WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – In a split decision, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump each captured two victories in Saturday’s four-state round of voting, fresh evidence that there’s no quick end in sight to the fractious GOP race for president.
Advertisement
The divisive nature of Trump’s candidacy is evidenced by the fact that 51% of Republican or Republican-leaning independent registered voters in a Washington Post-ABC poll said they would be satisfied with him as their nominee, but a greater percentage of voters said they would be happy with each of the other candidates.
In a hypothetical head-to-head test of strength between Trump and Cruz, Republicans say they prefer the Texas senator by 54 to 41 percent.
The state will send 149 Democratic delegates to the party’s national convention in Philadelphia and 59 to the Republican gathering in Cleveland in July.
Republicans and Democrats will also vote in MS, and Republicans in Idaho and Hawaii will make their choices on a day when 150 Republican delegates and 166 Democratic delegates will be up for grabs.
But the biggest prizes of the day in terms of delegates and visibility were in MI and MS, where polls opened at 1200 GMT.
The state looms as particularly important for Trump following anecdotal evidence that fierce attacks on his character and qualifications by other candidates and the Republican establishment may be beginning to have an impact. If Louisiana is an indicator, though, Cruz could give Trump a run for his money. A candidate needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
If I had to guess – and this is admittedly just speculation – I’d say Romney wanted to keep his message as generic as possible in case he decides to endorse Ted Cruz or John Kasich, and Team Rubio accepted the terms because, right about now, the senator will take help wherever he can find it. “That’s the way that democracy works”, Trump said.
The conversations came as GOP leaders have openly called for the party to find an alternative to Trump. How in the world is Trump going to win a general election if two-thirds of people don’t like him and 56 percent feel that way “strongly?”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is nearly certain to win the Democratic primary, adding some proportion of the state’s 148 Dem delegates to her tally.
Mississippi, Mellen said, “looks like Trump’s state to lose”.
Among Democrats, Clinton had accumulated 1,134 delegates and Sanders 499, including superdelegates. But for Kasich to stand any chance of turning what’s been a smaller-scale campaign that’s been much choosier about where he tries to compete into one with a real shot at quickly racking up delegates, MI is where it has to start.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, CNN citing sources said a battle was being waged within Rubio’s campaign about whether he should even remain in the Republican presidential race ahead of his home state primary on March 15.
