– ‘Glaring differences’ –
If the Democratic race is poised to take a more confrontational turn, then Republicans are set for all out internecine warfare.
Trump’s visceral assault on American politics brought him his debut victory after a second-place showing in last week’s Iowa caucuses.
It was a must win for Trump, after his embarrassing performance in the Hawkeye State called into question his frontrunner status and brand as a winner.
But similar levels of support for Kasich, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio and former Florida governor Jeb Bush left the field in turmoil. The last remaining candidate, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, finished farther off the pace.
Now the fight moves to South Carolina, a state with a lingering reputation for bare-knuckle campaign tactics.
Even before the candidates arrived, the state’s airwaves were being flooded with negative attack ads, with each man hoping to emerge as the mainstream answer to Trump.
“They’ve written me off in this campaign, over and over again,” Bush told supporters in Bluffton, South Carolina, arguing that his campaign got a new lease on life even though he finished fourth up north.
Cruz, challenging Trump for prominence in the anti-establishment far-right lane, highlighted their “glaring differences” during an appearance in South Carolina.
“The only candidate who can beat Donald Trump is me,” he said.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Cruz eyed a potential boost from Christie and Fiorina backers.
“I hope to earn the support of each of their supporters,” he said. “I’m grateful that they ran.”
Rubio, who hoped to match or better his third-place Iowa finish, stumbled to fifth after he took a drubbing in the last debate before the vote, where he robotically repeated his talking points.
He could only offer supporters a mea culpa.
“Our disappointment is not on you. It’s on me,” he said. “We did not do well on Saturday and so listen to this: That will never happen again.”
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