Cruz Closes the Gap
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”
On Saturday, voters in four states — Kansas, Maine, Louisiana, Kentucky — made their pick for the next Republican nominee for president. Ted Cruz won Kansas (by a “yuge” margin) and Maine, while Donald Trump won Louisiana (barely) and Kentucky. Trump leads the GOP pack with 384 delegates, but Cruz has accelerated to a close second with 300.
This has raised even more questions about the viability of the campaigns of Marco Rubio and John Kasich. On Saturday, Trump called on Rubio to drop out of the race — naturally. However, it appears Rubio will stay a bit longer. Puerto Rico held its primary Saturday, and Rubio snatched all of the island’s 23 delegates, winning an amazing 74% of the vote. But the deciding moment in the Rubio campaign will come in the Florida primary on March 15. If Rubio loses his home state, his chances of getting the nomination drop to roughly zero. If he wins, he might be a shot. Plus, he stops Trump from taking the 99 delegates at stake in the winner-take-all primary.
Kasich, too, signaled he’d fight until his home state of Ohio holds its primary Mar. 15. Kasich’s top strategist, John Weaver, said: “No candidate is currently on track to win the nomination outright. Our campaign is built for the long-term.” Built to lose just about everywhere, including Ohio.
Meanwhile, the results for Louisiana’s primary indicate that the Trump wave might be breaking. Although Trump won, he won because his supporters voted early. Voters who spend more time making up their minds and weighing facts like the fraud at Trump University supported someone else. This is a trend that occurred in other primaries, and a trend that could diminish Trump as the race goes on. As Yogi Berra, who knew a thing or two about playing another game where teams could win with singles or home runs, said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”