Team Rubio is trying to set Super Tuesday expectations really, really low

Rubio camp sets expectations very low for Super Tuesday.

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

published 1 March 2016

Thirteen states will cast their votes today as part of the Super Tuesday election rush, and the GOP is all but guaranteed a triumphant Donald Trump by the end of the night. Trump has won three of the previous four contests and is heavily favored in nearly every state that is voting Tuesday, while the rest of the GOP field is left trading barbs about who should drop out and defending their continued presence in the race.

Marco Rubio, who perhaps suffers the dual blow of being the candidate of high hopes and zero primary wins, has taken a unique approach to this: setting expectations really, really low. Politico reports Rubio's top campaign adviser, Terry Sullivan, spoke with top donors ahead of the elections Tuesday to forecast a thoroughly dismal showing for his candidate — while saying that even the most atrocious of results could still make it impossible for Donald Trump to win enough delegates to earn the party nomination before the GOP convention this summer. If Rubio secures even 100 delegates from Super Tuesday states (of the nearly 600 up for grabs), Sullivan reportedly said, that would still cause trouble for Trump — and trouble for Trump is, of course, a victory.

So, do any of the remaining GOP candidates really stand a chance of beating Donald Trump? You can read The Week's analysis of how Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich could possibly win here — but, well, there was one former candidate who tried to downplay his expectations, and we all know how that ended up.