Post 3/15 Notes.

Post 3/15 Notes.  For that small handful of people who actually read this blog, you know that I have been in mourning since last night.  My man Marco got drubbed in his home state and suspended his campaign.  I am experiencing the same déjà vu that I did when Romney lost to Obama; my lord, what a lost opportunity!  Oh well, if I wasn’t out of step with the electorate, I would have no step at all.  Here are some notes (hopefully, absent bitching, whining, and/or moaning) about the Republican Primary’s state of play:

Three people have tried to face up to Trump and take him down; Bush, Cruz, and Rubio.  The effort cost two of them their chance at the nomination and the jury is still out of how it will impact Cruz.  Christie, Carson, and now Kasich are no more than shameless shills for Trump.  Christie’s and Carson’s pathetic plays for future employment have been exposed and properly ridiculed; Kasich is still digging his hole deeper and has yet to crawl out for his appointment with just desserts.  I cannot add anything to what has already been written about Christie and Carson; their hypocrisy and transparent ambition speaks for itself.  Kasich’s campaign continues to operate as though they are the leader or co-leader in this race; not a distant third who has won one state (his home state…yes, I know, Marco lost his), had the audacity/arrogance/idiocy to actually rain down confetti when he won the Ohio primary, and cannot possibly win the nomination prior to the convention.  The confetti business reminds me of an NFL game where a linebacker tackles a running back 15 yards downfield and then celebrates like he’s done something remarkable.  He is the only person in the universe who does not realize how foolish he looks.  Bush could never quite figure out the Trump riddle and the resulting frustration got the better of him.  Cruz went after Trump early, but backed off when he discovered that Rubio could, and would, serve as the attack dog.  Out of pure desperation, and obviously out of his character, Rubio went after Trump.  He landed some good blows, but his polling image suffered in the process.  Some called it a suicide mission, and that is not far from a good description.  I say he had the balls to do what Bush could not muster, what Cruz started and could not finish (yet), and what Kasich does not have the spine to engage.  Now one might say (and one might be correct) that Cruz and Kasich played it right because they are still standing.  My response to that logic is that some candidates understood that Trump is much larger than just a threat to one’s personal ambition; he is a threat to the party and to the nation. 

A Republican Presidential Candidate debate was scheduled for Monday, March 21 on Fox and was to be held in Salt Lake City.  Trump, having an increasingly difficult time at the debates since there are fewer candidates and he actually has to string a few sentences together, has decided that there have been a sufficient number of debates and he will not attend this one; likely not attending any more whatsoever.  There is no rationale for this maneuver other than the fact that he does not want to take the stage in what would essentially be a mano-a-mano with Ted Cruz.  He is a coward.  You would think that Kasich would leap at the chance to have a national audience to speak to about his policies and ideas, only needing to split the time with his other opponent Cruz.  But no, Kasich says he will not attend the debate unless Trump does.  Again, there certainly seems to be little logic to this other than the fact that he knows he can’t win and doesn’t want to sustain any further damage.  I am not a big Cruz fan, but this little episode has certainly exposed Trump and Kasich for the pathetic cowards that they are.  If Fox had any integrity, they would put up cardboard cutouts of Trump and Kasich on either side of Cruz and conduct a town hall meeting in the debate time slot.

Who knows where this Republican race goes from here?  Every writer I can find to read these days seems to have an agenda that promotes (sometimes openly, something subtly) their chosen candidate.  Many of the leading voices in the Republican Party openly speak of a third-party (or alternate-Republican) candidate if Trump obtains the nomination; it is hard to imagine how this is feasible.  Regardless of where one’s sentiment lies, the fact remains that if Trump fails to secure a sufficient number of delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot in Cleveland, the Republican Party need not change any rules to open up the race.  The convention rules, as they exist, have been in place for a long time and were in place when all the Republican candidates started their campaigns.  If you are running a 100-yard dash, you can lose at the start, you can lose mid-race, and you can lose within the last 5 yards; any of those losses are perfectly legitimate.  Donald Trump may continue his momentum and garner enough delegates to gain the Republican nomination prior to Cleveland.  If he does, he should be acknowledged as such and receive the full support of the RNC.  On the other hand, if he fails to get to the magic number of 1,237, then he must understand and accept that the race is not over until a winner is determined. He might be well advised to leave a little bit in the tank for that last 5 yards.