansive. So it will encourage the opening of new automotive companies all across America, including here in Detroit. That’s also an advantage of integrating the Trans-Pacific (TPP) because, combined with tariff reduction, the path that I’m proposing to clinch energy independence will make sure that we will be competitive in the Asia-Pacific since American cars will be less expensive than Asian cars. It will encourage more international consumers, including in the Asia-Pacific to buy American cars, which will be beneficial for our automotive industry and for our economy.

So I’m asking for your vote to grow our automotive industry, to save Detroit, its neighbors and all America from bankruptcy and depression, to lead us to energy independence and permanent economic prosperity and to accomplish our goal of bringing full employment in this country for the sake of the U.S. economy and the American Dream.

Thank you. God bless America.

-Speech at the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, MI
-Rally at Ford Field in Detroit, MI
-Barnstorm at Black Bottom in Detroit, MI, in an effort to attract African-American voters
-Fundraising event at the MGM Grand Detroit in Detroit, MI
-Speech at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI
-Advertisement filming in Detroit, MI
-Debate preparation
-Marco Rubio debates with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI

March 4, 2016
-Flight to National Harbor, Maryland, to give a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference
-Flight to Portland, Maine
-Debate preparation on the plane
-Build campaign infrastructure in Maine
-Economic policy speech at the Port of Portland in Portland, ME
-Energy policy speech at Portland Pipeline marine terminal in Portland, ME
-Rally at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, ME
-Fundraising event at Hadlock Field in Portland, ME
-Meet with college voters at the University of New England in Portland, ME
-Social policy speech at Holy Cross Church in South Portland, ME
-Speech at the Franco Center in Lewiston, ME
-Barnstorm in Lewiston, ME
-Barnstorm in Auburn, ME
-Barnstorm in Brunswick, ME
-Foreign policy speech at the University of Maine at Augusta, ME
-Barnstorm in Augusta, ME
-Agriculture policy speech at Hannaford headquarters in Scarborough, ME
-Barnstorm in Westbrook, ME
-Barnstorm in Saco, ME
-Flight to Louisville, Kentucky
-Fundraising event at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Louisville, Kentucky
-Speech at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, KY
-Rally with Mitch McConnell in Louisville, KY
-Speech at Christian Academy of Louisville, KY
-Rally at Louisville Waterfront Park in Louisville, KY

March 5, 2016
-Speech at the Lexington History Center in Lexington, KY
-Meet with college voters at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY
-Agriculture policy speech at Simplot headquarters in Boise, Idaho
-Economic policy speech at Micron Technology, Inc. headquarters in Boise, ID
-Fundraising event at the Boise Art Museum in Boise, ID
-Rally at Memorial Stadium in Boise, ID
-Economic policy speech at the Amalgamated Sugar Company headquarters in Nampa, ID
-Meet with college voters at the Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, ID
-Bus trip to Idaho falls
-Foreign policy speech at Idaho State Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Freeman Park in Idaho Falls, ID
-Veteran policy speech at War Memorial in Idaho Falls, ID
-Barnstorm in Idaho Falls, ID
-Speech at Idaho State University in Pocatello, ID
-Rally at Holt Arena, ID
-Barnstorm in Pocatello
-Watch the results of the primaries and caucuses in Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana and Maine

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Date : March 3, 2016

Place : Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan

Host : Fox News

Moderators :  Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier

Podium order based on the candidates' standing in the polls :


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Megyn Kelly : Senator Cruz, you say that you are the true conservative in this race. But 15 states have voted now, and you have won only two of them. You have lost repeatedly with what is supposed to be your core voter groups, including evangelicals and conservatives.

Hasn't your brand of conservatism been rejected by an electorate that appears to be more taken with Mr. Trump's populist message?

Ted Cruz : Well, Megyn, you know, at the end of the day for the folks at home, this is not about the insults back and forth between the candidates. This is not about what attacks we can throw at each other. This is the people at home who are struggling through seven years of Barack Obama.

This is the single moms who are working two and three jobs, 28, 29 hours a week because their hours have been forcibly reduced because of Obamacare. This is the truck drivers and the steel workers and the mechanics with calluses on their hands who have seen their wages not grow year after year after year while the cost of living goes up.

This is all the young people coming out of school with student loans up to their eyeballs that aren't able to find a job.

And I don't think the people of America are interested in a bunch of bickering school children. They are interested in solutions, not slogans. It's easy to say, make things better, make things great. You can even print it and put it on a baseball cap.

But the question is, do you understand the principles that made America great in the first place? As president, I will repeal every word of Obamacare. I will pull back the regulators that are killing small businesses.

And we will pass a simple flat tax and abolish the IRS. And what that's going to do, Megyn, is small businesses are going to explode. We are going to see millions of high-paying jobs. We are going to see wages going up. We are going to see opportunity.

That's where our focus needs to be. That's where my focus is. And that is why we are the one campaign that going forward can and will beat Donald Trump in this election.

Donald Trump : I have heard Ted say that over and over again on television, that he is the only one that can beat me. And yet, Marco performs much better than Ted. Just, for the record, I have won four. Ted has won only two. Last week, in fact, on Tuesday, I was a half a million votes higher, if not more, than him. That's a lot of votes. So I keep hearing that he is the only one that can beat me but he is getting beaten very, very badly. So where does this come from? Where does it come from?

Marco Rubio : There is no doubt that Donald has done well in these elections. There is no doubt about that. The numbers are there.

Here is what the numbers also say. Two-thirds of the people who have cast a vote in a Republican primary or caucus have voted against you. They do not want you to be our nominee. That's why I won more states than you and am leading you right now in the national polls.

And, the reason why is because we are not going to turn over the conservative movement, or the party of Lincoln or Reagan, for example, to someone whose positions are not conservative. To someone who last week defended Planned Parenthood for 30 seconds a debate stage. To someone, for example, that has no ideas on foreign -- someone who thinks the nuclear triad is a rock band from the 1980's. To someone who time and again on issue after issue has not proven that he has the principals.

That outline what the conservative movement has been about. And, as Ted said, the things that made America great. America is great because of the conservative principles of limited government and free enterprise, and a strong national defense.

And, our nominee needs to be someone that stands by those things. Donald has not demonstrated that.

[APPLAUSE]

Donald Trump : Very nice words, but happens to be wrong. CNN just came out with a poll two days ago that...

Marco Rubio : Of all the people on this stage, he performs the worst against Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump : Wrong.

Marco Rubio : If you're the nominee, we will lose.

Donald Trump : I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls.

Marco Rubio : You lose by 13 points. She will wipe you out. You turned your back to principled conservatives, you turned your back to minority groups that helped President Obama to win twice and you turned your back to women. Without all this base, we can't win on November.

So I think you should change your slogan. Instead of « Make America Great Again », it should be written « Make Hillary Clinton Inevitable Again ». Your're insulting your way to the presidency, which will make Obamacare permanent, ensure free market's death and kill jobs and make the world much more dangerous than it already is.

Look, folks, we are in Michigan, a state inhabited by Reagan Democrats, a group that always balanced election results, a group disappointed of big government policies that contributed to job losses. So this group defected to Ronald Reagan, which helped him and our party to win by landslides. We need to appeal to all groups and to offer them real solutions. That's how we're going to win on November and get America back on track.

[APPLAUSE]

[...]

Bret Baier : Senator Rubio, ISIS is a big topic of conversation on Facebook. We have a map that shows the conservation about ISIS around the country. You proposed sending a larger number of American ground troops to help defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. But military commanders say the biggest ISIS threat to Europe in particular now is coming from Libya, not Syria. So just to be clear, if you're for putting more U.S. ground troops in Iraq and Syria, are you also ready to send U.S. ground troops on the ground in Libya?

Marco Rubio : Well, Bret, what I've argued from the very beginning is ISIS -- in order to defeat ISIS, you must deny them operating spaces. This is how ISIS or any radical group, for that matter, can grow. It's how Al Qaida was able to carry out 9/11, is that the Taliban gave them an operating space in Afghanistan.

Today that operating space has largely been based in Iraq and Syria, but I've been warning about the Libyan presence for the better part of two years. So they need to be targeted wherever they have an operating space. They do need to be defeated on the ground by a ground force made up primarily of Sunni Arabs themselves. This is a radical Sunni movement. They can only be defeated if they are driven out and the territory is held by Sunni Arabs. But it will require a specific number of American special operators, in combination with an increase in air strikes. And that will include, if necessary, operating spaces in Libya, which, in fact, they are using to project into the Sinai against Egypt and ultimately into Europe, as well.

Bret Baier : Mr. Trump, just yesterday, almost 100 foreign policy experts signed on to an open letter refusing to support you, saying your embracing expansive use of torture is inexcusable. General Michael Hayden, former CIA director, NSA director, and other experts have said that when you asked the U.S. military to carry out some of your campaign promises, specifically targeting terrorists' families, and also the use of interrogation methods more extreme than waterboarding, the military will refuse because they've been trained to turn down and refuse illegal orders.

So what would you do, as commander-in-chief, if the U.S. military refused to carry out those orders?

Donald Trump : They won't refuse. They're not going to refuse me. Believe me. Let me just tell you, you look at the Middle East. They're chopping off heads. They're chopping off the heads of Christians and anybody else that happens to be in the way. They're drowning people in steel cages. And he -- now we're talking about waterboarding.

This really started with Ted, a question was asked of Ted last -- two debates ago about waterboarding. And Ted was, you know, having a hard time with that question, to be totally honest with you. They then came to me, what do you think of waterboarding? I said it's fine. And if we want to go stronger, I'd go stronger, too, because, frankly, that's the way I feel. Can you imagine -- can you imagine these people, these animals over in the Middle East, that chop off heads, sitting around talking and seeing that we're having a hard problem with waterboarding? We should go for waterboarding and we should go tougher than waterboarding. That's my opinion.

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Date : March 3, 2016

Place : Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan

Host : Fox News

Moderators :  Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier

Podium order based on the candidates' standing in the polls :


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Chris Wallace : Senator Rubio, you like to take a shot at Mr. Trump on the campaign trail saying that negotiating a hotel deal in a foreign country is not foreign policy. The other day you even compared him to Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, as lunatics trying to get a hold of nuclear weapons.

Please tell Mr. Trump why he's unprepared to be commander-in- chief.

Marco Rubio : Well, first of all, I think, as we've seen throughout this campaign, Donald has not shown a seriousness about the issues of foreign policy. He just simply hasn't.

Whether it was the structure of our military, even today he was asked a question about the issue of commanders not following his lead on killing the family of terrorists. And his answer basically was, if I tell them to do it, they're going to do it. Now that's just not true.

Foreign policy is not only consequential, I think much of our future now depends on it. You know, I see a lot of young people at my events around the country. I feel great when they come.

And I always them that despite the hardships of the moment, I honestly believe that today's Millennials have a chance to be the greatest generation we've had in 100 years. I really do.

Because the world today has hundreds of millions of people that can afford to be their clients, their customers, their partners, people they collaborate with. But that won't happen if the world is dangerous and it's unstable.

And that will require strong American leadership. The next president of the United States is going to have eight years of a mess of a foreign policy to clean up. That's why it can't be Hillary Clinton.

And quite frankly, that's why it can't be someone who simply has not shown the intellectual curiosity or the interest in learning about these very complicated issues. And Donald simply hasn't.

Donald Trump : Well, let me just say this. I've gotten to know Marco over a period of time, believe me, he is not a leader. Believe me.

Marco Rubio : And yet, in most of the exit polls in the states that already held a primary or a caucus, I edged you among voters who described terrorism and foreign policy as the most important issue.

Donald Trump : Excuse me. Let me talk. We are in a very dangerous place. We have a depleted military. Totally depleted. We have -- by the way, our vets are treated horribly. We're going to take care of our vets. We're going to start taking care of our vets, properly, like we should. But we're going to build up our military, and we're going to get the equipment we want, not the equipment that's sold to us by somebody that gave him and him and not the governor campaign contributions. OK? We're going to get the equipment that the generals and the soldiers want.

Marco Rubio : Once again, he was pressed on a policy issue to show his understanding of the foreign policy, and his reaction was just to attack somebody else with a name.

Here's the bottom line. And I'm going to repeat it again. The world today is as complicated and as complex as it has been certainly in a very -- certainly in the lifetime of anybody here today. You indeed do have a lunatic in North Korea with nuclear weapons. You indeed do have the Chinese government taking over the most important shipping lane in the world. And Vladimir Putin, who you've expressed admiration for, Donald...

Donald Trump : Wrong. Wrong.

Marco Rubio :  You've expressed admiration for him. You said he is a strong leader. He is now dividing Europe up.

Donald Trump : He said nice things about me.

Marco Rubio : And he annexed Crimea and is also sowing instability in Ukraine. He's sowing instability in the Middle East. You have Iran who's going to get $100 billion of sanctions relief. You have radical jihadists spreading all over the world. This is a time for seriousness on these issues.

Just catched up. Good stuff so far

Thank you!

I was wondering if you help me on something like this?

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

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« Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Welcome to the coverage of the Republican primaries and caucuses in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine as well as the Democratic primaries and caucuses in Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska. »

Wolf Blitzer : « It's 8 pm and we can project that Ted Cruz is leading by a lot in Kansas. »

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Yesterday, during a rally in Mississippi, Donald Trump slammed Marco Rubio foe being the « establishment's standard bearer ». Here are some parts of his statements :

« You know, Little Marco is endorsed by mitch McConnell. He is clearly the establishment's standard bearer. He's endorsed by the same corporatists who made profits on the backs of the people. »

In response, Marco Rubio replied : « If I'm so little, why am I leading you in the polls now? »

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Nancy Reagan, former First Lady of the United States under Ronald Reagan's presidency died yesterday at the age of 94. The whole country paid tribute to Nancy Reagan whose husband's presidency is remarked by a strong conservative area, by the emergence of neoliberalism, dramatic increases defense spending and the end of Cold War.

March 6, 2016
-Flight to Miami, Florida, where Senator Rubio gives a speech in honor of Nancy Reagan :
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Nancy Reagan was a woman of incredible grace and strength who served as an inspiration to an entire generation of Americans. As First Lady, she chose not only to lead with her distinctive style and poise, but also to take a stand on tough issues, such as the prevention of recreational drug abuse.

For conservatives, she has been a powerful living link to her husband’s legacy as one of the greatest modern presidents. Through her work with the Reagan Library she has been active in extending the impact of his leadership and message to a new generation.

It was an honor to have met Mrs. Reagan when I spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in 2011. She went out of her way to warmly welcome Jeanette and me. She will be sorely missed by those who knew her and forever remembered by a grateful nation.

-Flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico
-Speech at the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art in San Juan, PR
-Meet with college voters at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, PR
-Speech in San Juan, PR, in favor of Puerto Rico's statehood in the United States
-Rally at the José Migue Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, PR
-Economic policy speech at Plaza del Sol in Bayamon, PR
-Barnstorm in Carolina, PR
-Economic policy speech at Industrias Vassallo in Ponce, PR
-Flight to Detroit, Michigan
-peech at the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, MI
-Rally at Ford Field in Detroit, MI
-Barnstorm at Black Bottom in Detroit, MI, in an effort to attract African-American voters
-Fundraising event at the MGM Grand Detroit in Detroit, MI
-Speech at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI
-Advertisement filming in Detroit, MI
-Bus trip to Warren, Michigan
-Marco Rubio's presidential campaign broadcasts a TV ad titled « Keep Detroit and America rolling » talking about Marco Rubio's plan to relaunch the United States' automobile industry. The TV commercial narrates Marco Rubio’s speech at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. The ad airs in Michigan, Florida, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Illinois and Ohio.

« Keep Detroit and America Rolling » advertisement narration :

Due to Barack Obama’s big government policies such as high taxes and regulations on businesses and on energy industry, America’s automobile industry is declining. Detroit represents a great example of this matter of fact. In the last eight years, Detroit is in downturn due to the struggles that our automobile industry is facing. And in 2013, Detroit declared bankrupt, which killed tens of thousands of jobs. It risks of causing a domino effect : since automotive manufacturing is one of Chicago’s main economic activities, Detroit’s bankruptcy risks of putting Chicago into bankruptcy as well, which will hurt the U.S. economy.
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If we don’t take action, this domino effect will hit Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Cleveland, etc. Barack Obama failed economic policies caused the offshoring of many of our companies, which cost much more American jobs.
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But I have a plan to relaunch America’s automotive industry : by cutting taxes and abolishing regulations on businesses of all sizes (small, medium and big), including automotive industry companies, we will increase our companies’ capacity of open, to grow, to expand, to produce, to innovate and to create jobs. If I’m President, I will reduce the cost of doing business in America, which will convince our future business owners that America is the best place in the world to open a new business, which will help them to lead successful business careers and to create jobs.

We also need to embrace energy independence, which requires using all of our sources of energies and increasing oil drilling and production. As President of the United States, I will double permits on federal lands, approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline as well as oil drilling in ANWR.
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Under my administration, we will build the TransAmerica Energy pipeline that I’m proposing and that will from situated between Pennsylvania to California. We will also drill oil resources on the Arctic by increasing the number of oil platforms and by encouraging the manufacturing of underwater tankers that will be able to exploit underwater oil and gas resources.
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That way, we will be able to encourage oil exploitation, drilling and production without hurting the environment. That way, we will not only bring massive job creation in America but also get all the necessary revenues for the development of renewable energies such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear energies, which will bring, as a result, the development of an automotive industry manufacturing cars that will function through renewable energies, thus making America the world energy superpower and helping us creating jobs for the American people, for all Americans from all social classes.
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My plan to get us energy independence will also relaunch and grow our automotive industry because it will encourage automotive manufacturing in America. It will also reduce the cost of buying American cars, which will, thanks to a stronger purchasing power, encourage our consumers to buy more American cars rather than Asian cars that will be more expansive. So it will encourage the opening of new automotive companies all across America, including here in Detroit. That’s also an advantage of integrating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because, combined with tariff reduction, the path that I’m proposing to clinch energy independence will make sure that we will be competitive in the Asia-Pacific since American cars will be less expensive than Asian cars. It will encourage more international consumers, including in the Asia-Pacific to buy American cars, which will be beneficial for our automotive industry and for our economy.
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So I’m asking for your vote to grow our automotive industry, to save Detroit, its neighbors and all America from bankruptcy and depression, to lead us to energy independence and permanent economic prosperity and to accomplish our goal of bringing full employment in this country for the sake of the U.S. economy and the American Dream.

I’m Marco Rubio and I approve this message.

-Rally with supporters at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, MI, to watch the development of the results of the Puerto Rico Republican primary

March 7, 2016
-Foreign policy speech at the United States Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command in Warren, MI
-Economic policy speech at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI
-Meet with college voters at Davenport University in Warren, MI
-Economic policy speech at Warren Truck Assembly in Warren, MI
-Barnstorm in Center Line, MI
-Rally at Atwood Stadium in Flint, MI
-Economic policy speech at the University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, MI
-Energy policy speech at GM Powertrain in Flint, MI
-Space policy speech at the Longway Planetarium in Flint, MI
-Speech at the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, MI
-Energy at the Otto E. Eckert power plant in Lansing, MI
-Meet with college voters at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI
-Town hall meeting at Peppermint Creek Theatre Company in Lansing, MI
-Speech at Lansing Center in Lansing, MI
-Economic policy speech at Ottawa Street Power Station in Lansing, MI
-Rally at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing, MI
-Bus trip to Detroit, Michigan
-Economic policy speech in Detroit Economic Club in Detroit, MI
-Speech at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI, in an attempt to appeal Reagan Democrats
-Infrastructure policy speech at Michigan Central Station in Detroit, MI

March 8, 2016
-Bus trip to Dearborn, MI
-Debate preparation on the bus
-Economic policy speech at the Ford Motor Company headquarters in Dearborn, MI
-Energy policy speech at Automotive Components Holdings headquarters in Dearborn, MI
-Meet with college voters at the University of Michigan-Dearborn in Dearborn, MI
-Speech at Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, MI
-Economic policy speech at the Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, MI
-Manufacturing policy speech at Lear Corporation headquarters in Southfield, MI
-Town hall meeting at the Southfield Public Library in Southfield, MI
-Meet with college voters at the Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI
-Bus trip to Grand Rapids, MI  
-Debate preparation on the bus
-Fundraising event at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in Grand Rapids, MI
-Speech at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, MI
-Rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI
-Speech at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Grand Rapids, MI
-Meet with college voters at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI
-Bus trip to Jackson, MI
-Energy policy speech at CMS Energy headquarters in Jackson, MI
-Meet with voters at Westwood Mall in Jackson, MI
-Speech at the Jackson County Tower in Jackson, MI
-Bus trip to Detroit, MI
-Debate preparation on the bus
-Rally with supporters at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, MI, to watch the development of the results of the Republican primaries and caucuses in Michigan, Mississippi, Idaho amd Hawaii

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CNN America's Choice theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvpd4myQXs

Wolf Blitzer : « Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'm Wolf Blitzer from the CNN Election Center and tonight we are covering the Puerto Rico Republican primary and the Maine Democratic caucuses. »

John King : « It's 8 pm and we can already report that Marco Rubio is leading largely in Puerto Rico due, notably, to his strong support among Hispanics and to his fluency in Spanish. »

Political Geography: Tales from the campaign trail

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