Team Rubio: If You Don’t Want Ted Cruz or Donald Trump, Vote for Marco Rubio

The Rubio campaign has a new message heading into New Hampshire: vote for Marco Rubio or let Donald Trump or Ted Cruz win.

“Either Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or Marco Rubio’s going to be the Republican nominee–so if you don’t want Cruz and you don’t want Trump, it’s time to vote for Marco Rubio,” Rubio’s campaign communications director, Alex Conant, said in an interview on Fox News after the results came in.

Conant celebrated Rubio’s better-than-expected performance in Iowa–even though he still came in third place.

“We just put Marco front and center; he worked really hard in the last couple of days to try and meet as many voters as he could and talked to them about his ideas for the future,” he said, praising “hundreds and thousands” of voter contacts in recent weeks.

He previewed the rest of the Republican presidential primary as a long fight for which they are prepared.

“We’re the only campaign that is organized in all 50 states around the country,” he said. “We don’t expect this is going to end anytime soon; we’re ready for the long haul.”

He would only say that he wanted Rubio to finish in the “top tier” in New Hampshire, keeping it a three-person race.

Conant also previewed a couple of “big announcements” for the campaign as they approach South Carolina, referring to possible endorsements for Rubio.

South Carolina Trey Gowdy has already endorsed Rubio, and news leaked Monday night that Sen. Tim Scott was also planning to endorse his colleague in the Senate.

“We’re excited coming out of Iowa with a lot of momentum,” Conant said.