Nate Silver Explains How Establishment Will Throw Race to Marco Rubio

In a Monday panel discussion, 538’s editor-in-chief Nate Silver, who famously predicted the outcome of the 2012 election, outlined how the GOP establishment could throw the 2016 election to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

During the discussion, entitled, “Marco Rubio: Overrated, Underrated, or Properly Rated,” 538’s senior writers and editors sought to dissect why Rubio has failed to gain significant traction with the GOP electorate despite the establishment media’s repeated efforts to boost his candidacy.

As 538’s political editor Micah Cohen explained, “There are a few weeks when convention wisdom seemed to hold that Rubio was the front-runner. But he never got much of a bump in the polls. He got some endorsements but never more than a trickle.”

“People are wondering why Rubio isn’t doing better,” Cohen said.

Silver told viewers that because Rubio is the establishment’s candidate, it doesn’t matter that he has yet to gain traction with voters. By employing an analogy which Silver described as “a soft version of the ‘Party Decides’ theory,” Silver explained that all Rubio has to do is win one early state election, and the race will essentially be given to him.

More of what Silver said: