Tag: presidential primaries

Presidential Primary Home Stretch

After sweeping five presidential primaries in big fashion last night, I think Donald Trump can tell the fat lady to start warming up her voice.

After six straight overwhelming primary wins, Trump has at least entered the home stretch to the Republican presidential nomination while rivals John Kasich and Ted Cruz are fading fast.

Cruz certainly demonstrated to Republican delegates to the national convention why he shouldn’t be the party’s choice with one second place finish and four thirds.

Cruz had a new excuse yesterday for his poor showings – It’s the media’s fault. Coming from a man who’s often wrong, but never in doubt, such a statement is not unexpected.

Cruz was in Indiana yesterday campaigning among the voters he predicts will be the stoppers to Trump’s nomination run.

Outside his own state of Texas, Indiana is a state that could buy into Cruz’s nonsense. After all, it’s only two years ago that Republican voters chose Richard Mourdock over long-time incumbent Richard Luger in a primary for the Republican nomination for the Senate.

Mourdock went on to snatch defeat from almost certain victory in this red state with the brilliant statement ‘if a woman becomes pregnant through an act of rape, It’s God’s Will.’

Kasich should be ashamed of himself for even thinking of joining is some type of collusion with Cruz to ‘Stop Trump’ from gaining the nomination.

Random Thoughts on Presidential Primaries

Voters will go to the polls in five states today to cast a ballot in Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.

At the end of the day, Hilary Clinton will probably be very close to securing the number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination for president.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump is expected to win all five states. However, his nomination will still be in doubt because of party rules and a last ditch effort between the other remaining Republican candidates, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, to stop his nomination at all costs.

Here is a sample of the rhetoric we have heard in the last several days:

A vote for Cruz or Trump is a vote for Hilary Clinton – Kasich

John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the Republican nomination – Cruz

If you collude in business, if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail. But, if you collude in politics, because it’s a rigged system, that’s okay. – Trump

It takes two guys, long time politicians, to get together to try and stop Trump and they’re way behind. These two guys have to collude in order to stay alive. And they’re not doing very good. They’re way behind. – Trump

Pennsylvania demonstrates the Republican system. It will send 71 delegates to the Republican national convention. If Trump has a big win in Pennsylvania, as he is expected to do, he will gain 17 pledged delegates. The remaining 54 will be unpledged going to the national convention.

This is why Cruz and or Kasich still have hopes of gaining the nomination. They don’t have to win with the voters. All they have to do is stop Trump from gaining a majority of delegates on the first ballot to force the convention open to second and further ballots where the results from the voters will be largely ignored.

As the rhetoric rises and the games being played are brought to light, it becomes more obvious to voters that they really don’t matter that much to the Republican insiders who are trying to stop Trump from gaining the nomination.

Republican Party Trumped in New York

Every time the Republican Party elders think they are regaining control of their party, Donald Trump sticks another finger in their eye.

Donald Trump did it again last night with an overwhelming win in the New York Republican Primary. And, there are lots more to come in the Northeast, Middle Atlantic and Pacific Coast regions in the next six weeks or so.

This primary season can basically be described as a two part saga. Nearly every time the voters have their say in primaries, Trump comes out on top. When the party establishment can work its back room tactics in one type of caucus or another, someone else wins.

The quick conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the people want Donald Trump while the Republican Party establishment doesn’t.

Exit polls among Republican voters in New York say the same thing – 61% of those voting in the Republican primary (remember this was a closed primary limited to registered Republicans) said they wanted an outsider as the party’s nominee. At the same time, 69% said they felt the candidate who captures the largest number of delegates in the primaries, even if it isn’t a majority of delegates, should be the party’s nominee.

This is important. It is the voters who go to the polls in November who will elect our next president, not a bunch of party hacks trying to twist and turn the rules to their advantage.

And, if we’ve learned one thing during the primaries, it’s that Ted Cruz doesn’t excite a large number of voters.

If the Republican Party movers and shakers want to guarantee a loss in November, all they have to do is work their back room deals to nominate Cruz in July.