The Note: Remembering Rubio
— -- NOTABLES
--HOW MARCO LOST HIS HOME STATE -- AND HIS CHANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2016: The Florida primary was do or die for Marco Rubio. And almost the second that the polls closed in the state Tuesday night, the outcome was clear. Since the beginning of his campaign, the freshman senator sold himself as the one candidate who could unite and grow the party, yet he struggled to secure all but a few primary wins, ABC’s INES DELACUETARA notes. Rubio argued that it was the delegate count that mattered, and that wins would only start to matter once the primary got to winner-take-all states, including Florida. And he was confident, he said, that by then he would be winning. But in the end, Trump prevailed by 18 percentage points in the Sunshine State. Here’s a look at the last days of the Rubio campaign: http://abcn.ws/1UzUFfh
--THE CAMPAIGN KEPT A STRAIGHT FACE, BUT ON THE GROUND, SOMETHING WAS UP: In Hialeah, Florida earlier this week, the Rubio team was only able to fill the end-zone of a football stadium. The campaign estimated about 700 people showed -- just a few weeks ago, Rubio had filled a 7,000 person stadium in Georgia. In the lead-up to Tuesday's primary, Rubio campaigned tirelessly across the state, from Miami to the I-4 corridor further north, and back. But instead of filling hotel ballrooms and high school gymnasiums, like he had done after South Carolina, Rubio was stopping by smaller diners and coffee shops. http://abcn.ws/1UzUFfh
--WHAT HAPPENS TO RUBIO’S DELEGATES? The short answer is: It’s unclear, according to ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. When the Florida senator dropped out, ABC News put his delegate count at 168. Each state has different rules on what their delegates are required to do. Certain states could bind the delegates to vote for Rubio on the first ballot of what may end up being a contested convention. Others may allow their delegates to do whatever they want – either as a state-wide block or as individuals. One thing is clear: His former competitors are gunning for those delegates, who are a collection of party activists or local political leaders chosen to represent a portion of a state’s population. http://abcn.ws/1UzApuj
--WHERE HIS SILICON VALLEY SUPPORT MAY GO: The Florida senator had, early on, courted the support of Silicon Valley conservatives with his stance on two issues dear to the hearts of many in the tech sector: Deregulating the new economies that have sprung up with the advent of companies such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb, and also showing more flexibility on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers. ABC’s ALYSSA NEWCOMB has more on where Rubio’s Silicon Valley support may go next: http://abcn.ws/1puyewT
THE TRUMP FILES
--HOW (AND WHEN) HE COULD CLINCH THE NOMINATION: With a major victory in Florida and several other states this week, Donald Trump now has more than half of the delegates he needs to clinch the GOP presidential nomination. But the real estate mogul still has several major hurdles to clear, marking a narrow but viable path to the magic number of 1,237 delegates. If Trump can’t win a majority of available delegates, the three remaining Republican contenders could face off at a contested convention, where most delegates will be free to vote for whomever they want after the first ballot. ABC’s RYAN STRUYK and ALANA ABRAMSON highlight everything you need to know about how Trump could clinch the nomination: http://abcn.ws/1Z28FPC
--HURRY UP AND WAIT: If you’re anxious for Donald to wrap up the GOP nomination, you’ve got some waiting to do. The real estate mogul would need to win a whopping 78 percent of the remaining delegates before June 7 in order to clinch the nomination -- virtually impossible given the number of states that dole out their delegates proportionally. On that final day of voting just six weeks before the convention, Trump will need a win in the crucial winner-take-all contest in New Jersey, as well as a broad victory in delegate-rich California, where congressional districts award nearly all of the state's 172 delegates. http://abcn.ws/1Z28FPC
--NO TRUMP, NO DEBATE: Next Monday’s Republican primary debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been canceled, according to the Republican National Committee and host Fox News. "This morning, Donald Trump announced he would not be participating in the debate. Shortly afterward, John Kasich's campaign announced that without Trump at the debate, Kasich would not participate. Ted Cruz has expressed a willingness to debate Trump or Kasich -- or both. But obviously, there needs to be more than one participant. So the Salt Lake City debate is cancelled," Fox News' Michael Clemente wrote in a statement. As ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and CANDACE SMITH report, the debate would have been the final one before the Republican convention in July: http://abcn.ws/1ptRElw
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
SANDERS LOOKS FURTHER WEST AFTER MIDWEST LETDOWN. The Bernie Sanders campaign had hoped to pull off surprise victories in several Midwest states Tuesday, but came up short. The rough night for Sanders means he has fallen significantly further behind in the race for the delegates needed to secure the nomination, but the campaign shows no sign of slowing down, let alone bowing out. With events in Arizona, Idaho and Utah this week, the campaign is marching on out West. ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS maps out the path ahead for Sanders: http://abcn.ws/1nOUzUn
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES REACT TO OBAMA’S SUPREME COURT NOMINEE. Hillary Clinton echoed President Obama's call yesterday for a "fair" hearing for Supreme Court justice nominee Merrick Garland. The Democratic front-runner was the first 2016 presidential candidate to release a statement in response to Obama’s nomination. Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court earlier this morning, arguing that the 63-year-old chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is “the right man for the job.” ABC’s PAOLA CHAVEZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI have more on how the 2016 Presidential candidates reacted to the nomination of Merrick Garland. http://abcn.ws/1puld6A
FLORIDA GOV. RICK SCOTT ENDORSES DONALD TRUMP. Just a day after his state rendered its judgment in the Republican primary -- handing over all of its 99 GOP delegates to Donald Trump -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged his fellow Republicans to “coalesce” behind the New York businessman. Scott, 63, called on Republicans to "come together" in a Facebook post Wednesday. "With his victories yesterday, I believe it is now time for Republicans to accept and respect the will of the voters and coalesce behind Donald Trump," he wrote. ABC’s PAOLA CHAVEZ has more. http://abcn.ws/22mqaMv
WHAT A LONG-SHOT THIRD PARTY RUN MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN 2016. With Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's victories on Mini-Super Tuesday, many observers believe the paths toward their respective nominations seem quite clear. But neither one sits well with a growing contingent of voters and political operatives, prompting calls for a third-party candidate. "If Trump is the nominee, then there will be some kind of conservative outside run and I think it’s beginning to take shape right now," Philip Wallach, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution told ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. http://abcn.ws/1M7FDfn
WHO’S TWEETING?
@JasonMillerinDC: Gov. Nikki Haley siding with Ted Cruz in GOP race/ http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160316/PC1603/160319523 … via @postandcourier
@SopanDeb: "Wild card for Trump: Who gets to be a convention delegate?" - great read from @jdelreal and @ktumulty: http://wapo.st/1M9sySO
@DavidMDrucker: After big victory, an uncertain path for Kasich http://washex.am/1Vf4CPV via @DCExaminer
@megynkelly: Tom Goldstein on #SCOTUSnominee: “Republicans in truth ought to be doing cartwheels. This is as centrist, as moderate...a nominee…”
@arishapiro: Today I learned that Obama's #SCOTUSnominee is red/green colorblind and keeps a cheat sheet for his neckties: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470715885/attorney-jamie-gorelick-merrick-garland-is-at-heart-a-public-servant …
