Marco Rubio appears at a debate hosted by ABC News at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Feb. 6, 2016.
BEDFORD, N.H. — Marco Rubio's debate performance Saturday night was panned by pundits and political observers, who referred to the freshman Florida Senator as a robot after he consistently rattled off the same 30-second soundbite.
At a town hall here in Bedford, New Hampshire Sunday morning, less than 24 hours since the debate debacle, Rubio acted as if the performance never happened.
But with just two days to go until the first-in-the-nation primary, some voters who packed into the cafeteria at the McKelvie Intermediate School said Rubio's debate disaster worries them.
"I think he's got a lot to offer, but he was flying along real well and I think he's now got a dip and he's got to pull himself out of it," said George Waggoner, who drove about half hour from Bow to see Rubio speak. "There's not very much longer, but there are a lot of people who are coming to see him today, which is good. We'll just have to see."
Rubio has gained momentum since he posted a stronger-than-expected finish in the Iowa caucus last week. And that placed a target on his back from fellow Republican contenders, for whom a strong showing in New Hampshire is make-or-break for their campaign.
His campaign knew he would bear the brunt of the attacks heading into the debate, after both Bush and Christie released ads questioning his experience. But Rubio seemed to have over-prepared for the onslaught — rattling off the same soundbite four times throughout the night.
Rubio did not mention the performance at his campaign stop here in Bedford, but he did brush off the criticism during an interview on ABC's The Week Sunday morning.
Host George Stephanopoulos said Democrats are going to replay the cringe-worthy debate moments, and asked Rubio what went wrong.
"I would pay them to keep running that clip because that's what I believe passionately," Rubio said. "It's one of the reasons why I'm not running for reelection to the Senate and I'm running for president."
A bad debate could be fatal to a candidates' chances. For example in 2012, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's "oops" moment, when he couldn't name the three government agencies he would cut, wound up forcing him out of the race.
It's unlikely Rubio's debate comes anywhere close to being as disastrous as that.
Yet with polls showing a close race between the four Republican contenders, and with the notoriously fickle electorate in the Granite State, Rubio's debate night could have an impact on how he fares Tuesday night.
"He just seemed a little out of his league," said Jana MacGillvary, a Connecticut resident who was in New Hampshire with her husband to visit their daughter. "I was very impressed with him up until last night, but now I'm kind of wondering."
Some audience members at Rubio's town hall Sunday morning, however, praised the Senator for facing crowds after an embarrassing night.
"The fact that he had the courage to come out here the day after, when all of the media outlets are reporting on it, calling him out on it, and all of the other candidates are saying, 'Oh this just shows his inexperience,' that shows a lot of courage to come out here and put on a brave face and continue on," said Holly Stanhope, a Manchester resident and Rubio supporter who came to the event with her fiancé. "It shows the American spirit, if you fall you get back up and you keep trying and you keep going and accept the mistakes."