Tallahassee, Florida – At a campaign rally here Monday morning, Republican Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio outlined his strategy to a room full of supporters, namely to “win Florida handily, and thereafter reach our peak, just as the race ends and Donald Trump has sealed up the nomination.”
Rubio is currently running a distant third behind frontrunner Trump and a surging Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas. Rubio says all that will change once the race ends, and he really hits his stride.
“You can say you heard it here first,” he said. “Once Donald Trump receives the necessary number of delegates and claims the Republican nomination for president, my campaign will hit a stride that we haven’t before, and we will dominate from then on.”
Once the question and answer portion of the speech opened up, several supporters questioned Rubio’s stated strategy.
“Won’t that be too late?” asked Michael Thompkins, a registered Republican and owner of a small coffee shop. “I mean, the race will be over, right? So, even if you do peak then, and I’m not saying you won’t, but even if you do, won’t it be too late?”
“You mean because Mr. Trump will already have the nomination in hand?” Rubio asked.
“Yeah,” said Thompkins.
“Well, I can see that theory,” Rubio said. “And some people within the campaign have voiced that concern as well. But what you need to understand is, we are going to really catch fire after the race ends. We are going to be gathering up delegate support like there’s no tomorrow. So you really don’t have to worry. I’m not worried. I’m excited.”
