Marco Rubio told supporters in New Hampshire it's not their fault that he came in a really embarrassing fifth place in that state's primary on Tuesday night.
"I'm disappointed with tonight,...but I want you to understand something....Our disappointment tonight is not on you," he told his supporters. "It's on me. I did not—I did not do well on Saturday night. So listen to this: that will never happen again." […]
The admission was an about-face for Rubio, who, over the last two days, was unapologetic. He told voters and media outlets that he thought he had had a great debate and felt confident going into Tuesday's primary. A strong showing in New Hampshire, ahead of Kasich, Bush and Cruz would have solidified the argument that Rubio was the establishment alternative to Trump and Cruz. […]
"National media narrative doesn't impact voters especially in place like New Hampshire," he said, indirectly chiding reporters. "These are serious voters, people who have taken their time with the candidates they know the issues better than anybody I have ever interacted with."
But all is not lost! says the Weekly Standard, still clinging to a belief that "This is Marco's moment." Marco gets an awful lot of moments with these people, including Byron York who is convinced that a departing Rick Santorum's endorsement of Rubio is the silver bullet for the junior senator from Florida. Because of that Santorum juggernaut of support.
Meanwhile, Rubio is hanging on to a fifth place finish and enough of a percentage of the vote to come out of this with delegates. With that and Rick Santorum's supporters, maybe he can push the reset button and resurrect that old master plan of losing his way to victory.