I came down to Florida for a few days with my wife, Sophia, and what do you know, they are having a primary election here next Tuesday.  What a surprise!

Both John Kasich and Marco Rubio face elimination if they lose in their home states.  This does look like a reality TV show, or maybe that cute little number in the Sound of Music where the von Trapp children one-by-one depart the party singing,  “So long, farewell …”

The Florida primary has all the makings of “Marco’s last stand.”  Cooler heads apparently were telling him the past few days that, in order to maintain a political future for himself, he should drop out (“suspend his campaign”) before Tuesday.  Exercising the same great judgment that brought him to the predicament he now finds himself in, he continues to contest the election.  A story in today’s New York Times described the campaign as “the political equivalent of hospice care…”

He and his team send out frequent emails telling people “If we hand the conservative movement over to Donald Trump by making him the Republican nominee, we will lose.”  Yes and yes.

 

We saw Marco Rubio yesterday morning as he entered a synagogue for a no-public-allowed press conference.  He was greeted by nearly ten supporters.  I told a waiting CNN reporter that it reminded me of the Jeb Bush political wake of an event that I was at in South Carolina 3 weeks ago.  The bus will probably be for sale next Wednesday.

On our way to breakfast yesterday we passed Trump’s Mar-a-Lago palace where the Ben Carson endorsement presser was about to begin.  Another private property no-public-allowed event.

Thursday evening, while waiting for an airport shuttle, we met a CNN cameraman  who said he was there to cover the Trump-Carson news event.  When Sophia asked whether the public could attend he said “no, we can hardly attend.”

I haven’t had the TV on much, but it only takes a few minutes to catch up on Trump attack ads on Rubio.  Right up there among the nastiest I have ever seen.  He calls Rubio “corrupt.” The Trump folks also sent out an Ohio political ad that more or less blames the destruction of the world economy on John Kasich, who previously worked on Wall Street.  There are negative ads about Trump too, but from the look of the polls they are having no effect.

The Democrats have primaries in Florida, Ohio and elsewhere next Tuesday too.  Hillary Clinton looks poised for big wins — just like she did last Tuesday in Michigan.  Hmmm.  Here in Florida, though, you would not even know there is an election in 3 days. No signs, no ads–nothing. Sanders evidently has written the state off.

So on to almost Super Tuesday.