ROMNEY WORDSWORTH – It is Wednesday, April 27, 2016, and you know what that means: It’s Trumpday! Let’s get started. For Donald Trump last night, it was nothing but Winning, Winning, Winning, and then some more Winning and Winning. Trump swept all five states of the so-called “Acela Primary” (referring to the states that are all clustered around the Amtrak corridor in the Northeast. The tallies are:
Connecticut
Candidate Votes Percent Delegates
Trump 122,519 57.7% 28
Kasich 60,447 28.5% 0
Cruz 24,779 11.7% 0
Delaware
Candidate Votes Percent Delegates
Trump 42,472 60.8% 16
Kasich 14,225 20.4% 0
Cruz 11,110 15.9% 0
Maryland
Candidate Votes Percent Delegates
Trump 237,132 54.4% 35
Kasich 100,333 23.0% 0
Cruz 82,286 18.9% 0
Pennsylvania
Candidate Votes Percent Delegates
Trump 892,702 56.7% 17
Cruz 340,201 21.6% 0
Kasich 304,793 19.4% 0
Rhode Island
Candidate Votes Percent Delegates
Trump 39,059 63.8% 9
Kasich 14,929 24.4% 5
Cruz 6,393 10.4% 1
Donald Trump has passed Mitt Romney’s popular vote total from four years ago and is on a trajectory that could land him more Republican votes than any presidential candidate in modern history. Trump surged to 9.9 million votes. That’s already more than 100,000 more than Romney earned in the entire 2012 primary season and tens of thousands more than John McCain earned in 2008.
Trump is certain to pass McCain’s total next week in Indiana. What is even more impressive is that Trump is positioned to pass the modern record-holder George W. Bush — who collected 10.8 million votes in 2000. Ronald Reagan won about 7.7 million votes in 1980.
This means that the #NeverTrumpers are attempting to thwart the candidate who is likely to win more Republican primary votes than any GOP contender in 36 years. Tell us again why Donald Trump is so bad for the Republican Party?
According to CNN, Trump won white Evangelicals by nearly 30 points in Pennsylvania over Cruz (58%-29%) and they made up 42% of the GOP primary electorate. In Connecticut, those angry at the federal government overwhelmingly supported Trump over Cruz (65% to 17%) and they made up 43% of the electorate. And in Maryland, 61% of “very conservative” voters in Maryland supported Trump. Cruz got only 28%, and these reportedly voters made up 28% of the vote.
In Connecticut, Trump won voters who make over $50k and under $50k. Trump won in every age demographic. Trump won among voters who identify as “Very Conservative”. Trump won among Evangelical and Born Again Christians. On Immigration, Trump won voters by a whopping 82%. Trump won among voters whose most important issue was Economy/Jobs, Terrorism, and Government Spending. Whether they were Urban, Suburban, or Rural voters, Trump won every demographic.
In Pennsylvania, Donald Trump won every single county. Trump won 61% of men, and 54% of women. As in Connecticut, Trump won in every imaginable demographic and on every issue.
Donald Trump has won more primary wins than any candidate (23) and more overall state wins than any candidate (26).
The Delegate Count
Trump is at 950, Cruz is at 560, Rubio is at 171, and Kasich is at 153.
Cruz has now been mathematically eliminated from obtaining enough delegates to win and he has fallen to third place in popularity as well. There are only 10 state primaries left, with a total of 502 delegates. Trump needs 287 of the remaining 502 delegates to cinch the nomination, and he is all but certain to win all of New Jersey’s 51 winner-take-all delegates given last night’s results. That leaves Trump needing 236 delegates from the other 9 states remaining. Trump has a double digit lead in California (172 delegates), and leads between 6-8% in Indiana, where 57 delegates are at stake. Not only are those pretty good odds to reach the goal line, Trump also has available the 9 delegates of Dr. Ben Carson that can be thrown his way. Since Carson has endorsed Trump, that’s a pretty safe bet.
Even if Trump were to arrive in Cleveland shy a few delegates, it would be by 50 or less, and there will be over 300 unbound delegates. At this point a line will be forming outside of Trump’s hotel suite, as the unbound delegates fall over themselves to gain favor from the next President of the United States.
Over in #NeverTrumpLand, a river named Denial overflows its banks. Mark Levin reassured his dwindling, bitter end followers that, in fact, “the real race begins after tonight.” Levin went on: “Despite all of the pundits declaring Trump the nominee following tonight’s results, he will face a much tougher road ahead than they want to admit.” Well, how hard is the road ahead for your guy Cruz, now that he has been mathematically eliminated from winning? That sounds like a lot tougher road to me. Exit polling revealed that Cruz hemorrhaged voters who had been supporting him, who were disgusted by his so-called “alliance” with John Kasich. That cynical ploy will continue to cling to Cruz like stink on a skunk.
Cruz has been clinging to two mantras: That Cruz was unifying the party, and that no candidate will get to 1237 before the convention. Both of those assertions are looking less and less likely. Cruz has now become Kasich 2.0: Another narcissist who doesn’t want to come to grips with the reality that his candidacy is just another Dead Man Walking.