First Read is a morning briefing from Meet
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Cruz's and Rubio's last stand to stop Trump
Tonight's Republican presidential debate is in Houston, but as NBC's Hallie Jackson
has suggested, San Antonio would have been a more fitting location --
given that the debate is an Alamo-like last stand of sorts for both Ted
Cruz and Marco Rubio. It's why tonight and this coming Tuesday is a last
stand for Cruz: He has to win his home state to stay alive in the GOP
contest. But it's a last stand for Rubio, too: Can he afford to ignore
Trump and cede Super Tuesday to the GOP frontrunner as time starts to
run out? Many Republicans and plenty of GOP donors will be watching
tonight's debate and asking: "If you aren't tough enough to take on
Trump, are you tough enough to take on Hillary Clinton?" Call it the
Christie debate hangover. As Ross Douthat writes,
"There isn't going to be a long wintry war of attrition against Trump
for Rubio; the time for that is gone. Instead, after Super Tuesday,
assuming that Rubio does edge Cruz consistently, he'll have to beat
Trump in two pitched battles — the Detroit and Miami Republican debates,
on March 3 and March 10. And he'll have to do so in the shadow of
screaming headlines that stress, not delegate counts, but Trump's
overall winning streak." Of course, as we remember from our Texas
history, the side that made the Alamo a last stand -- and was defeated
-- still won the war in the end.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
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