Rubio: "It's Been A Wild And Crazy Ride."
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Campaigning across Florida, in advance of Thursday's Republican debate in Miami, Marco Rubio continued to portray himself as the underdog who would have to scratch and claw his way to a victory next week in his home state.
"I think the winner in Florida is going to be the nominee," Rubio told CBS4 News during an interview from Sarasota. "And I would just say if you don't want it to be Donald Trump, then a vote for anyone other than me is a vote for him."
Rubio continued calling Trump a con man who is attempting to defraud the voters in Florida out of their vote.
"Look he's tapped into a populist anger in this country, people are angry at political institutions, they are angry at the establishment of both political parties," he said. "Believe me I understand that. I ran in 2010 against all those things. But my argument is anger is not enough, you have to have a solution and he offers no serious public policy on anything. This is the most important election in a generation and he has turned it into a freak show and I think it is going to have lasting damage on the Republican Party and the conservative movement if this continues."
The irony, of course, is that in 2010, Rubio ran as the outsider, challenging the establishment. Yet it is fellow Senator Ted Cruz and Trump who have seized the mantle outsiders with Rubio relegated to being labeled the mainstream candidate.
How did Rubio lose his brand?
"Well I'm not sure that I have," he told CBS4's Jim DeFede. "That's the label others have put on me. Look I tried to unify the Republican Party. I'm not in the excommunication business. I'm in the business of bringing people together because we can't win if we're not unified."
Rubio became the de facto mainstream candidate after Jeb Bush dropped out of the race following the South Carolina primary. Bush, however, has remained quiet and it is not clear if he will endorse anyone. Rubio, who has had at least three conversations with Bush since South Carolina, would not say if he asked for the former governor's endorsement.
"I don't discuss private conversations, especially with someone I have so much admiration for," he said. "But suffice it to say I think everyone would love to have Jeb's endorsement."
Despite having only one two contests so far – the Minnesota caucus and the primary in Puerto Rico – Rubio still believes he is on a path to the nomination. Rubio said if he wins Florida, he believes he can go on and win "Arizona, Utah, we feel great about California, we're very competitive in New York."
He strenuously denied a CNN report that he's considering – or was advised – to drop out of the race before the Florida primary to spare him a possible career-ending loss there.
"I can tell this to you categorically, there is not a single advisor or anyone around my campaign [that] has ever told me we needed to end [the campaign]," he said. "On the contrary, we always knew, no matter what happened before this, we always knew Florida was a critical state for me, for everyone else."
"This is a very unusual and uncertain year. I don't know how this ends up other than if I win Florida I am confident I will be the nominee," he said. "How long it will take and how we get to that point? Who knows? It's been a wild and crazy ride."
Click here to read more about Campaign 2016.
