There are many points during a presidential campaign which the pundits characterize as a turning point in the race. “This country has never been great when we fight with one another”.
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Trump himself has called the deal “collusion” between the two campaigns, and has lambasted both for making it. But on Friday, signifying the diminishing nature of the agreement, Trump mocked both candidates in a scathing tweet.
But Tuesday’s primary really will be a critical moment for the GOP.
Paul Helmke, Indiana University professor of law and public policy, is also a former mayor of Fort Wayne who ran a failed Republican Senate bid in 1998. If the NY businessman is able to sweep IN, his delegate count will rise to 1,050.
The software salesman from Sugarloaf Township in Northeastern Pennsylvania believes “there will be shenanigans” from those who want to nominate others, but that won’t sway him from supporting Trump “the whole way through”. “But Ted Cruz still delusional-y thinks he has a chance”. If Cruz had gained the grudging respect of many in his party, it was for his smart strategic moves that got him this far in the Republican race. “And you can’t just do the small convention work and not focus on the statewide primary”.
Among 400 likely voters surveyed, Cruz won out, getting almost 45 percent, compared to Donald Trump’s 29 percent. “I’m sure that there were some Trump supporters, they just weren’t going to be vocal because they felt that the biggest pull was for Cruz”.
It seems impossible for either Ted Cruz or John Kasich to gain the 1,237 delegates necessary to win the Republican nomination at this point.
Only 70 percent of Trump’s backers said the same.
Given Trump’s favorable prospects in the remaining primaries, like West Virginia, New Jersey and the delegate-rich California, he would be able to either obtain the total he needs to secure the nomination or he will come extremely close.
In Alaska, Republicans plan to pick their 28 delegates Saturday.
Trump now stands at 991 delegates, with 10 of the 50 USA states yet to vote. Then, pivoting from environmental regulations, he harped on $12,000 in donations Trump gave to the state’s top Democrats nearly a decade ago, including Brown, Attorney General Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Cruz is throwing everything he has at this primary, including his conservative father, who is traveling through the state with the goal of exciting the sizable population of evangelical voters. Pence presumes that he will need every prospective Republican vote if he is to be returned to the governor’s mansion, and that includes Trump voters.
Former HP chief executive Carly Fiorina, whom Cruz has tapped as his running mate, will speak to the convention Saturday night.
Pence’s announcement was something of a surprise. The message from Cruz and his allies from now until the end of the primaries on June 7th will be simple and straightforward: Trump. He would hope to complement this victory by capturing delegates in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, all of which are winner-take-all. That was whilst out on the campaign trail for John McCain however.
While Mr Trump’s advisers had assured the wary Republican establishment that he would affect a more presidential demeanour once he closed in on the nomination, he has been his pugnacious self at recent campaign appearances, some of which have been marred by violent protests.
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More than 100 Republican delegates are headed to the convention unbound; they can vote for any eligible candidate they choose. Cruz had huddled with Pence at the governor’s residence during a trip last week to Indianapolis.
