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Analysis: Five State Primary Day Sweep for Trump; Four States for Clinton

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Cruz Announces VP Pick Businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Looks West for Wins

Written by Juliana Simone

Donald Trump, Republican Candidate for President of the United States in CT 2016
Donald Trump, Republican Candidate for President of the United States in CT 2016

Winning projections for both frontrunners, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton were validated on Tuesday, April 26th, with Trump winning all five states up for grabs, and Clinton winning four out of five states with final totals reported over their opponents.

It was clear before 1AM the numbers for Rhode Island still seemed too close to call. News the next day showed with the final count, Vermont U.S. Senator Sanders beat the 2008 democrat presidential candidate Clinton in Rhode Island, 55% to 43.3%. As a result, the former Arkansas and U.S. First Lady did not have the same five state sweep Republican opponent Trump achieved, nor were her numbers as good as the ones Trump won overall.

Too early to project except for the temptation of the sensational news headline, the media reported Tuesday evening Hillary had a huge night and easily won all five states in this late April primary in the northeast. Mrs. Clinton, naturally, quick to embrace the moment in a campaign that has surprised supporters how difficult it has been for her to compete with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, happily chose this moment in the sun to pan to voters and the cameras that she is a popular candidate, despite the unexpected success of her challenger.

In terms of the Rhode Island results, a difference of 12% is considerable, and it should make voters wary of what the agenda driven mainstream media reports. Numbers like that are way too large to call for any election. Messaging must have prioritized the iffy statistics that those who chose to call Rhode Island for the former Secretary of State, believed would go their way, and rushed to embellish Clinton’s win as equal to those of Trump’s.

What’s clear to those who have followed this race from the beginning, is she is not a popular candidate, and polls continue to show she has a high percentage rate as someone who is not likable. According to polls, for whatever they’re worth, Republican opponent Trump has the same. The difference is in the numbers.

Holding true to the pattern that began early on with the beginning of state primaries, the turnout for Trump and the Republican Party far exceeds the turnout for Clinton and the Democrat Party.

The Republican Party is seeing a record high turnout on primary days and in terms of people registering to the party to be able to vote for their preferred candidate in these primaries. Most of the unaffiliated and moderate democrats are making this switch to vote for Trump in states whose election laws do not allow open voting where any registered party member can vote for whomever they choose on the ballot.

The Democrat Party has seen its voters very unenthusiastic about getting to vote for either of their two candidates. Records show four million less democrats have cared to cast a ballot this election year in their primaries. The only candidate motivating any new group in droves who often don’t care to vote, is Sanders with the millennial group made up of young adults between twenty and thirty.

Statistics and analysis show the Trump campaign even outperformed the estimates polls provided going into this latest Super Tuesday.  What the mainstream media chose not to emphasize was that Donald Trump, not only won all five states in the Tuesday primary, but he won every county of all five states. Neither of his Republican opponents were able to win one county in this primary. Clinton could not say she also won every country of the four states she was declared the winner.

How the five candidates performed on the 26th:

Connecticut: Trump @ 57.86% (votes cast: 123,367) to Kasich @ 28.37% (votes cast: 60,481) and Cruz @ 11.71% (votes cast: 24,969); Clinton @ 51.8% (votes cast: 170,075) to Sanders @ 46.42% (votes cast: 152,410). Trump took all 28 delegates; Clinton took 28 delegates to Sanders 27.

Delaware: Trump @ 60.8% (votes cast: 42,472) to Kasich @ 20.4% (votes cast: 14, 225) and Cruz @ 15.9% (votes cast: 11,110); Clinton @ 59.8% (votes cast: 55,950) to Sanders @ 39.2% (votes cast: 36,659). Trump took all 16 delegates; Clinton took 12 delegates to Sanders 9.

Maryland: Trump @ 54.4% (votes cast: 236, 623) to Kasich @ 23.0% (votes cast: 100, 089) and Cruz @ 18.9% (votes cast: 82,038); Clinton @ 63.0% (votes cast: 533,247) to Sanders @ 33.2% (votes cast: 281,275). Trump took all 38 delegates; Clinton took 61 delegates to Sanders 33.

Pennsylvania: Trump @ 56.7% (votes cast: 892,702) to Cruz @ 21.6% (votes cast: 340,20) and Kasich @ 19.4% (votes cast: 304,793); Clinton @ 55.6% (votes cast: 918, 689) to Sanders @ 43.6% (votes cast: 719, 955). Trump won all 17 delegates; Clinton took 105 delegates to Sanders 83.

Rhode Island – Trump @ 63.8% (votes cast: 39,059) to Kasich @ 24.4% (votes cast: 14, 929) and Cruz @10.4% (votes cast: 6,393); Sanders @ 55% (votes cast: 66, 720) to Clinton @ 43.3% (votes cast: 52, 493). Trump took 12 delegates, Kasich 5 and Cruz 2; Sanders took 13 delegates to Clinton’s 11.

Connecticut was the state most analysts and polls believed could go to Sanders. He was well in the lead through much of the day, then a slim lead through the evening, but final tallies pushed Clinton over the edge to win. Connecticut has a history of funny math on ballot mishaps on Election Days, so it’s tough to say if Sanders didn’t actually win this state.

Sanders, who wanted to speak at UCONN, on one of his campaign speeches, couldn’t meet their terms and had to go the New Haven green and Hartford the next morning. It is of note that UCONN presented an award to former President Bill Clinton for human rights in October, and the UCONN Foundation paid Hillary Clinton $251,250. As a resident, I see Sanders lawn signs and bumper stickers on cars a lot and have yet to see anything for Clinton.

Trumps biggest wins were in Rhode Island and Delaware in the low sixties percentage wise. The other three states he still performed well in, with two in the high fifty percentiles and Maryland, his lowest at still just under 55%. Clinton has one state that gave her a return in the low sixties – Maryland. Delaware had her second best returns at almost sixty percent, and her two wins put her in the low to mid-fifties. Rhode Island, which she lost put her in the low forties.

Sanders highest percentage was his winning state, Rhode Island, of course, at 55%. Kasich’s highest return was in Connecticut, known for its large group of moderate Republicans, at 28%, and Cruz’s best state was Delaware at just under 16%.

Of all the candidates the winner of who won their home state by the largest percentage goes to Bernie Sanders, where the Vermont U.S. Senator won by a whopping 86.1%, faring much better than fellow colleagues in the Senate, Cruz and Marco Rubio, who failed to win over challenger Donald Trump, who considers Florida to be his second home. Trump won his home state of New York with a respectable 60.4%, Cruz won Texas with 43.8%, and Kasich won Ohio as sitting Governor, with 46.8%.

It’s tough to say what Hillary Clinton’s home state is and she claims a few to hold that distinction. Born and raised in Illinois, she attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Yale Law School in Connecticut. She met her future husband on this Ivy League campus, the 42nd President of the United States, William J. Clinton, who proposed marriage, but a staff opportunity in Washington D.C. that made her future there a bright one, was her preference at this given time.

But failing to pass the District of Columbia bar exam to become an attorney there, she took the bar in Arkansas where her boyfriend Bill Clinton was returning. Passing that exam, she agreed to marry Clinton, where they lived and worked for almost twenty years.

Winning the White House in 1992, put Mrs. Clinton in Washington, D.C. for eight years. When her husband’s two terms ended, she did not want her spot in the political limelight to end, so she cherry picked New York as her choice to run for the U.S. Senate. Plunking down money on a 1.7 million dollar home in Chappaqua, to qualify her for the run as a resident, she eventually won over the New Yorker’s who recognized her as a carpetbagger, with the general consensus that maybe more state money would come to them with someone as powerful as a former First Lady as their U.S. Senator.

Though New York is actually listed as her home residence, she has spent little time in that home since its purchase in 1999. Its former President Bill Clinton who has lived in the house since the Clinton’s bought into the Empire State. Once Hillary won her Senate seat through New Yorker’s votes, the Clinton’s purchased a home for 2.85 million in what is known as the upscale area of northwest Washington as “Observatory Circle.” The brick colonial is located on a dead end street.

Whichever home she designates at the moment, in Illinois she won with 50.5% of the vote, just slightly over opponent Sanders who came in with 48.7%. In Arkansas, the home of her husband who was the Governor there and a former President, she faired the best at 66.3%. In New York, the blue state she’s spent a fraction of the time, she won with 58%. In Massachusetts, where she attended college, she just beat Sanders 50.1% to 48.7%.

In caucuses, Cruz won in Wyoming with his highest percentage achieved at 66.3% with 644 votes cast, while Trump in this state caucus gave Trump his lowest figure to date at 7.2%. Idaho went to Cruz with 45.4% to Trump’s 28.1%. Trump did not visit Idaho unlike Cruz. Idaho also chose Sanders over Clinton by a large margin: 78% Sanders to 21.2% Clinton. In Alaska, both Cruz and Sanders one. Cruz, by almost three points, but Sanders ran away with it beating Hillary 81.6% to 18.4%.

On a larger scale in terms of the numbers, as noted in an earlier post, Trump has already received 2.1 million more votes before this five state primary, than Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. This is an amazing figure.

On the Democrat Party side, the party has seen four million less people care to cast a vote in the primary process. Whether Democrats don’t care for either choice enough to go vote, or will just pull the lever for whoever becomes the nominee, remains to be seen. People can only wonder what the turnout would be with Clinton on this second try versus any other opponent than Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, in challenging her.

The candidate who has ignited the Democrat Party, as Trump has lit up not only Republican Party supporters, but democrats and unaffiliated, is Sanders. Sanders is the politician who has brought out masses of followers to his rallies, has won ten states over the media’s anointed Clinton the Party did not believe perceivable, as well as  nearly tying her in states like Missouri.

He’s received more private grassroots donations, has kept Clinton’s winning margins in many primaries and caucuses far from solid leads, and could arguably be the frontrunner if not for the Democrat Party’s super-delegate system. Professionals and voters have speculated over whether or not Sanders knew Clinton had all these super-delegates in the bag, before he even began his campaign. Did he know he would never have the opportunity to become the party nominee, no matter how popular his campaign became? Certainly his voters did not.

An interesting local news highlight here in New England, reported on Tuesday’s five state primary, which illustrated how popular Sanders is among his party’s voters and devotees, on a small but impressive note for those of who know the area, ” Democrat turnout was so high on Block Island that a ferry had to ship extra Democratic ballots to the remote community Tuesday evening.”

For those not familiar with this region, Block Island is part of Rhode Island – an island off of the shore of Rhode Island which is a local tourist attraction for both sailors and visitors who take the ferry there and stay in hotels as a summer getaway destination.

Despite his large following, mostly with the youth vote, as pointed out earlier, this is not his sole demographic. A pronounced Socialist, Sanders appeals to disenfranchised Americans, big government fans and most likely Democrats who don’t care for Hillary, or maybe even both Clinton’s.

Still, with the northeast four state sweep on Tuesday, Sanders said Wednesday with last night’s returns, he would now be laying off hundreds of staff employees around the country and focus on California, which he considers to be a state he can win. He explained in regards to the campaign layoffs, that in states whose primaries already have passed, he did not need staff their anymore and needed to focus on the remaining 14 states whose delegates and voters were still important going forward.  The Vermont U.S. Senator also said he will remain in the race until the convention.

Trump, has his own possible battle awaiting him in Ohio at the Republican National Convention with many party candidates, leadership and advisers not hiding the fact they are doing everything they can to keep him from becoming the nominee. Whether it’s Cruz and Kasich with their news announcement this week on teaming up to not campaign or advertise in states that favored either over the other, to keep more delegates from Trump acquiring the 1,237 needed to not go to a second ballot at the convention, when bound delegates can then vote for whomever they choose, or if its reputable long-serving Republican’s whether elected into office or not, saying they’ll vote for Hillary before Donald, Trump and his millions of supporters have to prepare themselves for a showdown on in July.

If Trump continues to win the remaining primaries, and falls just short of the total delegates needed only to have the national convention delegates award the nomination to someone else, leaves supporters wondering if Trump should run as an independent. On the democrat side, Sanders is wondering this, too, with his large following and earned primary and caucus wins, why should he bow out because the party already had given the nomination to Hillary through their super-delegates despite his hard work and positive response?

Trump, a businessman who’s made billions of dollars in real estate investments and other ventures, is the only self-funded candidate out of the remaining five, and also out of the original seventeen Republicans. This is something conservatives in the Republican Party usually laud, as it means the candidate won’t be prone to backroom deals and secret handshakes with lobbyists, special interest groups and politicians across the aisle, since no money had to exchange hands between them in the form or campaign contributions or PAC money.

This advantage Trump has and also gives voters, now is hardly ever mentioned in the media and the Republican Party seems mute on this positive. The argument stands that this is because the insiders in D.C. want everyone to have the same strings tied to them as are tied to everyone else there. A man with no strings is free and clear and does not need to respond on demand. Clearly a dangerous concept to the establishment.

Carly Fiorina with Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz as she becomes Cruz's running mate as VP if he gets the nomination
Carly Fiorina with Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz as she becomes Cruz’s running mate as VP if he gets the nomination

An interesting turning point that followed Tuesday’s results, was Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, exiting the northeast and leaving his losses behind to announce he had picked his running mate for Vice President, if he can somehow achieve the nomination at this time. He chose the only female Republican who sought the nomination for President of the United States in 2016, former business executive Carly Fiorina.

A good choice in that it brings a female on to his ticket for those voting for Hillary simply on gender alone. She is not a party insider, as Cruz wrestles with the constant argument between those who claim he himself is one as an elected Senator, and those who maintain he is anything but, as someone who’s always bucked the system and stood alone on some important issues his colleagues would not join him on.

She also must have appealed to Cruz as she was born in Texas to a father who was an attorney, law professor, deputy U.S. attorney general and judge on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the debates, one prime time and the others in the pre-prime time broadcasts for lower polling candidates, she made it clear she was very sharp on policy and could run circles around Hillary if they’d ever have the opportunity to debate. This, of course, is the reason the media never gave her much airtime. Yes, they want a woman to become President, but, no, not a Republican one.

Pundits saw both negatives and positives in his decision. Negatives cited were her inability to win a primary or caucus and poll numbers that kept her off the prime time debate stage except for once.  Positives were her college and business connections to California and again, the fact she is a female.

Personally, for those who listened to the debates, one has to wonder if her accepting the invitation to be Cruz’s running mate was because as she stressed in every opening or closing statement, she’d been told no her whole life, and she found a way to get what she wanted anyway. Perhaps this is her drive in that she’s turned a public and party no into a yes.

Additionally, it gives her more on-camera time to say negative things about Donald Trump. The two had their moments on national television during the debates, and it’s clear there is no love between the two of them. If her coming back into the spotlight means she’ll be spending her time criticizing Trump with snarky remarks, (she’s already said “Trump will be a disaster for this nation” if elected) instead of being at her best and highlighting Clinton’s many weaknesses and troubles, then perhaps she should have passed on a possible run with Cruz.

The etiquette of Reagan’s eleventh commandment is perhaps now off the table as her own election is at hand along with Senator Cruz. So for now, the campaign speech will be its Trump who is the projected disaster, not Clinton. For his part on Cruz teaming up with Fiorina, Trump has said the Cruz-Fiorina announcement was a waste of time.

Polls in Indiana, which is holding its primary this Tuesday, May 3rd, show an uptick for the Texas Senator since announcing Fiorina as his VP choice. With what little polling has been done, there, however, polls currently show Trump still leads by around 5%.

Total delegate counts going into this Tuesday stand with Trump at just under one thousand at 996; Cruz with 565 and Kasich with 153. Florida U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio, who suspended his campaign after his loss in Florida to Trump, with 164 still holds more delegates than Kasich, but with Kasich staying in until the end, despite only winning his state of Ohio, should pick up enough by the end of the primaries to exceed Rubio. Unbound delegates for Rubio, most after the first ballot will be up for grabs.

With the primaries coming to a close, ten remaining states for the Republican candidates, including California, will have the final say if Donald Trump can go to the Ohio convention with the needed delegate count to become the nominee with no second, or possibly more, ballots, and the potential to become the 45th President of the United States.

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Update:The Big Five: Final Contest or Validation?

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The Big Five: Final Contest or Validation?

Written by Juliana Simone

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GOP candidates for President 2016 (l-r) U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (FL-R), Businessman Donald Trump, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX-R) and Ohio Governor John Kasich {photo: ABC/AP}

FINAL Update II:

Missouri’s update today, March 17th, has the delegate counts with 99% reporting for Trump at 25, and Cruz at 5.  A newer post by CNN within the hour, has just changed this total, that the numbers now from pledged delegates give Trump 25 to Cruz’s 15, out of 52 delegate’s total.

Missouri, the fifth and last state to report the Republican winner with numbers between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz just about even, announced Donald Trump as the winner with 40.9% of the total votes, and Ted Cruz right behind him at 40.7%. The amount of votes that gave Trump the win was 1,726. At this time, Trump earned Missouri’s 15 delegates, as well, and Cruz none. 

Kasich came in with 9.9%. Despite Ohio being the only state Kasich has won so far, he maintains he is staying in the race until the national convention where the RNC delegates will choose who the nominee is going to be. 

Delegate totals with this finish leave three out of the four participating candidates Tuesday night with these numbers:

Trump:  661 Cruz:  406 Kasich:  142.  

Trump’s four-state win Tuesday night broadened the amount of delegate votes between the businessman and second-place candidate Texas Senator Cruz. Going into Tuesday, Trump led Cruz by 99 votes. Now his lead over Cruz is 255.

However, there are still 1,079 delegate votes to be gained for the needed 1,237 to secure the nomination assuming the convention remains uncontested. If contested, the rules committee, super-delegates and delegates can make changes that allow them to deliver a different outcome of who the Republican nominee will be, regardless of how many states and votes a candidate won from the people as their choice. 

In the Democrat primary, the race between former N.Y. U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, which was also too close to call and nearly a tie, gave Clinton the win when all votes were counted by a very small margin, as with Trump and Cruz. Clinton received 49.6% to Sander’s 49.4%. Clinton came out on top with only 1,531 votes more than Sanders. They each picked up the same number of Missouri delegates with 32 each. Still, Clinton’s win of all five states is a poor sign for Sanders, but he plans to remain in the race as the democrat candidate strongly popular with the under-thirty voters.

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Update: With Missouri still undeclared at 99%, and Trump winning by a hair, here are the delegate totals as of tonight:

Trump: 619 Cruz: 394 Rubio: 167 Kasich: 136

Update: Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz takes the stage tonight in Houston, still waiting for a close race in Missouri to give him a win tonight. It is too close to call now. Former fellow Republican Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, gave opening remarks as a campaign endorser.

Ted Cruz said if elected, he will take away welfare benefits from those here illegally, improve the economy and get rid of the cronyism in Washington surmising “less government is more freedom.” Cruz also said he would uphold the Second Amendment and gun owner rights, uphold the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and stand by the nation of Israel. Unlike Trump, he pointed out he won’t try to negotiate the nuclear deal Obama made with Iran, but will “rip it to shreds.”

He added as President he will pass a flat tax, get rid of amnesty, and abolish the IRS. Cruz told supporters “enough with the Washington corruption,” and projected, “Together, we can turn things around.” He encouraged viewers to remember the Constitutional liberties that turned America around, and asked voters to come together and stand as one.

Cruz told supporters “enough with the Washington corruption,” and suggested, “Together, we can turn things around.” He told viewers to remember the Constitutional liberties that turned America around, and asked voters to come together and stand as one.

On the Democrat side, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, appears to have won all five states over her competitor Bernie Sanders, who has a lock on the under-thirty vote. Numbers were close between the two, in Illinois and Missouri. At this time, Sanders has a slight lead over Clinton in Missouri.

Regardless, as noted in this blog before, how many states or votes the Vermont U.S. Senator acquires, he will never get his party’s nomination. With Democrat super-delegates in a large majority, if not total, casting their votes for the previous Secretary of State in their national convention, they will assure her of the nomination she could not achieve when she competed with Barack Obama in 2008.

Update: Trump is the easily projected winner of Illinois and maintains a lead in North Carolina over Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Kasich wins Ohio, the state he governs, with 47% currently to Trump’s 35.9%, 95% reporting. An important win for the former Lehman Brothers’ investment banker (2001-2008), who has not won a state yet in all of the preceding primaries.

Update: Marco Rubio loses Florida to Trump

Marco Rubio loses Florida to Donald Trump except for Rubio’s own Miami-Dade county  at 62%. Trump, with latest numbers showing his returns at 45% to Rubio’s 27%, won considerably in this important contest. Florida, Trump’s second home when not in New York, has created many jobs and businesses in Florida compared to the U.S. Senator who like all members of the Legislative Branch and their staff, are compensated through taxpayer money. Whether this was a factor or not, Rubio did make some notable comments before suspending his campaign tonight.

With opening remarks, he congratulated Trump for his win this evening. An audience participant yelled repeatedly at Rubio, and the Senator told him {Ed. Paraphrasing at this time} it was okay, he wouldn’t call the police and he didn’t have to worry about any violence here. His voters gave a strong chorus of support after this, chanting, “Marco! Marco! Marco!”

Reminding his audience of his upbringing, where his two parents fled communist Cuba to find freedom in Florida, and worked as a bartender and maid to give him the opportunity to one day, as an American born son, the opportunity to run for the office of President of the United States, he was proud his eighty-five year old mother could cast a ballot for him today for America’s highest office.

He commented on the economic state of the country, that since 2007, 2008, there has been a horrible downturn that has left many voters upset. He said he knew what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck, and grew up that way, where if the air conditioner broke, money had to be found somehow to fix it.

Rubio also noted that people are tired of hearing if they’re anti-illegal immigration, they’re bigots, and are tired of hearing from the self-called establishment elites who tell them what they should think.

Observing former esteemed President Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment that premised no republican should speak ill of any other republican, Rubio maintained this rule by not mentioning Trump directly, but by using sentences that started with the words “what we don’t need” and then referring to things that Trump has said throughout his  campaign.

On policy, Rubio told the crowd that America needs a vibrant conservative movement, a strong military, and to keep its Judeo-Christian values that founded our country. He reflected that we were a country formed by descendants, from settlers, to pioneers who ventured west, and to slaves, and we should not lose this, or America won’t be special anymore. He observed, “When America doesn’t lead, it leaves a vacuum.” This vacuum, leads to chaos.

The results that will come in tonight from five big states will either determine the current front-runner in the Republican race, who is to become the party’s nominee by the people, which at this time is businessman Donald Trump, or the second place winner, Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who is still not far behind in popularity. It will also validate why Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich, should not suspend their campaigns, in their view, if they each manage to win their own states.

Both Florida and Ohio are delegate-take-all states, so a win for any candidate here would be a hefty boost, whether you’re in the upper numbers among delegate counts, like Trump and Cruz, or in the lower numbers, like Rubio or Kasich. The remaining three states, Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois have divided delegates, so portions of those counts can be distributed among any of the four candidates.

Going into today’s vote, Trump has the most delegates with 469; Ted Cruz about a hundred behind Trump has 370; Marco Rubio holds 163; and John Kasich comes in last with 63.

Of the five states up for grabs tonight, Florida has the most delegates at 99. North Carolina, which hasn’t had as much attention from the press, comes in second with 72. Illinois has 69, Ohio has 66 and Missouri has 52.

For the candidates who aren’t in first place, and two who need to win their states to maintain respectability among their constituents, Rubio said today on the stump, “We’re going to get the 99 delegates that we need…,”and remained positive that he will win his home state. Cruz said, “If Trump wins, it’s a disaster.” Cruz, who did not receive as much attention this cycle, due to two legislators needs to win their home states, still hopes to do well.

Kasich also said he believed he would win his state of Ohio, and in his view, would then go on to win many states and ultimately the party nomination. Even with a gain of 66 delegates, and the only state won so far under his belt, he would still be in last place.

Kasich also received some help going into this primary, from Republican Party nominee for President in 2012, Mitt Romney, who paid for two advertisements that were anti-Trump. He also made appearances on behalf of the Ohio Governor, in hopes to secure the win for anyone-but-Trump, and in this instance, John Kasich. As commentators have noted, myself included, if perhaps Mitt Romney had put this much energy into beating incumbent President Obama, America would be in a much better place today without four more years under the Obama administration and its failed policies.

Trump noted today at an event speech that as the nominee, we would win states no one ever thought would be possible to win. Traditional states that run blue, or Democrat, have shown a trend of cross-over party votes for Trump, which any Republican candidate will need to win the White House in 2016. However, he has not been performing well in the Midwest, which may give an edge to his competitors. This may or may not reflect on Trump solely as a candidate, as the bulk of the U.S. has never truly embraced a candidate from the Northeast.

What’s different this election, is Trump himself and his “Make America Great Again” message that is resonating with voters beyond party lines. This theme crosses state lines and appeals to many Americans today.

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Four State Wins for Candidates Tightens the Knot: March 8th, 2016

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March 8th Republican primary candidates (l-r) Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio {photo: Fox News}

Written by Juliana Simone

March 9th, 2016

With three states in the United States holding primaries March 8th, and a fourth, Hawaii, holding a caucus, more delegates were up for grabs among the remaining four Republican candidates for President: Businessman Donald J. Trump, Texas U.S. Senator Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz, Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich. The state of Michigan had the largest delegate count at 59; Mississippi came in second at 40 delegates; Idaho, had 32 delegates. Hawaii, holding a caucus this evening, had 19 delegates for the Republican winner.

The Idaho primary was only for the Republican Party today. Democrat’s primary in Idaho will be held later. Statistically, less than one in ten voters are Democrat’s in the very red state of Idaho. Rubio visited Idaho three times, Cruz and Kasich twice. Trump did not visit Idaho to talk to their constituents.

After the results came in, Trump once again was the big winner. Michigan, the largest prize in terms of delegate counts for the candidates, voted strongly with 37.5% for Trump. A close second place went to Cruz who came away with 24.9%, while Kasich was edged out and placed third with 24.3% of the vote. Rubio placed fourth and last with 8.5%. Kasich had hoped to win his neighboring state of Michigan, for a much needed boost in a campaign that’s produced little results.

On the Democrat side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton soundly, earning 50% to Clinton’s 17%, giving him his one win for the night. Michigan made it clear, regardless of party affiliation, they prefer the anti-establishment candidates to be the nominees.

Mississippi also preferred entrepreneur Donald Trump, with the highest total return of any Republican candidate in all four states, by achieving almost half the voters nod with 47.3%. Ted Cruz, again placed second, with a respectable 36.3%, almost the amount that won Michigan for Trump. Rubio finished at 5% and Kasich with 9%.

Idaho was the one state won by Senator Cruz, who got the second largest return after Trump’s win in Mississippi, at 45.4%. Trump, though second, had his lowest return at 28.1%. Still, even so, that’s a favorable outcome for the one candidate who did not make a campaign stop in this state. Senator Rubio, who visited Idaho three times, still came in well behind at third, with 15.9% of the vote, which was his only double digit return in the three primaries. Kasich, who made two trips here, as did Cruz, came in with 7%.

Why Trump didn’t visit Idaho, could be for a couple of reasons. One, either his campaign believed with Idaho being such a red state, they would vote for Trump as the frontrunner whether he visited or not, or two, intel told his campaign Idaho was so strongly for Cruz, it wasn’t worth a campaign stop on this tour.

The Hawaii caucus was the third win for Trump Tuesday evening out of the four voting states with delegates up for grab. Trump, with a big percentage of caucus members choosing him to be their choice for President, got 42.4%, the third highest return for any Republican seeking the nomination. Cruz, repeating the pattern of the evening, placed second with a respectable 32.9%. Rubio, came in third with 13.1%, the second time he was able to get above ten percent. Kasich received 11%.

Still, despite the popularity of Donald Trump with the voters, he did not sweep the delegate counts as easily. As a result, the delegate rewards were split more evenly, which brought Senator Cruz closer to Trump in terms of total delegate counts to date.

Michigan, the most sought after reward for the evening that went to Trump, had split results among the delegates, giving the winner twenty-five delegate votes, but then seventeen votes also went to both Cruz and Kasich, with none for Rubio.

Mississippi, with the largest percentage for Trump out of the four states participating, delegates divided their results between Trump and Cruz. Twenty-five went to Trump; fifteen went to Cruz. Kasich and Rubio did not receive any.

Idaho, Cruz’s big win, received the majority of delegate votes at twenty, but twelve still went to Trump. Again, despite the campaign stops both Kasich and Rubio made here, they both failed to earn one delegate.

Hawaii delegates – Trump – 10; Cruz- 6; Rubio and Kasich – 0.

Going into yesterday’s primaries, Trump had the most delegates at a total of 384. Ted Cruz, who did well on Super Tuesday, was now is a closer second, at 300 delegates. Marco Rubio had a count of 151 and John Kasich held 37.

Last night’s returns leave the four Republican candidates with these current totals:

Trump: 458; Cruz: 359; Rubio: 151; and Kasich: 54. Cruz, now is 99 delegates behind Trump. Before Tuesdays four state returns, Cruz was 84 votes behind Trump. The numbers remain close between the New York businessman and the Texas Senator.

Today, former businesswoman, Carly Fiorina, who was one of the original seventeen Republicans seeking the party nomination, endorsed U.S. Senator Cruz. No surprise she would choose Cruz over Trump, after the ill feelings that grew between Trump and Fiorina in the early debates.

Speaking of ill feelings, former candidate Jeb Bush, who went into this race from the beginning with the largest amount of money raised and an important family behind him, with his loss in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa in February 2016, and low polling numbers for months, Bush suspended his campaign. It was announced yesterday, that now Jeb’s brother Neil, will be raising money for Ted Cruz, to help Cruz beat Trump.

There are 1,435 delegates left for the four candidates to win in their column, assuming all four candidates stay in the race, and Rubio and/or Kasich don’t suspend their campaigns. 1,237 are needed to win the national convention that is being held in Ohio.

Daily news reveals more facts that the Republican establishment continues to discuss how they can unseat Trump as the probable party nominee, and speak outwardly to the press against him. Former Massachusetts Governor and previous Republican Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, who lauded the endorsement he received from Donald Trump when he was running against Democrat incumbent Barack Obama in 2012, came out last week in a press conference saying Trump was a fraud, a phony, and the worst choice for the 2016 nominee as a man he did not perceive to be a true conservative.

He also recorded a taped message for robo calls to be sent to voter’s phones in all four states Tuesday, which encouraged them to vote for any of the other three candidates than Trump, particularly Rubio. With the heavy losses Senator Rubio saw last night, Romney’s message didn’t show much influence. Romney keeps swinging though on his public campaign against Trump. He appeared on the night time talk show with host Jimmy Kimmel, to read some of the insulting tweets Trump had made about the former presidential candidate over Twitter. Though Romney kept his appearance light and took the remarks with a sense of humor and some fair rebuttal, it’s clear the democrats and competing Republican candidates, can count on Romney to keep hitting the frontrunner for them in any venue, given the opportunity.

Apparently, secret meetings are being held, as well, among Republican leadership where they discuss, one, how it can have happened that Trump is so popular and be the preferred nominee, and two, what can they do to take a perceived endorsement away from him. Some of these Republicans have said they will vote for former First Lady, N.Y. Senator and SOS Hillary Clinton before voting for Trump. (It should be noted Clinton was never a New York resident until she chose to run for the U.S. Senate after leaving the White House as First Lady…with quite a bit of furniture, and other White House antiques the Clinton’s felt fine with taking on their exit.)

Fox News Anchor, Megyn Kelly, still wore her personal distaste for Trump on her sleeve, (if she wore one) repeating comments Trump made in his press conference after the results from Mississippi and Michigan came in, with a sneer and a laugh.

Anyone over forty recognizes objective journalism is a thing of the past. Anchors have interjected themselves into a whole new persona, where in their minds, their remarks are more important than the people covered in their lead stories. Despite trying to lead the narrative for at least two decades, and sway the opinion of Americans who don’t follow politics 24/7, it must be frustrating to them to see they haven’t been able to dispose of successful businessman Donald Trump this far into the process.

From Florida, taking the podium to address his supporters last night, in a lengthy appearance, Trump took a higher road and said kinder comments about those who have said derogatory things about him over the past few weeks, including Romney and Kelly.

Plainly answering Mitt Romney’s attacks in his press conference the other day, he rebutted the negatives about some of his brand name spin-offs, such as Trump steaks, Trump water, Trump magazine and Trump University. {In re the latter, he explained in detail that Trump University was still in a lawsuit and explained he had been taught that when one was in a lawsuit, one never settled, because if one did, everyone then could sue.} He assured once the lawsuit was settled, Trump University would start up again and go on to be a success. He cited numbers from participants at TU, that were high up in the ninety percentile, that there was no reason to settle when that many people said it was a good experience.

He also mentioned in regards to his product, Trump Vodka, for the press to please check the records on how well it was doing. He added he owns two thousand acres in Virginia, close to the Jefferson estate, that produces the finest wines.

On the positive, Trump said statistics were showing people who had never voted before for a Republican, voted tonight for the first time. He then thanked the lobbyists for their influence on getting out the vote from this group. He also noted turnout was tremendous – 102% over a year ago.

He thanked golfer Jack Nicholas for his support and Ohio native former Yankee player Paul O’Neill, who endorsed Trump and was in the crowd. Trump is popular with other famous athletes, as well. New England Patriot Quarterback Tom Brady is a Trump supporter, as well as Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz. Brady even wears Trump’s baseball cap with the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.”

He said he would like to congratulate all of the candidates – “it’s not easy stuff.” Trump said he hoped all of the House Representatives and Senators are re-elected despite whether they supported him or not. He thanked House Speaker Paul Ryan, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for his endorsement, as well as Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is another advocate for stopping the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States. Former Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, has also endorsed Trump.

Arizona, a southwestern state, greatly affected by illegal immigration that bears the weight of this invasion every day, in terms of jobs, state assistance, education, crime, incarceration and drug cartels, would naturally support a candidate tough on securing America’s borders.

Donald Trump told the crowd and reporters that tonight’s primary results show, “advertising is not as important as competence.” In talking about U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, he said “he’s a nasty guy.” “Hostility works for some people; not for everybody” he noted when asked about Rubio and others who have recently attacked him. Looking back at his campaign, the billionaire remarked that every person who has attacked him is gone, and that out of seventeen candidates, we’re now down to four.

The victor also noted there’s never been more money spent than what is being spent now to take him down.

With big wins in Mississippi and Michigan, Trump said even Kelly and Charles Krauthammer said I did well tonight; he’s been waiting a long time to hear Charles say this. With Florida voting next, it’s an important last breath for Florida’s Senator Rubio to win, but with Florida being Donald Trump’s second home, and as a businessman whose provided many jobs there, it will be a tough challenge.

As for the second place winner, the Cruz campaign released the fact they only spent one thousand one hundred in advertising dollars in Michigan to come in second, while Rubio and Kasich spent the most. Rubio’s Conservative Solutions Super PAC spent 1.2 million to walk away with zero delegates. Kasich’s PAC spent $770,000. For the record, Trump spent far less at $184,000. for the win.

Cruz also has his sights on Florida, opening ten campaign offices there to get out the vote hoping to come in second over Senate colleague Rubio. The Florida primary will take place on March 15th and has 99 delegate votes. Rubio trailing Trump in the polls in his home state, could get a boost from former competitor for the nomination for President, and former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, with his endorsement, but it is not expected for Bush to endorse his former colleague Rubio at this time.

Other states voting on March 15th, will be Kasich’s Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri. The five states together have 358 delegates for the four candidates to earn. After this primary, it would be surprising to still see four candidates in the Republican race.

Commentary, Federal Politics

What the New Hampshire Results Mean – Why Trump and Sanders Led Their Field

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Governor Christie and Businesswoman Carly Fiorina suspend campaigns in the aftermath

Written by Juliana Simone

New Hampshire –

“Republican’s win when people are demoralized and turnout is low.”

This is the view of the twenty-somethings give or take a few years who primarily support Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who won the New Hampshire caucus with 60.4% of the votes and 15 delegates. Other statements made by Sanders in his speech after being pronounced the winner of the Democrat caucus were: “Now it’s Wall Street’s time to help the middle class” after which he rambled on for a lengthy thirty minutes reiterating his usual talking points of unfair income distribution, raising taxes on the rich, and free this and free that for all.

Ironically, what Sanders fails to see in his vision of America today, is how the people became demoralized and why now a Republican would win. As a sitting U.S. Senator, he somehow does not see Americans have slipped into this negative state of mind after seven years of President Barack H. Obama, and living with the “change” Obama promised if elected in 2008, is change they now see for the worse not the better. This Democrat President has been a virtual wrecking ball to the country most Americans know, past present and future.

Democrats will say they are not entirely to blame for the mess we’re in right now, noting correctly that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate have Republican majorities, so they are equally at fault. Yes and no. Yes, the Republican leadership has frittered away its advantage by remaining lax in any effort to stop the Democrat agenda, and by failing to support any of their brave and vocal colleagues when they attempted to block bad bills and policies. But, no, Obama had his phone and his pen, as he always liked to remind the people, and when the Republicans didn’t cave, he would just push through his agenda through executive orders.

Former First Lady, New York Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who expects to be the Democrat Party’s nominee no matter how well her popular challenger does, came in second to Sanders with 38% of the vote and nine delegates out of twenty four. There is a news story being reported about how the New Hampshire delegates will ultimately be awarded to Sanders and Clinton, due to super-delegates votes that move her from nine to fifteen votes. For those familiar with the state party conventions, this portion of the story won’t be new. To read more on this: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/268935-clinton-likely-to-leave-nh-with-same-number-of-delegates

Barely “winning” the preceding Iowa caucus as she and Sanders basically tied, a series of coin tosses repeatedly called in Clinton’s favor, deemed her the winner of certain precinct delegates. Heading into New Hampshire, with Sanders showing huge leads in the polls, her campaign told the media throughout the day they would be happy if she at least kept Sanders winning percentage in the single-digits.

She was trounced by Senator Sanders by 22 points – an enormous spread. Adding insult to injury, she also failed to win the women’s vote over challenger Sanders. She is expected to do better in South Carolina, the next primary on the calendar, due to what analysts say is her popularity with minorities.

Others too point out that the Clinton’s, long known as a force to be dealt with, will pull out all of the stops now to assure Hillary wins upcoming primaries and the nomination. Behind the scenes in her second attempt to become the first female President of the United States, is her email scandal which apparently is being reviewed quite seriously by the FBI owing to her breach of top secret documents and classified information meant for her-eyes-only while serving as Secretary of State. The mainstream media rarely addresses this growing scandal, and wouldn’t be heard at all were it not for talk-radio and political blogs.

General David Petraeus was forced to resign his position in an earlier case similar to this but not as severe. Petraeus received two years’ probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor crime, and paying a hundred thousand dollar fine.

What lies ahead for Hillary Clinton both in terms of her campaign which does not seem to be resonating with voters, and in terms of the email and other scandals, should keep this election season interesting in itself.

What is clear from the New Hampshire results last night, is that voters regardless of party, recognize Washington is broken, a common political phrase for years now. Both men who won big on Tuesday, are considered anti-establishment choices.

Taking the stage as the Republican Party’s winner of the caucus with 35.3%, twenty points above the second place winner, and ten delegates, businessman Donald Trump thanked New Hampshire for the support which brought him this huge win. He also thanked Democrat winner Bernie Sanders for winning on his message that ‘we’re going to give America away.’ Trump said his goal was different – in that he wants to ‘make America great again’.

Trump made it clear he wants to rebuild our military, take care of our veterans, establish strong borders where people can only enter the U.S. legally, build the wall that will keep out illegal migration, and he addressed the drug problem New Hampshire and other states are dealing with in terms of heroin addiction. Other goals Trump announced with his usual use of superlatives that resonates with his voters, were if he’s elected “Obamacare will be gone; Common Core will also be gone.” The second amendment will be upheld under his Presidency, he said. “We’ll knock the hell out of Isis,” he asserted with zeal. “We’ll take care of unemployment…” He reminded people our country is 19 trillion dollars in debt… “We don’t win as a country anymore,” he told supporters and under a Trump Presidency, using his campaign slogan, he proclaimed “We’ll make America great again!” He told everyone he loved them, thanked them and said it was now on to South Carolina for another win.

Ohio Governor John Kasich pumped some life into his otherwise floundering campaign by coming in a surprising second to Mr. Trump with 15.8% and four delegates. One source http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/soros-adviser-gave-200k-to-boost-kasich/?utm_content=bufferb13d7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=lifezette_buffer reports that a long-time associate of George Soros, Scott Bessent, was the third largest donator to Kasich contributing over two hundred thousand dollars. Kasich’s moderate stances and establishment ties make him stand out to Democrats and donor’s that contribute to both parties, as the Republican who,if elected, would be the easiest to work with – or to use democrat language, would be the most easily manipulated and influenced, unlike some of the other formidable contenders. Bessent has donated to candidates from both parties, 65% to Democrats as well as a few Republicans running in 2016, such as Jeb Bush’s Super Pac and Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as other Republicans in prior elections. But none received anywhere near the amount Kasich did this campaign.

Still, Kasich had a good ground game in New Hampshire holding the most town halls with voters in more intimate venues for Q and A, and made many appearances as a nice guy who left people feeling good about voting for him; money alone didn’t get him to second place. It will be interesting to see if this continues for him in South Carolina and Florida.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, winner of the Iowa caucus, came in third with New Hampshire voters with 11.7% and three delegates. He also is perceived to be anti-establishment even though he is a sitting Senator in Washington. But this is because he has shown himself to be one of the few elected officials in D.C. who bucks the system and goes against his party’s leadership. In the New Hampshire debate, Cruz summed up his goals if elected President: he would repeal Obamacare, establish a flat tax, and abolish the IRS. His detractors point out he may not be qualified to run for President, having been born in Canada, though his mother was American. Well-known for his debating skills, he doesn’t seem too worried about this topic when it’s been brought up in various venues.

Interestingly, Senator Cruz spent the least amount of money in New Hampshire, and was still able to earn the number three spot, showing that a candidate’s message and appeal can beat the campaign with the largest treasure chest.

It’s worth a small digression here to go over some of the amounts campaigns spent in New Hampshire, according to data given out during Rush Limbaugh’s radio show this afternoon. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush spent thirty-six million dollars and finished in fourth place, with 11.0% over Marco Rubio in fifth with 10.6%, comes out to $1,200. a vote. Governor Christie spent eighteen million and came in sixth around $850. a vote; Governor Kasich spent twelve million to come in second; Rubio spent just over $500. a vote. Trump and Cruz were the most fiscally conservative, Trump spending about $40. a vote and Cruz $20.

Early returns showed Florida Senator Marco Rubio as coming in fourth, but with final tallies recorded, he placed fifth. His mentor and fellow Florida Republican, former Governor Jeb Bush, who appeared to be in fifth until late last night, edged out his protégé after 100% of the polling places have reported today. Each received three delegates. Delegates totaled 23, and after the top five finishes no other candidates received a delegate vote.

Though the two have bantered between each other during some of the debates, it’s not clear what these New Hampshire results show other than Rubio came ahead of Bush in Iowa and behind Bush by a small margin in New Hampshire. Rubio, who gets static for his original participation as one of the ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) Bill, maintains he has now changed his position on this issue, and feels stricter laws need to be passed in regards to illegal immigration.

He points out Bush, in comparison, is much softer on all immigration policies and future goals for those illegally already here and those who want to immigrate to America. Bush does not deny this and steadfastly maintains his initial position that some who have gained illegal entry into the United States, should be allowed to remain here if they meet certain conditions.

Coming in sixth was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with 7.4%, after spending more time than any other Presidential candidate here and garnering the endorsement of the states oldest newspaper; Christie hoped to do better. The Mainstream Media seemed unusually excited by his poor showing; his results were almost as big a news story last night as Trump and Sanders big wins. Remember it was the Mainstream Media who sought Christie’s demise when he first appeared in polls as being the only Republican potential Presidential candidate that would soundly beat media darling former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Democrat Hillary Clinton. Featuring a non-story in the fall of 2013, about a bridge lane closing at commuter time in New Jersey causing traffic jams – dubbed “Bridgegate” – the Main Stream Media made this a top news story for weeks to tarnish the popular Governor’s reputation and bring his polling numbers down.

Cleared in an investigation of the scandal, Christie suffered irreparable harm from the coverage. After calls all night from the media for him to drop out, after his formal announcement suspending his campaign, high-fives must have flied around all the newsrooms across the country. Governor Christie, in his announcement said, “he has no regrets” in terms of his run and he shouldn’t – he would make a fine Attorney General if a Republican is elected this November.

Following his announcement, Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO whose story about starting out as a receptionist and working all the way up the ladder to be the CEO of one of the largest companies touched many, came in seventh with 4.1%, also announced she was suspending her campaign. She chose to do this on Facebook. In her press release, Carly said, “This campaign was always about citizenship—taking back our country from a political class that only serves the big, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well connected. Election after election, the same empty promises are made and the same poll-tested stump speeches are given, but nothing changes…. While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.”

To young girls and women she said, “Do not let others define you. Do not listen to anyone who says you have to vote a certain way or for a certain candidate because you’re a woman. That is not feminism. Feminism doesn’t shut down conversations or threaten women. It is not about ideology. It is not a weapon to wield against your political opponent. A feminist is a woman who lives the life she chooses and uses all her God-given gifts. And always remember that a leader is not born, but made.  Choose leadership.”

The Mainstream Media, in this instance network ABC, which the Fiorina campaign amusingly dubbed “Anybody but Carly” refused to let her partake in the New Hampshire debate. Appeals to the Republican National Party and leadership to help get her on stage apparently went unheeded. The Mainstream Media did their best to keep the only other female running for our highest political office out of view. Those who watched the preliminary debates that took place two or three hours before the prime time debates, all were impressed with Fiorina’s debating skills.

Clear on policy, always with a plan, familiar with all world leaders names and having even met with many of them when working as the CEO for HP, she stood out among her colleagues as someone who was well-researched, focused and quick on her feet. If the United States of America were to have a first-female President in our history voted into office this November, Carly Fiorina would have been a far better choice than the scandal riddled Hillary Clinton, so intent on stressing her gender in order to capture the female vote. The debates between the two women would have been enlightening entertainment and there is little doubt Carly would have run circles around Hillary. Let’s hope there is a cabinet position for this fine lady, under a Republican President.

Last, but certainly not least, in New Hampshire last night, was Dr. Ben Carson with 2.3% of the vote. The media didn’t even mention him in their analysis as results came in, which was the case with Fiorina, as well. Again, they were much more interested in calling for Christie to drop out. Dr. Ben Carson deserves way more respect than what was given him in this run. He is an amazing man with one of the most impressive stories out there in terms of making your life into all that it can be trusting in God, hard work and dedication. Carson says he’s in it until the end. Fine with me.