BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio is increasingly relying on a national strategy as he lowers expectations for February’s primary contests.
Rubio is betting big that Republican voters across the political spectrum will ultimately coalesce behind his presidential candidacy in the state-by-state slog for delegates his team envisions for the months ahead.
It’s a strategy fraught with risk for the Florida senator. He’s still fighting to break out among the pack of candidates looking up at New York billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
The outsider favorites are dominating in Iowa less than two weeks before the state’s leadoff caucuses.
For now at least, Rubio is embracing a patient approach that goes well beyond the four states with contests in February: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
