Earlier this year, the Republican establishment decided that Marco Rubio
was their party's savior, so they selected him to give the GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union speech. But even though the most notable thing about that speech was the image of Captain McSippypants struggling with hydration issues, Rubio's popularity with the Republican base soared.
Last April in New Hampshire, for example, Public Policy Polling found that Rubio had the support of 25 percent of GOP primary voters for the party's 2016 presidential nomination, trailing just Rand Paul at 28 percent. Moreover, Paul's support came heavily from New Hampshire's independent voters, but among Republicans Rubio found himself in the top spot with 29 percent of their support.
Now, just five months later, Marco Rubio is pretty much the same guy that he was back then—except for one (big) little thing: He decided to become the Republican face of immigration reform, becoming one of just 14 Republican senators to vote for the measure. The GOP establishment applauded Rubio's efforts, but check out where he stands in PPP's latest poll:
PPP's newest look ahead to the 2016 Presidential race in New Hampshire finds no clear leader. Rand Paul's at 20% to 19% for Chris Christie, 14% for Jeb Bush, 12% for Kelly Ayotte, 10% for Ted Cruz, 7% for Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan, 3% for Bobby Jindal, and 2% for Rick Santorum.
So Rubio has gone from second place and 25 percent to sixth place and 7 percent. Even worse, he's gone from first place and 29 percent with Republicans to 8 percent and tied for sixth with Paul Ryan.
But while Rubio's free fall can't be good news for his chances to win the 2016 GOP nomination, there is one piece of silver lining in the poll: It might not matter who gets the GOP nomination, because Hillary Clinton leads every Republican candidate that PPP tested, from Chris Christie who manages to trail by just 4 points to Ted Cruz who trails by 12. Rubio's only 42 years old, so instead of running in 2016, maybe he ought to start putting together his 2024 plans. Unless Allen West primaries him first, that is.
