charleston s.c. republican presidential candidates marco rubio jeb bush lock bare-knuckled fight third place south carolina primary vote saturday afraid anything less could blunt white house hop front-runner donald trump fight hold u.s. senator ted cruz texas win second straight early nominate contest rubio bush battle become main anti-trump alternative among establishment republicans seek party nomination nov. election nbc news-wall street journal/marist poll release friday show trump lead support 28 percent likely republican primary voters follow cruz 23 percent rubio lead bush narrowly 15 percent 13 percent bush-rubio competition layer home-state drama bush 63 elder statesman florida politics serve governor rubio 44 upstart understudy first-term u.s. senator serve florida legislature rubio supporters offend millions dollars attack ads spend bush super pac right rise believe money would good spend attack trump rather try undermine like-minded republican people go whatever think need win notable spend far money attack marco front-runner donald trump say rubio spokesman alex conant bush team dismiss complaints think anything personal jeb side say jim dyke bush campaign chief south carolina jeb good reason feel like much qualify president unite state about bush key backer south carolina republican u.s. senator lindsey graham rubio up ante win support popular governor nikki haley endorsement give rubio momentum right time two campaign together around state rubio tread carefully around whether bush exit race perform poorly south carolina say bush work hard right race long want be mean spend 50 million attack differences policy talk say governor bush foreign policy experience true view attack view fact rubio tell reporters wednesday bush bristle charge tell supporters visit 89 countries see brother father develop foreign policy u.s. presidents team make much rubio miss many hear vote member senate foreign relations committee hard lecture gift young guy think go committee hear mean know something world bush say rubio force want knock bush race new hampshire last nominate contest hold feb. bad rubio debate performance strong campaign trail performance bush thwart hop bush edge rival fourth-place finish republican white house hopefuls rubio bush battle south carolina