What did we learn?
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Businessman Donald Trump did remarkably well last night by winning the primaries in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and probably Missouri (Trump leads but the reporting of votes is not final as of this writing). The one exception was Ohio where voters gave the primary to its popular governor, John Kasich.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz didn’t win a primary, but picked up a handful of delegates in North Carolina who are assigned proportionally (Cruz took second place). Interestingly, in listening to the senator’s comments afterwards, he would have you believe he won all of the primaries and is leading the race. Very strange.
In Florida, Mr. Trump dominated so strongly he forced Senator Marco Rubio to withdraw from the campaign. The relationship between the two candidates can be described as frosty at best. During his campaign, Rubio burned a lot of bridges. So much so, his political future is cloudy. Whereas Florida Republicans had mentioned him as a viable candidate for governor in two years, now he would be lucky to be elected dog catcher.
Gov. Kasich also did well, but Ohio will likely be his last hurrah in 2016. By winning Ohio, he actually did Mr. Trump a favor by keeping it a three man race, thereby assuring Trump’s continued success. By winning Ohio, Kasich is delaying a head-to-head match-up between Mr. Trump and Sen. Cruz. Maybe permanently. However, it is also delaying the unification of the Republican party and forming an attack plan against the Democrats.
As to the Democratic party, Secretary Hillary Clinton swept the primaries moving closer to clinching the nomination. Her only weakness is she doesn’t appeal to younger voters, particularly millennials who support Senator Bernie Sanders. As a note, Missouri on the Democratic side has also not concluded its voting.
The fact remains, Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton have overwhelming leads in terms of delegates. Mrs. Clinton will likely cruise to the nomination, but Mr. Trump will have to work a little harder to secure the nomination. So far, he is polling well for the next few primaries.
The only head-to-head competition I am really interested in watching is between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton. Whereas the media claims Mrs. Clinton will skewer Mr. Trump in a debate, the former Secretary of State is a flawed candidate with a lackluster record of accomplishments, and excessive controversies, e.g., Benghazi, e-mail server, Travelgate, Filegate, Whitewater, and more. She is the only First Lady to have been subpoenaed. The liberal press has been protecting her thus far, but they will not be able to defend her in a Trump debate. They will be unable to protect her from accusations that, “The Emperor has no clothes.”
Keep the Faith!
