Donald Trump, a Republican presidential hopeful, at a news conference at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla., March 5, 2016.
Sen. Ted Cruz spent a recuperative day and a half off the campaign trail, holing up in Houston after a winter spent trudging through the Iowa and New Hampshire snow.
Donald Trump, straining to muster his typical bombast, looked "uncharacteristically low-energy" while addressing reporters over the weekend, according to Mitt Romney, who has been there.
And Sen. Marco Rubio, sounding hoarse and weary himself during Thursday's Republican debate, spared his rivals a handshake afterward, setting off a medley of inelegant fist bumps and elbow touches.
"Marco is sick," an aide, Garrett Ventry, posted on Twitter, denying that Rubio had snubbed his opponents out of malice. Indeed, a deeper diagnosis seemed to be in order.
The Republican primary has a cold.
As an unruly election season wears on, dragging a bleary-eyed field along with it, the candidates are struggling to stave off illness and exhaustion at a time when the calendar demands their best.
The customary sprints of January and February have given way to a breathless March, with little electoral clarity and rumblings of a slog to the convention in July, forcing the candidates to gird for the long haul.
It is not going well.
Mouths have been covered and tissues fetched. Surrogates with crisper voices have been recruited. Events have been scheduled and scrapped.
"Ted Cruz will not be in Mississippi tomorrow, as he evidently does not feel well," Chris McDaniel, a state senator, wrote on Facebook late Sunday. "This is difficult news to deliver, but we trust that God has a plan for the campaign and for Mississippi."
The plan changed again on Monday: Cruz added an event in Jackson, Mississippi, for midafternoon.
Campaign officials are loath to discuss their candidates' health in detail, anxious that any perception of fatigue could fester. It did not take long, after all, for Trump's "low-energy" label to stick to Jeb Bush, though Bush kept one of the busier schedules among the candidates.
A spokeswoman for Cruz, a Texas senator, declined to comment. Aides to Rubio and Trump did not respond to messages.
Trump has been zealous about projecting vitality. An unusual note from his doctor, released in December, appraised his physical strength and stamina as "extraordinary."
But even Trump, known to detest handshakes and the maladies they might introduce, is not immune to the rigors of the trail. As election results trickled in late Saturday, he appeared somewhat understated, insulting his rivals with a bit less pizazz.
"I would love to take on Ted one on one," he managed. "That would be so much fun."
Among the remaining contenders, Cruz has long kept the most aggressive campaign schedule, reaching every county of Iowa and often packing five or six events into a day. On Friday, he touched down in Maine, Maryland and Louisiana. On Saturday, he held rallies in Kansas and Idaho.
Last week, Rubio, a Florida senator, struggled through appearances in Tennessee and Georgia, where a high-profile and able-voiced supporter, Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, stepped in to deliver most of the remarks.
Rubio took the microphone briefly to promise to "speak out until I literally have no voice left" against Trump.
At one point, Rubio suggested he was channeling a soulful crooner. "Trying to get my Barry White voice going here," he said.
The plight appears bipartisan. Days before the 1992 election, Bill Clinton could barely speak as he crisscrossed the country.
"I may have lost my voice," he told a crowd at a Pennsylvania airport, almost whispering. "But with your help on Tuesday, we will win a new day for America."
In 2004, John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, consumed a nightly elixir in Iowa: hot water, lemon, fresh ginger and honey - a recipe dictated to aides by his wife.
And during Sunday's Democratic debate, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders powered through moments of rasp. "This debate needs a lozenge," Glenn Thrush, a Politico reporter, wrote on Twitter shortly after it began.
But the Republican gathering days earlier was the clear pacesetter in candidate health care and germ avoidance. As the evening ended, Rubio met Cruz's handshake-ready open palm with a closed fist, setting off an awkward semi-bump.
Trump patted Rubio's jacket, pursing his lips. Then Rubio swung a playful elbow toward Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.
"On to the general election," a moderator said.
Tissues, please.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Donald Trump, straining to muster his typical bombast, looked "uncharacteristically low-energy" while addressing reporters over the weekend, according to Mitt Romney, who has been there.
And Sen. Marco Rubio, sounding hoarse and weary himself during Thursday's Republican debate, spared his rivals a handshake afterward, setting off a medley of inelegant fist bumps and elbow touches.
"Marco is sick," an aide, Garrett Ventry, posted on Twitter, denying that Rubio had snubbed his opponents out of malice. Indeed, a deeper diagnosis seemed to be in order.
The Republican primary has a cold.
As an unruly election season wears on, dragging a bleary-eyed field along with it, the candidates are struggling to stave off illness and exhaustion at a time when the calendar demands their best.
The customary sprints of January and February have given way to a breathless March, with little electoral clarity and rumblings of a slog to the convention in July, forcing the candidates to gird for the long haul.
It is not going well.
Mouths have been covered and tissues fetched. Surrogates with crisper voices have been recruited. Events have been scheduled and scrapped.
"Ted Cruz will not be in Mississippi tomorrow, as he evidently does not feel well," Chris McDaniel, a state senator, wrote on Facebook late Sunday. "This is difficult news to deliver, but we trust that God has a plan for the campaign and for Mississippi."
The plan changed again on Monday: Cruz added an event in Jackson, Mississippi, for midafternoon.
Campaign officials are loath to discuss their candidates' health in detail, anxious that any perception of fatigue could fester. It did not take long, after all, for Trump's "low-energy" label to stick to Jeb Bush, though Bush kept one of the busier schedules among the candidates.
A spokeswoman for Cruz, a Texas senator, declined to comment. Aides to Rubio and Trump did not respond to messages.
Trump has been zealous about projecting vitality. An unusual note from his doctor, released in December, appraised his physical strength and stamina as "extraordinary."
But even Trump, known to detest handshakes and the maladies they might introduce, is not immune to the rigors of the trail. As election results trickled in late Saturday, he appeared somewhat understated, insulting his rivals with a bit less pizazz.
"I would love to take on Ted one on one," he managed. "That would be so much fun."
Among the remaining contenders, Cruz has long kept the most aggressive campaign schedule, reaching every county of Iowa and often packing five or six events into a day. On Friday, he touched down in Maine, Maryland and Louisiana. On Saturday, he held rallies in Kansas and Idaho.
Last week, Rubio, a Florida senator, struggled through appearances in Tennessee and Georgia, where a high-profile and able-voiced supporter, Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, stepped in to deliver most of the remarks.
Rubio took the microphone briefly to promise to "speak out until I literally have no voice left" against Trump.
At one point, Rubio suggested he was channeling a soulful crooner. "Trying to get my Barry White voice going here," he said.
The plight appears bipartisan. Days before the 1992 election, Bill Clinton could barely speak as he crisscrossed the country.
"I may have lost my voice," he told a crowd at a Pennsylvania airport, almost whispering. "But with your help on Tuesday, we will win a new day for America."
In 2004, John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, consumed a nightly elixir in Iowa: hot water, lemon, fresh ginger and honey - a recipe dictated to aides by his wife.
And during Sunday's Democratic debate, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders powered through moments of rasp. "This debate needs a lozenge," Glenn Thrush, a Politico reporter, wrote on Twitter shortly after it began.
But the Republican gathering days earlier was the clear pacesetter in candidate health care and germ avoidance. As the evening ended, Rubio met Cruz's handshake-ready open palm with a closed fist, setting off an awkward semi-bump.
Trump patted Rubio's jacket, pursing his lips. Then Rubio swung a playful elbow toward Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.
"On to the general election," a moderator said.
Tissues, please.
© 2016, The New York Times News Service
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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