Trump’s missed opportunity (in Nebraska)

Politico ^ | April 13, 2016 | Kyle Cheney

[reaganaut1]

Another week gone, another opportunity lost for Donald Trump to pick up Republican National Convention delegates.

Nebraska is tailor-made for Ted Cruz, and when the state holds its winner-take-all primary on May 10, party leaders say Trump is an all-but certain loser.

Facing those dim prospects, Trump’s best hope in the state may have been to get a few of his supporters on the list of people who will fill those delegate slots — supporters who, in later rounds of voting at a contested convention, would be inclined to abandon Cruz and help Trump.

But that’s where the billionaire appears to have missed his chance: Party officials say they saw virtually no organization by the mogul’s campaign last week when Republicans in all 93 Nebraska counties held local conventions. Those county conventions picked 800 delegates to May's Nebraska state convention, where 33 delegates to the national convention in Cleveland will be selected.

Because there was little resistance, many county conventions became Cruz pep rallies, according to interviews with party insiders and convention attendees.

“I didn’t see any Trump supporters,” said John Orr, chairman of the Washington County Republican Party. Party leaders, who attended dozens of the conventions around the state reported similar voids.

It could have been the reverse of a phenomenon that has plagued Trump for weeks. Cruz allies have repeatedly parachuted into states where Trump won primaries — South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee — and helped turn the mogul’s edge into a likely delegate deficit. That could put Trump at a steep disadvantage should he fail to acquire the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination without a contested convention in July.

[CA Conservative]

As for California, Trump wins it going away.

Not a chance - he doesn't have the ground game. California is basically 54 separate elections, and right now the bulk of Trump's support comes from 2-3 congressional districts that are heavily moderate Republican in Southern CA. Because so many Dem congressional districts have so few Republicans, it takes a strong data operation to locate your supporters and a strong ground game to get them to the polls. There are probably 25-30 congressional districts here that will be won with a couple thousand votes cast in each. And the state GOP and the grassroots activists are all on team Cruz, so they will have the edge in identifying the voters and getting them to vote.

[Quicksilver]

Ha! Kyle Cheney and Politico both earned it; not just for the lies they have published about Donald Trump but also about all conservatives over last several years. So, are you a fan of Kyle Cheney and Politico?