Thread: How Donald Trump crushed Ted Cruz

How Donald Trump crushed Ted Cruz

Larry Kudlow
April 22, 2016
16 Hours Ago

Donald Trump's landslide victory in the New York GOP primary was a game-changer. It ended his Wisconsin slump and set the stage for an across-the-board sweep on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Trump's vote count exceeded his pre-primary polling average by nearly 10 percentage points. Perhaps most important, the win gave him 89 more delegates for the RNC July convention.

So Trump is now the prohibitive favorite to win the GOP nomination, although there is still much dispute about this. But I believe, even if he comes up short of a majority 1,237 delegates, he will still get a first-ballot victory. There will be roughly 190 uncommitted delegates at the Cleveland convention. And Trump, with his art of the deal, can be very persuasive.

But what hasn't gotten enough attention following New York is how Trump did it, and how it will enhance his position in the rest of the primaries. My theory is this: Trump cleverly turned the tables against Ted Cruz in regard to the nationwide delegate fight, especially in Colorado. Trump outflanked Cruz.

"I believe, even if [Trump] comes up short of a majority 1,237 delegates, he will still get a first-ballot victory."

By calling the delegate-selection process "rigged," and arguing that Colorado had an election without voters, Trump turned a loss into a victory. Why? Because he put Cruz in the unenviable position of defending the status quo delegate-selection process.

Now, Cruz played by the rules in Colorado and elsewhere. And Trump was caught flat-footed, and to some extent was embarrassed by his own weak delegate-gathering team.

However, and this is the key point, Cruz argued time and again that the rules were the rules and that he simply played by them. And as Trump continuously attacked the RNC rules as being undemocratic, disenfranchising to voters, and creatures of out-of-touch Republican-party regulars, he put Cruz in the position of backing the establishment. A bad place for Cruz.
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Moreover, in attacking the delegate process, Trump was able to restore and even enhance his position as the anti-establishment outsider. The agent of change. That's precisely what GOP voters favor.

Now, Colorado was a bad delegate story to begin with. A planned direct primary vote was canceled. But a friend relates the disturbing story of his moderate Republican brother who owns a small railroad and who caucused for Trump. Trump won that local caucus by 60 percent. But as the process moved up to the county level, then the congressional district level, and finally the state level, Trump got zero delegates.

At a minimum, this process was wacky, convoluted, and opaque. At its worst, it was rigged against GOP voters.

Other states have produced similar horror stories. And Pennsylvania may be positioned to deliver the most ridiculous. Whoever wins the direct Pennsylvania primary next Tuesday gets only 17 out of 71 delegates. So no matter who wins, 50-something delegates will still be uncommitted. That's crazy.

Actually, I think the whole GOP selection process is crazy. Why not a simple, direct, winner-take-all primary election? The person with the most votes gets all the delegates. Nice and simple.

Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus might want to think about this progressive democratic reform. After 100 years or so, it's time for a change.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/22/how-d...ommentary.html

The game has changed with relief pitcher Paul Manafort. They are positioning this campaign for no surprises and complete attention to all necessary details that will help Trump attain 1237 outright delegates or a fighting chance should it go to a contested ballot which may not have existed a few weeks back. Manafort has sized up the situation regarding delegates and assessing if and when the GOP would ever support Trump if he becomes the nominee. The ice is thawing around this area because based on the inequities of the system with respect to votes and delegates, Trump has lasered in on the unfairness of the system used by the GOP. In exchange for some kind of future support, the GOP Chairman has insisted on Trump toning down his rhetoric on this particular subject (the GOP do not like how they look unrobed). While Manafort is a lobbyist and his business partner is running Kasichs' campaign, Trump was brilliant in bringing him onto to the team at this point in time. Manafort is handling all the necessary party etiquette and details surrounding the possibility of Trump winning 1237 outright. He has planned for policy statements on a variety of subjects and will script Trump in a way to gain enough support to win. This is the area of flexibility I have pointed to within Trumps supporters to avail him the opportunity to cast a net wide enough to garner the votes and delegates to win. The more presidential Trump behaves, the harder it will be for Cruz and catch up is only for hamburgers at this point.

This is all just another bogus political machine trying to take up space. They are just trying to be an heir to the Two Party System. The only reason that Trump has anything on Cruz is that nobody with any sense or integrity wants Cruz.

That's all.