Rubio Rallies In South Florida Despite Just One Super Tuesday Win
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Sen. Marco Rubio had the homecoming he needed Tuesday night.
On a night where he didn't win a single Super Tuesday state, Rubio claimed victory in polls, saying his attacks of Donald Trump over the past five days was working.
"He loves to talk about polls, we are seeing in state after state his numbers coming down. Ours are going up," Rubio told a crowd of supporters at Tropical Park.
But the number one question: Why is Rubio in Florida when nearly a dozen other states were voting?
"We are here in Florida because this is the launch of Marco's campaign in Florida. We've got 15 days, two debates, numerous elections between now and March 15th," said Marco Rubio Florida Spokesman Alex Burgos.
Rubio's campaign admits they plan to hit the frontrunner Trump hard, and that the gap between them and the billionaire isn't all the far.
"Can you win Florida?" CBS4's David Sutta asked Burgos.
"We can. We've done it before. And we've gotten this criticism before. Marco Rubio in 2009 was counted out from the start. He was the underdog the whole race. He won that race," he said.
And that was a common theme among his supporters Tuesday night.
"It's too early to be worried about it. It's time to work for him, more than anything," Rubio supporter Miguel Cruz said.
Republicans like Randy Reyes said the next two weeks could define not just the 2016 presidency but the Republican Party.
"The Republican party is going to be affected. I'm for one of those who will never support Trump. It doesn't matter. I won't support Hillary but I won't support Trump as well," Reyes said.
With 14 days to go and two debates, Rubio is eager to prove the tide is changing.
"The pundits say we are underdogs. I'll accept that. We've all been underdogs. This is a community of underdogs. This is a state of underdogs. This is a country of underdogs. But we will win!" Rubio told the crowd.
Meantime, Trump was at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach for a Super Tuesday press conference.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton also held a rally in Miami.
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