Cruz withdraws, leaving us Trump. Thoughts?

Pat Powers

From Fox News:

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz cleared the path Tuesday night for Donald Trump to claim the Republican presidential nomination, suspending his underdog campaign following a crushing defeat in the Indiana primary – allowing the billionaire businessman to effectively leave the raucous primary behind and turn his attention squarely to the general election.

Read it here.

Thoughts?

81 thoughts on “Cruz withdraws, leaving us Trump. Thoughts?”

  1. Does that mean our delegation doesn’t have to take a position ? Boy, that was a close one !

  2. Trump is better than Cruz. I think Kasich is completely forgotten now.

    What if Kasich starts to win?

  4. Wow! Now we will have two Democrats competing against each other in the general election. What a mess!

  5. The GOP has nominated the most moderate candidate since Wendel Wilkie

    1). His foreign policy is the the left of Clinton.
    2). He is not fundamentally committed to conservative social policy. His personal life indicates he may not even really agree with it.
    3). His trade policy is indistinguishable from that of the AFL-CIO.
    4). There is nothing in his past or policy statements that indicate a commitment to either cutting spending or reducing the deficit.

    To a person, the best leading alternatives played into his hands. They all “promised” Trump wouldn’t be the nominee and expended capital fighting Trump on his turf without articulating why they should be President.

    When Cruz, Rubio, and Bush reflect on what has occurred, they have no one to blame but themselves. Cruz was the last man standing because he had the best organization. Otherwise, they did their best to hand the nomination to Trump.

    1. Troy,

      “2). He is not fundamentally committed to conservative social policy. His personal life indicates he may not even really agree with it.”

      Can you please explain what you mean by conservative social policy and what you would prefer to see in the Republican nominee?

      1. He has already stated that Planned Parenthood does “wonderful things,” he’s always been pro-choice, and, as president, he would never sign a bill banning late-term or partial birth abortions.

    2. Troy Jones

      According to the Dakota Free Press and Cory H, Trump is a radical right wing fascist whose minions will be wearing jack boots and brown shirts.

    3. Moderate in the sense that we don’t really know what Trump actually believes? He has no core beliefs except money, money, money, and me, me, me. I didn’t get caught up in what he shoveled all the time, and I never bought into his crap about Ted Cruz being a liar; Cruz has more integrity in the clipping from his pinky fingernail than Trump has in his whole body. (Oh, sorry Trump drones).

      That being said, it will be either Trump or Hillary (unless Bernie pulls something out of his withered backside), so I will pick the lesser of two evils, that being Donald Trump.

      1. No he’s not a racist. He’s many unsavory things, but racist is not one of them

  6. Wedge politics has finally reached its inevitable zenith. Only truly execrable human beings can meet the litmus tests of their various bases, with none able to lead any other. Welcome to France, folks.

  7. We live in a celebrity culture. We now have a celebrity candidate for president. Other than his ignorance, his cowardice, his bullying, his lack of honor, and his slandering spirit — all minor things to do with character and termperament — what’s not to like about Mr. Trump?

    1. Celebrity culture. Will Kim Kardashian be in President Trumps cabinet? If so, what position?

  8. Data Support with regard to how dismal the candidates other than Trump performed is how their support changed from September (when the debates began).
    Sept. Now
    Trump 32% 49%
    Cruz 7% 25%
    Kasich 2% 19%

    Now on the surface, you can say Cruz and Kasich had the higher % gains and they all gained the same. The problem is they needed to do more or their quest was in vain, knew it in September, and didn’t do it.

    Cruz and Kasich (and the others who dropped out) all had defining opportunities to make a move and they both failed.

    For Cruz it occurred in Iowa. First, he tainted his victory by the false leak that Carson was dropping out. Second, contrary to his normal modis operandi, he gave one of the most incoherent and long-winded victory speeches I’ve ever heard. And, to the degree it was understandable, it was as if every primary going forward had the same demographics of Iowa and the field was going to stay large to the end.

    For Kasich it wasn’t a single moment but a aggregation of smaller by related moments. While on the surface his theme was “been there and have accomplishments,” the subconscious message was “I’m not Cruz. I’m not Trump. Pick me.” He presumed that as other candidates dropped out, their supporters would migrate to him without him having to earn their support.

    Not once did I ever have a sense Cruz or Kasich truly aspired to reach out to the supporters of the other candidates or attract the supporters from the others. It was as if they sat on a throne and expected the masses to come them on bended knee. So, what happened is voters drifted in equal measure to each of the remaining three candidates which was all Trump needed to happen.

    They gave it to Trump because of their hubris. For years, one of my fundamental “rules” about succeeding politically on a state-wide or nation-wide basis is the candidate who succeeds EVERY TIME is the candidate who has the best ability to attract people who don’t agree with them on every issue. Cruz and Kasich so let Trump get in their heads, I think in the end they lost people who agree with them on most issues.

    For all their talk about Reagan, they failed to be Reagan-esque in a critical area- out-reach to those who disagree with them in some areas.

    1. Troy, starting with Cruz in Iowa,it was not Cruz who started the “false leak” that Carson was dropping out, it was CNN.
      We were watching when they said it. They said he was going home to Florida, not New Hampshire. We looked at each other and remarked that he was dropping out.
      This notion that it was Cruz is just another lie

  9. Anonymous 6:19:

    I’m not convinced Trump will pursue/prioritize the Pro-Life issues or fight for those matters that revolve on religious freedom and conscience with the vigor and diligence of virtually every other Republican candidate who ran. His recent conversion on these issues and rhetoric at best sound like his policy positions on the end will be “While personally opposed. . . .”

    1. I agree, Troy; these are not priorities to Trump. He said what he had to say to the folks in Iowa, and then he cussed and ranted to the folks on the East coast to show how tough he is; he is a chameleon, and I don’t believe that he has a foundational belief system.

  10. I am curious now what the “never Trump” people will do. I have had discussions with two people who fail to see if that they didn’t support the GOP nominee (this before Cruz dropped out), whoever he would be, they would be essentially voting for Hillary. Both of these people refuse to see this. I listened to what Newt had to say last night and again this morning, and his words are worth repeating. I urge those who don’t want to support Trump to at least listen to Newt’s advice. In the last two elections I did not prefer the candidate who ended up being the nominee, but unlike some other conservatives, I did vote for the nominee. Those that sat it out and refused to even vote had no leg to stand on when Obama won the first time or the second time. No candidate is perfect. Now some are saying that they will throw away this year’s vote on a third party candidate or stay home; that is the attitude of a baby (I didn’t get my way so I’m taking my ball and going home). This election is for the future of our country, the future direction of the Supreme Court, the future of our grandchildren and their children; and it is imperative that we who care about that DO something about it by voting. In all honesty,

    Someone told me that the devil you know (Hillary) is better than the devil you don’t (Trump). I couldn’t believe this statement from an educated person. We know what Hillary will do to the Second Amendment, the Supreme Court, free college (at my expense of course), more and more Obamacare (and we all know how well that is working) or more probably going straight for complete govt sponsored health care, war on coal energy (which directly impacts all South Dakotans and their energy costs), and on and on..

    It is time to unite behind the nominee. I would have said the same thing if Cruz or Kasich had been selected. The future of our country is at stake. I probably won’t agree with all that Trump will do if elected. I KNOW I wouldn’t agree with almost anything that Hillary would do. The future is in our hands, and in honor of our founding fathers, it is up to us to help redirect it back to their ideas.

    1. Springer, I’m with you. My comments are a post-mortem on the primary and not the general.

      There is a maxim in business “Don’t let the pursuit of perfection stop you from doing good enough.” The application here is because the other candidates weren’t “true conservatives” (except for the one the person fit THEIR definition of “true conservative”), ironically, conservatives have as the GOP nominee the most moderate (moderate measured by actual positions on major policy and not rhetoric) candidate in the race. In other words, in the pursuit of perfection, they got the least perfect result.

  11. My fear is the Democrats will define the Republican Party as Trump. Every down-ticket candidate will be asked a hundred times if they support Trump and you won’t hear any explanations about the differences. With Trump we will probably lose both Congress and the presidency which will clear the way for not only liberal but socialist ideas to be considered in a serious way. I thought we couldn’t do worse than Obama, now I’m not so sure.
    Ughhhh….

  12. What a choice, two liberal democrats, Don the Con and Hillary the Crook.

  13. Drudge. Breitbart. Rush. Hannity. Greta. Fox and Friends.

    I would like to see a poll examining the correlation between their core audiences and Trump voters. Especially his early supporters. Virtually the entire conservative media establishment got behind a guy with little political knowledge, no desire to learn and a poor temperament. A guy that is not even a conservative. Which will soon be obvious even to his supporters. He will abandon conservatism just like the “self-funding” scheme that is now being jettisoned.

    None of these “conservative” media outlets outright endorsed Trump but anyone watching objectively knows where their loyalties were. Could he have gotten the nomination without this new-media backing? I doubt it but he did get a lot of free coverage from the liberal media as well.

    And what are their personal relationships with Trump? I’d sure like to know.

    1. I think you are right, apart from Rush. When I listened, he was not a cheerleader for Trump, he was simply fair and discussed what he saw, and he called BS when he saw it. However, I don’t listen to Hannity anymore as he was obviously, despite his protestations, a Trump supporter. Fox and Friends are no friends of mine anymore. Fair and balanced my you-know-what.

      1. I agree that Rush was the least aggressive of the pro-trump media. I do, however, think he excused Trump’s positions and behaviors to a point where I am convinced that he is on Donald’s side. He should have exposed Trump’s non-conservative agenda.

    2. I think these guys were all in the bag for Trump so they could continue to ran on television as they have been while Obama has been in office. Without a liberal in the White House, they have nothing to rant against and their viewership diminishes. Elect Hillary as I am sure will happen with Trump as our nominee, they can continue to be outraged by the actions of the White House and their viewers will come back to hear it again and again. LIke many so called conservatives, they would rather fight than win.

  14. Let’s put the blame where it really belongs:
    John McCain, Mitch Romney, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell…and the list goes on. Those people and others like them now serving in the United States Congress are the real reason we have the situation we have. We have prided ourselves on being ‘One Nation Under God’ . What are we now and even more important, what is the future for this great country?

    1. You blame Graham, Boehner, McConnell etc. for their inability to stop Obama. Then you support the guy who agrees with Obama. Tax the rich. Single payer. Pro-choice (on even numbered days). Impeach Bush.

      And Trump donated money to the liberals even as you were complaining about Republicans not confronting the liberal agenda. But that doesn’t matter to you. What the hell is that?

      P.S. What’s with these Trump conspiracy theories? Bush knew about 9/11. Obama not born here. Cruz not eligible. Cruz’s father in on Kennedy assassination??

      Loony. Just Loony. And now we are stuck with crazy.

      1. I think you missed my point Mr James. I am definitely not a Trump supporter. My point is the actions and lack of action of the above named and others have led to the ‘masses’ voting for Trump.

        it will be very difficult to ‘hold my nose’ and vote Republican in the presidential election. However, I believe the Hillary alternative is even worse.

    2. I wish Thune, Rounds, and Noem would have had the guts to stand up and support Cruz, unless they were Trumpeters, but none of them had the stomach for it. I am sorry that Thune is so much under McConnell’s thumb that he doesn’t have any independent thoughts anymore, but the alternative on the SD Dem side is obviously worse.

  15. There is an open letter to Reince Priebus by Jay Caruso (no idea who he is) that sums it up pretty good. His last paragraph is, “The man is an antithesis to all things Republican and conservative. I will not unify behind a man that goes against so much of what I believe in, just because he is the presumptive GOP nominee.”

    1. Couldn’t agree more! Trump does not represent me. Maybe one of the biggest frauds of our time. The Trump supporters I know personally are absolutely the stereotype the media portrays them to be. A president doesn’t make or break a country. Never have and never will vote for a democrat and that includes the RINO Trump.

      1. Careful what you say to a Trump supporter, you’re liable to get punched! No rules for them!

        1. I think if you honestly look at the riots etc, they are not caused by Trump fans. But if you are so anti-Trump that you can’t even see this, then there is no hope for rational thinking from you.

          1. You wouldn’t know what “rational thinking” is if it smacked you on your a$$ and called you Judy.

  16. Hillary herself said, mine will be the third term of Barack Obama. That will be the worst of all outcomes. I have thought, what would I be if I would be living in Sweden today, where my grandfathers came from. I would be a nationalist and opposed to the European Economic Community. The global trade deals and open borders have had adverse consequences.

  17. “You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!”

    The best & deepest Republican field in recent memory….wiped out one-by-one by the host of Celebrity Apprentice and now it is down to #NeverHillary vs #NeverTrump.

    Note to firearms and ammo manufacturers: Three shifts, 24/7. You’re gonna make more money than anyone can ever spend.

  18. Good to see everyone bashing Trump and ignoring the “will” of Republican voters and many American’s. No president alone will damn this nation, it also take action or lack-there-of from congress as well. You don’t have to like or vote for Trump, but in bashing him you are no different then him with regard to negativity toward others. My hope is he both he and all of you bashing him will change course in this regard.

    It’s time to get American’s back to work and ensure Hilary Clinton never gets an opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court Justice. To do that there is only one other option to vote for and it’s not Gary Johnson. At some point reality must set in and as rational people we must ask whether or not we will listen to the American people and whether or not we want Clinton to be President? All of you saying he has no chance of beating Hillary are off base. Trump has proven all the original polls wrong, and now polling is starting to shift in his favor against Clinton.

    1. The “will of Republican voters” included numerous open primary states where Democrats pushed him over the top.

      You RINOs got your con artist, now how are you going to get conservatives to vote and support the vulgar liberal?

      Even the conservatives that have fallen for the Trumpagands do so with pained justification that does not inspire anyone to get out and work to elect someone the Democrats are going to make painfully clear, is one of Hillary’s biggest supporters.

      I will never vote for the NY liberal, figure out which ones I’m talking about.

      1. Why in the deuce do any of the States have open Republican parties? That should change today. Who wants the demoncrats helping decide who the Republican nominee will be? That is just idiocy.

        1. Agreed. Early voting in primaries is harmful, as well, especially when candidates drop out or make inevitable mistakes that could affect voters.

    2. The “will” of a darn sight less than half of the voters. Trump whined like a child about Colorado, but he thought that Florida and other winner-take-all states were A-OK since it was to his benefit.

      I will have to vote for him, but I will not respect him unless he turns out to be completely different than the person he was in the primary. I am not stunned by his wealth or impressed by his obnoxious behavior. I guess I expect more honor and integrity from the person who wants to lead the country.

      1. Why would you vote for him? Where is your honor and integrity? I would never vote for someone on party alone, that is what is wrong with this country! His actions and demeanor are not even remotely close to what we think South Dakotans should be like. But you go ahead and hope he changes, I’m not willing to take that chance because I do value my vote!

    3. I agree with you. Good post. I just hope that people will heed your advice.

  20. Down ballot will be a fun observation. With Trump often lacking a party majority in most all states, his endorsement will carry little value.

  22. I do understand Trump’s appeal. I do not understand why conservatives are supporting him. I do not consider Trump to have been the best candidate in the field. He is, however, the one the Republicans have chosen. With this in mind, I do not plan to vote for Trump in the general election unless polls show the race to be close. If I have to choose between Trump and Hillary, I will take Trump. But since I can pretty much be sure SD will go the way of Republicans, I will go with what is usual and vote for someone else. My vote will not mount to a hill of beans. Now, if I lived in a purple state, I might have a different view.

      1. If we’re talking about SoDak specifically, I don’t think I disagree with duggersd. It will be the purple states that decide.

        1. Thanks. You said what I would have. When was the last time SD went Democrat? It won’t in this election either. Since that is the case, I do not have to vote for a lessor of two evils. If I HAD to, I would vote Trump.

  24. Myths or Urban Legends that died with imminent nomination of Trump:

    1) There is an “Establishment” that anoints nominees. At the end, it was anybody but Trump and he got the nomination.

    2) Cruz was the choice of Conservative Republicans (75% of Republicans self-identify as Republican). In virtually every national poll, Trump beat Cruz among conservatives. Cruz beat Trump in the following eight demographics (out of 40):

    Republicans located in the West. Trump led in the Midwest, South, and Northeast

    Black & Hispanic Republicans

    Republicans 18-24 years old

    Republicans with Household income between $50K & $75K

    Independents who lean Republican. Thus, open primaries helped Cruz more than they hurt him.

    Married Female Republicans

    Republicans with graduate college degrees.

    Republicans who considered their income/economic condition the most secure.

    For me, the most shocking demographic where Trump beat Cruz: Evangelical Republicans.

    3) Trumps support comes from dumb white guys. In reality, the far and away #1 factor which influenced Trump support is economic insecurity. The more concerned a voter was about their future economic prospects*, the more likely they were to support Trump. This factor transcended race, age, gender, income, ideology, geography, and every other demographic. And, Kasich was second in these categories.

    *Sidenote: Economic security is the biggest factor in those who support Sanders on the Democrat side.

    1. On your very last point: Economic security?!? How can you have economic security when everybody is trying to live off of everybody else? Socialism sucks, as does Bernie. Again, if you love Socialism, move the heck to France and don’t make another country a craphole. (That’s for you, Portair!)

  26. The economic security factor was related to questions of fear/concern of a loss of working hours, reduced pay, lay-off or health of your business if you are a business owner for you or someone in your family (sometimes the pollster asks just for you or your spouse and sometimes includes children or parents and sometimes the pollster includes extra-ordinary items like big bills for health care or maybe even children for college).

  27. My feelings are optimistically cautious.

    Since day one Mr. Trump has been speaking without a filter, saying what is on his mind. Down with political correctness; if feelings are hurt, that’s too bad, and the rank and file of the Republican Party love what they are hearing. In a way he is breath, or more, of fresh air. It time we stop worrying about everyone else and put America first.

    Power brokers in Washington should now be on notice. Mr. Trump is coming. I believe he will shake the status quo. He is cage rattler and he is going to rattle some cages. Whether or not that is good or bad I can’t say.

    When it comes to foreign policy, yes, he has business sense; however he needs more than just to know how to make a deal. He will be the Command in Chief of the most well trained military force in the world. There is time and place to use them, I hope he know when that is.

    The part that really spooks me, he will be or is the De facto head of the Republican Party. That means he will influence every republican campaign. The times are changing, and the party is going to really change. While I’m not afraid of change, I like to know where we are headed. Can he unify the party? Can he get things going?

    To be honest, there are lot more unknown facts right now.

  28. Anonymous 2:50 regarding open primaries:

    I think your point raises a good question but I don’t agree with a global mandate for what you suggest in full. I’m a state’s rights guy. I think each state should retain the power of who votes where. But, personally, I believe on Republicans should vote in the GOP primary in SD. I just don’t feel it is my place to tell other states how they should do it except possibly to prohibit Democrats from crossing over.

    Additionally, there is no statistical evidence that open primaries significantly distort outcomes despite the pundits always saying it. And, if it matters, since Cruz has polled better among Independents relative to Trump, on the margin Cruz has likely benefitted slightly.

    However, I do have a problem with “winner-take-all” awarding of delegates as it creates too much disparity in delegates awarded when the margin of difference of the voters is small.

    Trump has received roughly 40% of the votes cast but has over 50% of the delegates awarded.

  29. The one thing that came out of this primary season is the delegate selection process and problems. Each state should have the right to do it as they feel, except that they should do it fairly to all the candidates running. No open primaries. Select the delegates according to which candidate they support, and then have if their names are on the ballot it should include the candidate they are supporting. Award delegates on a percentage basis according to the primary vote. Until this year most people didn’t understand this, and I still don’t completely, but is a much more complicated system than it would have to be, and there is probably a reason for this (to retain control by the powers that be).

  31. I am going to go out on a limb and make a bold prediction. Donald Trump will not make it to the general election. I suspect that he has so many skeletons in his closet that one or more of them will, at some point, cost him the support of a significant number of voters thus making it impossible for him to continue.

    In a normal campaign cycle, he would have already been forced to withdraw numerous times. (Support for “killing families of terrorists” being one example. McCain is not a war hero because “he was captured” is another.) But, as we know, this primary race has been anything but normal. Things may be different going forward toward the general election and, I predict, they will be.

    1. I’ll boldly predict that this is a bad year to be in the “political prediction” business.

  32. JJ, it is much worse than that. He will now pivot to the Left as per his natural proclivity. It will further alienate the hard core conservatives and as he does so the light will come on to evangelicals who walked on the wild side with him. He has galvanized the Left against Republicans and he will finish the nail in the coffin as he demoralizes the Right as he now returns to his NY ways. As a result, he will lose much needed donation support from traditional GOP allies and he will chase them underground for Congressional candidates as people are turned off with the mess he has created of the GOP.

  33. Today’s WSJ had a pretty good post-mortem on the Cruz candidacy. Two paragraphs capture my views well:

    “The Tex­an’s lost op­por­tu­nity was to ex­pand his ap­peal be­yond his most con­ser­v­a­tive base of sup­port and co­a­lesce main­stream Re­pub­li-cans. He never tried to break out of his fac­tional ghetto, as if ex­co­ri­at­ing the es­tab-lish­ment and trans-gen­der bath­room laws could mo­ti­vate a ma­jor­ity to de­feat Mr. Trump’s plu­ral­ity.”

    “The con­ser­v­a­tives aghast at Mr. Trump should ap­pre­ci­ate the irony that even as Mr. Cruz hoped to pro-duce a new con­ser­v­a-tive era, he helped wreck the best chance for con­ser­v­a­tive re­form in years.”

    1. Calling conservatism/Christianity the “factional ghetto” shows the idiocy that is the WSJ. If anybody was in the gutters in this campaign it was the wealthy jackass, DT, and don’t even try to defend his obnoxious, dishonest campaign, Trumpeters!

  34. Anonymous 11:02:

    While I understand a visceral reaction to the term because of the use of the word ghetto, the term is not an insult in political science terms. It is a more precise description of what we often see when the word “base” is used.

    With precision, base means that upon (people, principles, etc) which a candidate stands which a candidate can expand by his efforts. A factional ghetto is a definable group which defines itself independent of the candidate and he can’t directly expand.

    Another way to describe the distinction:

    Ted Cruz’ base is his own and he can define the parameters which is his base. You can choose to join that which he defines but Cruz is the author of the definition.

    The factional ghetto of “conservative/Christianity” defines itself by its members. Ted Cruz can choose to join that what is “conservative/Christianity” but he is not the author of the definition.

    Similarly, another term which has fallen out of favor in this “politically correct” and “can’t use words that hurt my feelings” world is one of Bill Buckley’s favorite words (ilk-a type of people or things similar to those already referred to). Now if anyone uses the word, it is only used as an insult when in reality it is neutral. Buckley always said “my ilk” when he described his factional ghetto.

    * I put the term in quotes because its definition is not as easy to define vs. the person of Ted Cruz because to some degree the definition depends on how narrowly or broadly one defines conservative or whether it includes only a portion of Christianity (i.e. fundamental evangelism). For instance, is Rick Santorum in the definition of “conservative/Christianity” with Ted as their theological positions aren’t the same?

  35. We had good candidates at the beginning. But the people running the RNC wanted Bush. They cleared a path for Bush. They didn’t consider Trump or Cruz to be the threats that Walker, Perry, or Jindal were. They were so out of touch with the voters they didn’t realize the nobody else wants another Bush.
    So they cleared out everybody except Cruz and Trump.
    They allowed open primaries.
    They allowed winner-take-all primaries.
    They allocated delegates without factoring in how many electoral college votes those states have ever delivered in a general election.
    They thought all these measures would create an illusion of party unity at a national convention.
    Idiots

  36. Anne,

    1) Attached is the timeline on the Carson misinformation. You can also find an apology by Ted Cruz personally (if he had nothing to do with it, why would he personally apologize?). I didn’t say that Cruz instigated it. I said their contact “tainted” the victory in people’s minds because Carson remained critical of Cruz’ integrity through his endorsement of Trump. When Carson experienced his first drop in support, according to the polls it appeared the support went primarily to Cruz. When Carson impugned Cruz, the shift of Carson supporters stopped.

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/04/cruz-carson-email-trump-iowa-cnn/

    2) I disagree substantively with your last post. RNC doesn’t decide where there are open primaries or winner take all states. The individual state parties do. Further, the other rules you mention weren’t motivated to nominate Bush (or anyone else). They were set right after the prior election. I don’t agree with some of them but I think the aspersions of sinister motives is unfair as they were nearly unanimously supported by the RNC Central Committee which includes our own SD delegates.

    RNC and Donald Trump didn’t clear the field. Each of the candidates who dropped out cleared themselves because they failed to run effective campaigns. Cruz survived the longest because he ran the best campaign organizationally and tactically. He ultimately failed because of some strategic mistakes that proved fatal (I think his biggest was when he early on formed an alliance with Trump which gave Trump credibility).

  37. Anne,

    P.S.: This comment of yours is not true: “They allocated delegates without factoring in how many electoral college votes those states have ever delivered in a general election.”

    All states regardless of size have a base of 13 delegates plus three delegates for every congressional district (same as every state). We also got 13 additional delegates for the following:

    Delivering Electoral Votes for Romney in last election: 7
    Republican Senators: 2 (same as any state)
    Republican House Member: 1 (we only have one member)
    Republican Governor: 1 (same as any state)
    Legislative Chambers: 2 (same as any state)

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