Judith Viorst wrote the children’s book about Alexander’s day, but the title could just as well apply to Ted Cruz’ day on April 19th. The only good thing that happened to Ted that day was that Donald Trump called him “Senator Cruz,” instead of “Lyin’ Ted.”
The worst thing that happened to him was the New York Primary. No one expected him to win the contest, but he came in third, according to RedState.
Donald Trump absolutely crushed it in his home state, somehow beating already high expectations and taking a huge 60.5% of the vote. Gov. John Kasich came in second a respectable 25.1%, and Senator Ted Cruz in a weak third with a mere 14.5%.
Cruz’ plan for New York was to focus on some specific areas, concentrating all his effort to try to win something, anything in the state, but failed. Zero delegates out of 95.
As a result, Donald Trump took 89 of the 95 delegates, and the final count will probably put him at 90. John Kasich has won 3, but may get as many as 5. Ted Cruz took zero and will stay at zero.
Most importantly, New York ended Cruz’ chances to win the nomination without “begging, borrowing, and stealing” delegates from other candidates.
The path for Cruz to 1,237 delegates before the July convention in Cleveland is now officially closed: 674 delegates remain in the states ahead, and Cruz is 678 short of the magic number, according to an Associated Press tally. Worse, his double-digit victory in Wisconsin on April 5 has failed to produce a perceivable polling bounce in key upcoming states.
In fact, Election Betting Odds shows that gamblers forecast a very bad week ahead for Cruz. Here are their prognosis of candidates’ chance of winning next Tuesday, April 26:
Connecticut—Trump 93%, Cruz third at 1.6%
Maryland—Trump 93.1%, Cruz third at 2.9% (Winner take all)
Delaware—Trump 94%, Cruz third at 2.9% (Winner take all)
Pennsylvania—Trump 94.6%, Cruz 2.9% (Winner take all)
Rhode Island—Trump 95%, Cruz third at 1.5%
Losing the primary with a miniscule vote total, zero delegates, an end to his path to a first-ballot victory, and no reasonable chance to win the next five states would be bad enough. But Cruz also had a bad day, Tuesday, with Sean Hannity.
Yesterday, Sean Hannity pressed Ted Cruz on the question of his very strategic and effective gaming of the delegate system. Cruz, who basically only made it to the U.S. Senate by exploiting gaps in election laws, didn’t respond well.
“You’re hoping to get to a second ballot. In other words, in a second ballot people that support Donald Trump or John Kasich or Marco Rubio, if those delegates are still relevant, can then switch their votes,” Hannity said. “So you’re in a process of talking to delegates, and it seems to be very extensive. Could you explain to people what’s going on?”
Cruz tried to change the subject, saying only the media is interested in “process.” But Hannity kept on the subject.
Full text available here.
“I’m on social media, with millions of people. I have 550 radio stations. And I have the top-rated cable in my hour, all across the board. And I am telling you, that people are telling me, that they find this whole process confusing… What actually happened in Georgia this weekend? … It is really important, people would like to know how this works. It is a process question. It’s an integrity of the election question. And everybody’s asking me this question. So, I want — I’m giving you an opportunity to explain it.”
A lightly chuckling Cruz said only hardcore Trump supporters would ask such a question.
“Why do you do this?” Hannity said, raising his voice. “Every single time I — no, you gotta stop. Every time I have you on the air and I ask a legitimate question, you try to throw this in my face. I’m getting sick of it. I’ve had you on more than any other candidate on radio and TV. So if I ask you, senator, a legitimate question to explain to the audience, why don’t you just answer it?”
This was not Rachel Maddow, it was Sean Hannity.
What can Cruz do now? He’s giving up on next week, and plans to focus on Indiana, the following week, according to the National Review.
Ted Cruz’s team. . .spent the last two weeks looking ahead, quietly laying the groundwork for a kitchen-sink campaign in a state they can’t afford to let Trump win: Indiana.
Still, Indiana, despite its demographic similarities, isn’t Wisconsin — and the perfect storm that lifted Cruz to victory there April 5 could prove impossible to recreate. The conservative talk-radio army that toppled Trump is nowhere to be found. There is no sign — yet — of a multimillion-dollar assault by outside groups on the GOP front-runner. And unlike Wisconsin, where Cruz was backed by much of the Republican establishment, Indiana’s top officials have not rallied to him. (John Kasich, who badly underperformed in Wisconsin, could be a factor in that regard: A majority of Indiana’s recently elected delegates support him, according to the Indianapolis Star.)
There haven’t been any recent polls in Indiana. The Bellweather Poll put Trump ahead, 26% to 17%, but that was back in December.
Indiana is not your typical Midwestern state. Folks around here joke that the state somehow drifted up from the Old South. You’d think that would be good for Cruz. . .except that Trump won South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and North Carolina.
ADDENDUM:
As noted above, Cruz came in third in voting in New York State. But adding insult to injury, he came in FOURTH, behind Ben Carson, in Westchester County.
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