After several victories, will Donald Trump’s campaign take off across the country or will another Republican contender make some noise on Super Tuesday?
“The Donald” vs. “The Field”
Following the South Carolina primary and Nevada caucus, the primary elections are going to become crazily chaotic as March 1, aka Super Tuesday, arrives. In case you were wondering, they don’t call it “Super” for the fun of it. With a dozen Republican elections — caucuses and primaries included — taking place in various regions across the nation, the single most important day of the primary season is the ultimate test of candidate electability. In other words, this is the real deal.
For the GOP, Super Tuesday is especially important as it will determine whether NYC billionaire Donald Trump’s first-place standing can extend past New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Furthermore, the expansive elections will either make or break candidates like Ben Carson and Gov. John Kasich, who are struggling to break the single digits in national polls, according to RealClearPolitics.
In total, 595 delegates will be on the line. To win the nomination, a GOP candidate must secure 1,237 delegates by the time the Republican National Convention formally selects the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees.
Cruz is betting on Texas
Of all Super Tuesday states, Texas, by far, holds the most weight for Republican candidates. On average, the states voting on Tuesday each possess somewhere around 50 delegates. They say everything’s big in Texas — apparently that goes for the number of delegates too, because the state is responsible for allocating 155 of them.
For Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, winning his home state’s nomination is absolutely vital to defeating Trump. At a speech in Houston on Wednesday, Cruz invoked the historic battle of the Alamo and framed the Texas GOP primary as the definitive all-or-nothing battle, reported The New York Times.
“I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. Victory or death,” Cruz proclaimed. “Like the Alamo in 1836, America is besieged.”
Will Trump maintain his momentum?
Trump has come out victorious in three of the four early elections but his lead isn’t solidified yet. In particular, according to RealClearPolitics’ averages, Trump is lagging behind Cruz in Texas and Arkansas. The anti-establishment candidate is also competing closely with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson — yes, he’s still in the game — in Colorado and Tennessee.
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Playing it safe, Trump went ahead and bought $1.6 million of ad time in six of the 12 Super Tuesday states. Not surprisingly, over $400,000 of that lump sum went towards Texas. Up until Thursday, reported CNN, the candidate had spent no money on ad time in cable or radio broadcasts. Though he may appear confident to a fault, he knows that his lead isn’t indestructible in this next round of elections.
Rubio has his eyes on Cruz
Though Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has yet to win a state primary, he is neck-in-neck with Cruz when it comes to pledged delegates. Currently, the Associated Press estimates that Cruz has 17 delegates and that Rubio trails behind just barely with 16. Since Trump has already racked up 82 pledged delegates, Cruz and Rubio are essentially competing with each other to become a viable alternative to the billionaire.
On a Wednesday episode of The Kelly File, Rubio suggested that, as the election season progresses, the Republican Party will begin to voice its support for other candidates — not for Trump.
“We certainly need to elect someone who’s prepared to be president in a thoughtful and serious and important way, given the threats this country faces,” Rubio expressed. “So that’s why a majority of Republican voters are not supporting Donald Trump. And obviously, once this race begins to narrow a little bit, you’ll see more of that support consolidating.”
The pool of GOP candidates might shrink
With almost half of the delegates required for a nomination available for the taking on Super Tuesday, expect some candidates to drop out as early as Tuesday evening. Namely, Carson and Kasich can’t persevere if they don’t win at least one of the twelve nominations. After the day comes to a close, the few candidates remaining will take the rivalry to a whole new level as the primaries continue well into March and April.
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