Rubio advisers are debating whether the senator should drop out before the Florida primary:

Most of his advisers agree he does not have a path to the nomination and some are advising him to get out ahead of the March 15 primary.

Sources within the campaign also say the pressure will only continue to mount following an expected disappointing showing Tuesday, when voters in Michigan, Mississippi, Hawaii and Idaho make their picks in the GOP primary.

“Not going to have a great day is an understatement,” one campaign source said [bold mine-DL].

Another grim election night tomorrow without any wins would make it more tempting to get out while the getting is good. Dropping out early would allow Rubio to write off a loss in Florida at least in part. However, at this point it would be obvious that he was quitting because he knew he was going to lose anyway. If he’s going to lose the state either way, and it seems very likely that he will, he may as well stay in through next week and then bow out. Leaving the race before that would reinforce the impression that Rubio runs when the going gets tough.

The sudden concern about Rubio’s political future is a bit surprising, since there seems to have been no thought given to this before he entered the race. Rubio doesn’t want to be in the Senate, and his presidential campaign never made much sense, so by deciding to run for president Rubio was already giving up on having a political career in the future. It’s a bit late to worry about how to salvage that career now that his presidential campaign has failed.