And Then There Were 3

Thursday morning update: From the very beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign, conventional wisdom, at least among the pundits and bloggers I follow, was that Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio were the candidates who had the best chance of winning the GOP nomination. All three are out of the race now and several wise men in the political world are mea culpa-ing about Rubio:

What I Got Wrong About Marco Rubio, by Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post.
Rubio Failed, And Not Just Because Of Donald Trump, by Jonathan Bernstein at Bloomberg View
What We Missed About Rubio, by Michael Grunwald at Politico Magazine
How 'Michael Jordan' Missed His Shot - The Story Of Marco Rubio's Epic Underachievement, by Tim Alberta at National Review

Fascinating.

Original post:
Remember this list?

1. Ted Cruz (March 23) 
2. Rand Paul (April 7)
3. Marco Rubio (April 14)
4. Dr. Ben Carson (May 3) 
5. Carly Fiorina (May 4) 
6. Mike Huckabee (May 5) 
7. Rick Santorum (May 27)
8. George Pataki (May 28)
9. Lindsey Graham (June 1) 
10. Rick Perry (June 4) 
11. Jeb Bush (June 15)
12. Donald Trump (June 16) 
13. Bobby Jindal (June 24) 
14. Chris Christie (June 30)
15. Scott Walker (July 13) 
16. John Kasich (July 21) 
17. Jim Gilmore (July 30) 

Between March 23 and July 30 of last year, 17 Republicans formally declared themselves to be candidates for the presidency. With Marco Rubio's epic collapse in his home state, followed by his suspension of his campaign, we're now down to three: 

Declared (and still in the race) GOP Candidates

1. Ted Cruz (March 23) 
2. Donald Trump (June 16) 
3. John Kasich (July 21)

Officially Not Running
Rob Portman (Dec 2, 2014)
Paul Ryan (Jan 12, 2015)
Mitt Romney (Jan 30, 2015)
Rick Snyder (May 7, 2015)
John Bolton (May 14, 2015) 

Mike Pence (May 20, 2015) 

Bob Ehrlich (August 4, 2015)

You're Fired!: Candidates Who Have Dropped Out
Rick Perry (June 4 - Sept. 11)
Scott Walker (July 13 - Sept. 21)
Bobby Jindal (June 24 - November 17)
Lindsey Graham (June 1 - December 21)
George Pataki (May 28 - December 29)
Mike Huckabee (May 5 - Feb 2)
Rand Paul (April 17 - Feb 3)
Rick Santorum (May 27 - Feb 3)
Carly Fiorina (May 4 - Feb 10)
Chris Christie (June 20 - Feb 10)
Jim Gilmore (July 30 - Feb 14) 
Jeb Bush (June 15 - Feb 20)
Dr. Ben Carson (May 3 - March 4)
Marco Rubio (April 14 - March 15)

Days until Election Day: 236