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In the hopes of thwarting Donald Trump’s march to the Republican presidential nomination, Ted Cruz’s campaign has been courting former rival Marco Rubio to possibly join the Texas senator in what's being called a “unity ticket.”
The problem is, sources told Politico, Rubio shows no inclination of taking the bait.
Rubio, the Florida senator who dropped out of the GOP race following a disappointing finish in his home state last Tuesday, has reportedly told Cruz’s team that he is not interested in the deal despite all the courting.
The Florida lawmaker’s rebuke, however, appears not to have stopped Cruz’s camp from continuing to think of ways to lure Rubio in. His campaign has even apparently begun polling prospective voters in states with primaries coming up to gauge their opinion of the two senators’ running on the same ticket.
The deliberation comes at a time when many in the Republican Party are worried that Trump could run away with the nomination. The real estate tycoon already has a 256-delegate lead over Cruz and has a host of friendly states coming up – including New York and Pennsylvania – which could propel him to the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination outright and avoid a contested convention.
If Cruz can’t get Rubio to join him on the ticket, he at least wants to get his endorsement, something insiders have said is quite possible.
The two lawmakers of Cuban-American extraction have purportedly patched up their relationship, which was contentious while they were presidential rivals, but Rubio has so far been coy about who – if anyone – he will endorse for president.
“There’s time to prevent a Trump nomination, which I think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement,” Rubio told reporters last week.
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