The Political Party was more lit this week than your Slope Day pregames will be. And it all went down on the Election front. Here’s the big news.
Election 2016
What you need to know: It all started with the Indiana primary on Tuesday. While Trump gained a big win, Cruz faced his last defeat, subsequently ending his campaign. Kasich also couldn’t face another loss, and backed out of the race on Wednesday. So, Trump has officially trumped all.
Sanders also caused an upset by winning the Democratic primary in Indiana. But the race was close, so Clinton still holds a comfortable lead in delegates.
Some thought Cruz’s exit would be a cue for Sanders to follow suit, but it looks like he will stay in the game at least until the California primary in June. If he does drop out, it’s questionable whether his strongest supporters–mostly young people vocal on the Internet–will switch their support to Hillary.
Trump is already talking about his 100 days, and some Republicans are now on board the Trump Train, like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. But the party is still divided, which is one of the reasons Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said he is “not ready” yet to endorse Trump. He is concerned with whether his beliefs are really in line with conservatives. Trump’s proposal for barring Muslims from entering the U.S. and many other questionable comments suggests his beliefs don’t jive with those of most.
Why it matters: It doesn’t seem too long ago that the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president was a joke to most. Looks like the jokes over. While the GOP is still divided over supporting the prospective nominee, Republican support is slowly starting to trickle in, and Trump is clearly making moves to win more of them over.
The chaos created in this election season so far is one for the books. No party in recent history has ever been this divided. This is the first time the Speaker of the House or majority leader didn’t endorse a party’s nominee. The fight between Ryan and Trump will be an interesting one to follow in the coming months.
Clinton is taking this turmoil as an opportunity to pounce. Her campaign is especially looking to target white, independent and Republican-leaning voters who do not want to support Trump. This switch in campaign direction is a bit risky, because it assumes she will have the support of Sanders’ young, liberals in the general election. But the prospects look good. If the results of the general election follow those predicted by polls today, Clinton would have a pretty clear path in defeating Trump.
