Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich battle for chance to face Donald Trump 1-on-1

Marco Rubio wants to unite the GOP against Donald Trump

(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

last updated 22 February 2016

Donald Trump isn't resting on his laurels after winning the South Carolina Republican primary and its 50 delegates — according to campaign finance records released over the weekend, he has set up campaign offices in at least eight states that vote in March, significantly more than any of his GOP rivals, and has campaign staff around the country. As the GOP starts to panic about Trump's amassing of voters and delegates, the three viable candidates left in the race — Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — are trying to force each other out.

"If you want to beat Donald Trump, you've got to go with the only campaign that has demonstrated that they can beat Donald Trump," Cruz said on ABC News on Sunday. Rubio's campaign said on Sunday that "John Kasich has no path to the nomination," and Kasich's camp fired back, noting that each man has one second-place finish and "Rubio has consistently underperformed throughout this nominating process." Henry Barbour, a member of the Republican National Committee, said that with Trump chalking up wins, "Republicans are crazy and about to blow the White House if we don't rally to stop him.... It's certainly time that we have to consolidate the race." Watch Rubio's pitch to be that uniter below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.