In Minneapolis, Rubio says he can unite Republicans
Republican Marco Rubio pitched himself Tuesday as the most-electable presidential candidate from his party and someone who can heal internal wounds from a rough primary season.
A week from Minnesota's precinct caucuses, Rubio brought his campaign to the state. He rallied more than 1,500 people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. He said the fact that dozens of Republican officials endorsed him this week demonstrates that he has the ability to win.
“I can bring the party together. We can’t win if we are divided against each other. If we’re still fighting against each other in two months, three months, four months, we’ll lose,” Rubio said. “I can unite this party. You are already seeing that it is his happening. As candidates drop out you can see them join our team. I admit maybe I wasn’t their first choice.”
Rubio criticized President Obama, as well as Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. He didn't bring up the names of any of his Republican opponents, but did seem to aim some comments at Donald Trump.
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"This cannot be an election about nominating someone just to make a point," he said. "This can't be an election about nominating someone because they seem angrier than everybody else. We're all angry. We're all frustrated. But you have to solve a problem. We've got to solve this problem."
He leaned on his background as the son of parents who worked in the service economy, stressing that he can relate to working-class voters in a way that other Republicans can't.
"We are going to take our message to people living paycheck to paycheck. We are going to take our message to bartenders and housekeepers and people that park cars for a living," Rubio said. "We're going to say to them, 'I come from where you are. I lived and grew up the way you now live. I'm a conservative and you should be a conservative because that's what's better for you, better for me and better for America."'
Joyce Weeks, an artist from Prior Lake, said she’s been a Rubio backer from day one.
“I like that he’s positive and that he doesn’t point at himself all the time. And he knows how to work with other people to get things done,” she said, comparing his “gentlemanly” style with the more animated style of frontrunner Donald Trump.
“I don’t like Cruz because he doesn’t know how to get along with other people,” Weeks said.
Micah Olson, a senior at the University of Northwestern and president of the College Republicans club there, said he sees Rubio as the most electable of the Republicans still in the race.
“He’s a conservative who can win,” Olson said.
Olson added that Rubio’s generational emphasis speaks to him. “I don’t think there’s a candidate in this race that is hitting those kind of notes like Rubio. It really is reminiscent of what Obama was like back in ’08. He was bringing in the hope and change and a generational shift,” he said.
Minnesota’s caucuses are often a race to the right for Republicans. Those deemed the most socially conservative tend to perform best.
While Rubio’s supporters see him as a reliable conservative, they also think he’s more prone to getting something accomplished in Washington. Several mainstream Republican officeholders from Minnesota, including two members of Congress and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, are now on board with his campaign.
If Trump and Cruz split the hard right, the theory is that Rubio can shoot up middle.
Before Rubio’s rally, a few dozen volunteers sat in the lobby for an impromptu phone bank using their smartphones.
There are no other visits on the docket from the other four candidates who will be on Tuesday’s ballot. Rafael Cruz, a pastor and the father of Ted Cruz, is coming to stir up the Texas senator’s Minnesota supporters on Saturday.