Rubio hits back: Trump is insecure, touchy, and ill-informed on the issues

After turning in an impressive debate performance, Marco Rubio's polls numbers began to rise. That, apparently, caught the eye of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, because he started lashing out at the Florida Senator. On Wednesday, the Donald claimed that Rubio was "too young" for the Presidency, calling him a "lightweight."

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Trump even railed against the evils of Rubio's perspiration.

“He sweats more than any young person I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve never seen a person sweat — I’ve never seen a guy down water like he downs water. I’ve never seen — they bring it in in buckets for this guy.”

Rubio seems to have heard enough. During a radio interview he shot back at Trump, calling out the billionaire's apparent thin skin and penchant for personal feuds. As Buzzfeed reports:

“First of all, he takes shots at everybody that gets anywhere close to him, in terms of a poll, or anytime he hits a rough spot that’s what he does,” the Florida senator said of Trump on Kentucky Sports Radio. “He had a really bad debate performance last week,” continued Rubio. “He’s not well informed on the issues. He really never talks about issues and can’t have more than a 10-second soundbite on any key issue. And I think he’s kind of been exposed a little bit over the last seven days, and he’s a very touchy and insecure guy and so that’s how he reacts, and people can see through it.”

I'll be the first to admit that I've had my problems with Rubio. His "gang of eight" debacle was a baffling mess based on poor judgement and terrible policy. However, he's absolutely right here. Trump has a go-to strategy whenever he has a weak moment: launch a loud attack, make it personal, and let the ensuing shouting match drown out the memory of the initial failure. It's been successful with various members of the media, many of whom have completely justified The Donald's ire, but it's been less effective against his opponents - particularly the ones who can hold their own. Trump's problem is that, as the field winnows, he'll be left with targets that are more and more capable of anticipating his shtick. If his goal in the race is simply to direct attention to issues he cares about, he's done a stellar job. If he actually wants to clinch the nom, he's going to have to ditch the personal battles and start winning debates on policy. Frankly, the 'fight of the week' has worn very thin.