Viewer’s Guide: What to watch on the day after New Hampshire

“Both parties have failed our country… both parties have led us to believe that America, a country that was built on compromise – that compromise is somehow a dirty word”, Christie said.

Christie was never a front-runner after entering the race, trailing other Republicans like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and business mogul Donald Trump.

With his wife Karen at his side Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich cheers with supporters Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Concord, N.H., at his primary night rally.

“Not just that debate, but every debate before it, I’ve shown consistently the ability to answer important and hard questions I think in a very compelling way”, Rubio said, when asked about charges from his GOP rivals that his performance raises questions about how strong a general election candidate he might be. Rubio was in second place at 17 percent, followed by Ted Cruz, a USA senator from Texas, at 14 percent. Christie finished sixth with 7.4 percent. Who will harrumph after New Hampshire? Bernie Sanders, who came in a surprisingly close second to Clinton in Iowa, had his best fundraising day of the race, raising about $3 million in the 24 hours after the caucuses. How does Hillary Clinton, also headed to NY, respond to her New Hampshire thumping amid talk of a campaign shake-up.

CREATIVE WRITING: Candidate Bill Clinton masterfully framed his second-place finish in New Hampshire in 1992 as a big victory for the “Comeback Kid”.

Among Republicans, Christie has become Rubio’s chief antagonist and hopes to benefit from any loss of Rubio’s momentum. The bad: passive-aggressive tweeting and a resolute decision to ignore reality are probably not going to work out here: CBS said Tuesday they would only invite the top five finishers in New Hampshire to the debate. He has long staked the viability of his campaign on the outcome in New Hampshire, and he has a deep organization in the state, with 800 volunteers manning phone banks and going door to door to court voters. That’s what happened to the Rubio after he exceeded expectations with a strong third-place finish in Iowa.

ENDORSEMENTS: More will pop after New Hampshire.

There remains the possibility that Rubio will silence the doubters on Tuesday, demonstrating that his debate mishap meant little to voters. Cruz, too, had a post-Iowa bonanza. Three days later, he won them.