IN is a crucial race for Cruz in his attempt to prevent Trump from gathering the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the Republican presidential nomination out right before the convention.
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Trump, who has declared himself the “presumptive nominee”, said the contest would end if he won the state.
He spoke ahead of Tuesday’s IN primary, with 57 GOP delegates at stake.
“We see a real chance for Cruz to win IN when Kasich voters realize Trump is an absolutely unacceptable option”, the source inside Conservatives Against Trump said.
With momentum favoring Trump – he has won the last six contests – Cruz put on a fearless face, telling reporters “the stakes are enormously high” and that he would stay in the race regardless of the in outcome. They have said the fight will continue (as they eye Nebraska and California), but admit IN is crucial. “It’s not just about Donald Trump and Ted Cruz”. Cruz would return the favor by not competing in New Mexico and Oregon. “Trump clearly picked up by a big chunk of the former Kasich voters who were so turned off by the notion that there was a deal made”.
At the time of the grand bargain, Cruz was trailing Trump by just a few points in most in polls. The RealClearPolitics average puts Trump nine points ahead of Cruz, with 42.0 percent to the Texas senator’s 32.7 percent.
Kasich also said his supporters in IN are free to vote for him, and polls show him winning more than 10% support.
Cruz’ move to name Fiorina sparked all sorts of Internet jokes and was labeled as desperate by many pundits.
Cruz responded, saying, “I believe that if the Republican party nominates Donald Trump, we will lose to Hillary”, Cruz said.
“The Cruz camp is doing a great job at exploiting the other factor”, says Barnes.
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) is joined by governor Mike Pence (R-IN) at a campaign event at The Mill in Marion, Indiana, U.S., May 2, 2016.
Former Gov. Jan Brewer, losing her first election in 35 years, angrily yelled “I got cheated – I got cheated”, as the results became known. Trump dominated the district, which includes the state’s coal country and is home to many blue collar voters, with majorities in some counties as high as 60 to 70 percent.
Indiana’s primary is poised to be a test of momentum for both parties. “We’re setting an all-time record in the history of the Republican Party for votes”, the candidate said, but the system is “rigged and run by lobbyists so they can make millions of dollars off characters like Cruz”. If Kasich’s voters switch to Cruz (and all else remains equal), then Cruz will win big.
Can Sanders keep his diminishing chances alive? “Clinton and Sanders are more likely to divide the delegate pool, which will do little to change the narrative on the Democratic side”.
“This may be the first time ever that the IN primary has played a significant role IN the nomination process”, Campbell said.
“For us to win the majority of pledged delegates, we need to win 710 out of the remaining 1,083”.
‘It’s a steep hill to climb, ‘ Sanders said at a D.C. press conference Sunday. “That is, admittedly, a tough road to climb, but not an impossible one”.
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Shrugging off the numbers, Sanders, like Cruz, vowed to “fight hard as hard as we can for every vote”.
