According to Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “will be the presumptive GOP [Republican Party],” and the party needs to “unite and focus on defeating Hillary Clinton.”
This comment, made via Twitter came just moments after a landslide victory for Trump in the Indiana primary. The win gave Trump a statistical victory over the last two remaining candidates, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, a duo that just a week before had formed an alliance to defeat Trump in Indiana, a plan that did not come to fruition.
.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016
Cruz, only six days prior, had made a desperate attempt of gaining voter support by naming a vice presidential running mate, former candidate and former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina. The move was unorthodox, as candidates do not often name a running mate before securing the party nomination. However, the move did not pan out how the Cruz campaign had hoped and after a tough loss in Indiana, he announced he would be suspending his bid for the White House.
This seemingly left only Ohio governor John Kasich to fight for the position. However, he had only gained 153 of the necessary 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination, and with only 514 delegates still available, he saw the writing on the wall and the morning after the Indiana primary, he too dropped out of the race.
John Kasich to suspend his presidential campaign https://t.co/S5B2pPuXFy pic.twitter.com/YcjRDqBBSa
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 4, 2016
For the Democrats, however, it is not so cut and dry. Hillary Clinton is running now as the party’s presumptive nominee, but her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, has refused to drop out of the race, even though his path to victory is narrower than ever. To make matters worse for Clinton, Sanders beat her in the Indiana primary, slightly closing his gap on her lead, and still telling his supporters he is taking his fight all the way to the July Democratic Convention in which he will contest the results and make one final push for the nomination.
This poses an issue for the Clinton campaign as they now know Trump’s attacks will now focus fully on her, as will attacks from the Sanders campaign as they make their case as to why he should be their nominee instead of the former secretary of state.
It was assumed the GOP convention would be contested as plans to block Trump from reaching the delegates needed were put into action, but it now seems as though it will be the Democratic race that won’t be decided until the bitter end.
What do you think of Trump as the nominee? Have your say in the comments section below.
