Marco Rubio took the stage at the Manchester Radisson just as Donald Trump finished his victory speech. The crowd that came to see Rubio was much smaller than those he’d been drawing at town halls the past few days—journalists far outnumbered the disappointed faces tonight, and Rubio addressed exactly why.
"I want you to understand something. Our disappointment tonight is not on you. It’s on me. It’s on me I did not do well on Saturday night so listen. that will never happen again."
Diane Miller of Candia was standing at the front of the crowd early in the evening, watching the results come in on Fox News. And even though Miller’s been volunteering for Rubio for days, she was still deciding between Rubio and Trump until the last minute.
"You know something, many times I go in the booth and I stand there and I say a prayer and I say 'Lord let me pick me the right one!' Because I’m undecided? And I finally make my mark and that’s it."
Miller admits that watching the debate, she did think about dropping Rubio.
"All three of us sat on the sofa and looked at each other? And then the next day we said no! Everybody has a bad day."
This is 19 year-old Danny Cannon’s bad day. Cannon’s one of the very last people standing tonight—Rubio and his family, all the partygoers, have gone home.
"I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect it to be so different watching the results when you’ve…volunteered for someone than even when you’ve supported somebody."
In a couple days, and after a good night’s sleep, Cannon says he’ll make his way to South Carolina to pick up where he and Rubio left off.
