Wisconsin Shows Cruz and Sanders Have Momentum

By RYAN SENECAL
Staff Writer

The Wisconsin presidential primaries were held on April 5, to much fanfare. It was a big night for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz and Democrat Bernie Sanders who won their respective contests by a margin of 13 points. Donald Trump came in second with John Kasich coming in third in the Republican contests. Hillary Clinton came in second in the Democratic Primary.
Cruz picked up 36 delegates, bringing his total number of delegates to 517 while Trump picked up six delegates bringing his total to 743. Kasich did not pick up any delegates so his delegate count stays at 143.
Sanders won 46 delegates, bringing his total to 1,058 while Clinton won 36 delegates bring her total number of delegates to 1,748. At least 1,237 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination and 2,383 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.
Trump didn’t take the lose very well. He called Cruz a “trojan horse” and also accused the Texas senator of working with the Super PAC supporting him. This would be against election laws and there is no evidence that any laws were broken.
Cruz’s victory in Wisconsin was huge for him and may have reset the Republican race. Thanks to his victory in Wisconsin, Cruz may have just denied Trump the number of delegates needed to give him the nomination on the first ballot.
There will be a contested convention. It’s just not clear how many delegates each candidate will have by the time the California primaries are over in June. If one candidate can come close to 1,237, there may be a way he can get enough unpledged delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot, but it could be very unlikely.
The Cruz campaign has been reaching out to delegates and trying to persuade them that Cruz is the candidate that they should nominate. His campaign has a good ground game in several states which is important if you’re really serious about winning primaries, caucuses, and ultimately, the nomination.
The Trump campaign is still lacking in this department. Trump’s people haven’t reached out to the delegates in states so although he will win the majority of primaries of contests, he needs the delegates to vote for him on the convention floor and he needs those unpledged delegates to put him over the top on the first ballot.
With the victory in Wisconsin and momentum on his side, Cruz will start bringing out his best asset; his wife, Heidi Cruz. She is well-liked by Republicans, both men and women. Her popularity grew after Trump tweeted an embarrassing photo of her. Mrs. Cruz is also a successful businesswoman.
Trump will bring out his best asset as well, and that would be his daughter, Ivanka. She too is a successful businesswomen and is well respected by many in the business world. It would be stupid for his campaign to not have her out more speaking at public events.
Things have become interesting in the race for the Democratic nomination. Sanders has won seven out of the last eight contests, catching up on the delegate side, but still not enough to be a significant threat to Clinton’s chances of winning the nomination.
After winning many contests, Clinton was already focusing on the General Election, attacking both Trump and Cruz. However, this changed after she started losing several contests. Now both candidates are questioning each other’s credentials as to who is more qualified for the highest office in the land.
Clinton has good reason to question her challenger’s credentials. She told Politico that she believes he’s not even a Democrat.
In a meeting with the Editorial Board of the New York Daily News, Sanders was unable to answer questions about national security and how he would break up big banks, which has been a staple of his campaign. This clearly showed that, beyond his talking points, he has nothing else to offer for the American people.
He would clearly be a domestic president and has not thought through foreign affairs. For instance, how will he eradicate ISIS? What is his stance on the Iran-Nuclear Deal? Would he support the deal if he becomes president?
With Wisconsin over, the New York State presidential primaries are coming up on Tuesday, April 19. Both Trump and Clinton have substantial leads in their respective contests. That should be no surprise to us, as both call this state home. But make no mistake, Clinton now recognizes her vulnerability and is working hard to secure every vote she can in the Empire State.
If she were to lose her home state, it would cause a major shake up in her campaign. Trump seems to have his contest wrapped up, but one week is a long time in the world of politics.