Rubio and Bush prepare for war after Iowa

I don't give a rat's azz about the GOP. It belongs to my
family anyway, and that Judas Goat Rubio is
GOING DOWN!

(CNN) - His focus may now be squarely on Ted Cruz, but Marco Rubio's path to the GOP nomination increasingly runs through someone else: Jeb Bush.

Facing the possibility of a third-place finish in Monday's Iowa caucuses, Rubio will soon head to New Hampshire and battle in a state where polls show a heavily contested fight brewing among establishment-backed Republicans vying to become the alternative to Cruz and Donald Trump.

Of the establishment favorites, Bush is now viewed internally as Rubio's biggest threat after the New Hampshire primary, according to advisers and confidantes to both men.

Despite having run a rocky campaign while struggling in the polls, Bush is the only establishment candidate who has built a national organization that rivals Rubio's. It's Bush's high-spending super PAC, Right to Rise, which has pummeled Rubio across the airwaves with tens of millions of dollars in attacks -- and officials say it will continue to do so long as the former Florida governor stays in the race.

And if Bush continues his campaign beyond the Super Tuesday primary on March 1, as his confidantes promise he will, he could make it harder for Rubio to win what will be one of the biggest prizes in mid-March: Their home state of Florida, which awards all of its delegates to the winner rather than handing them out proportionally. Read more.