Rubio's 'Bennetton' campaign in South Carolina
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with the support of South Carolina's Gov. Nikki Haley, is racing to become the chief establishment Republican to Donald Trump.
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Marco Rubio argued Friday he is best positioned to unite feuding Republicans and deny Democrats a third straight term in the White House, as he kicked off a fly-around tour of the state on the last full day of campaigning before the South Carolina primary.
"It's not just that we're going to be angry because the other team won…if they stay in charge, America will remain a great country in decline," Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, told 500 cheering supporters at a morning rally.
A poll conducted for The Wall Street Journal and NBC News Friday found that Donald Trump's once-formidable South Carolina lead has narrowed as the GOP's most conservative voters have shifted toward Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Trump had the support of 28 percent among likely Republican primary voters, down 8 percentage points from the same survey in January, while Cruz's supported inched up to 23 percent, according to the poll, conducted by Marist College. Trump's lead was 16 points last month.
The other candidates in the race were closely bunched a good way back. Rubio had 15 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had 13 percent – with Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 9 percent each.
Rubio was joined at the rally by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R.,S.C.) and the state's Gov. Nikki Haley, who endorsed the Florida senator Wednesday, jolting the campaign.
"It looks like a Bennetton commercial," Haley joked at the scene of the three together. She is the daughter of Asian Indian immigrants, Sen. Scott is African American and Rubio is Latino. (Throw in GOP U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, and the white-male demographic is covered in the pi cture too.)
Rubio often stresses inclusivness on the campaign trail, but it may have special resonance in South Carolina given the company he's keeping. "We have to grow the party - not by abandoing conservative principles, but by taking our message everywhere," Cruz said Friday, before Haley made her quip.
Backers say that the presence of Haley and Scott in the top echelon of South Carolina's GOP, as well as the presience of two Latinos in the presidential field (Cruz is the other), represents the future of the party - if it seizes that future.