On Sunday morning shows, just hours after results of the South Carolina primary were released, Sen. Marco Rubio described the GOP race as a three-man contest. Conversely, Sen. Ted Cruz
made the point that historically, you need to win at least one out of the first three states to have a chance at the nomination.
In Cruz’s calculus, Rubio is the odd man out.
What is clear, is that Donald Trump will arrive in Nevada as the anointed GOP favorite. Trump took all 50 delegates available in South Carolina with a comfortable 32.5% of the vote, followed
by Rubio with 22.5% and Cruz 22.3%. The two Senators were separated by a mere 1,000 votes.
John Dickerson of CBS, who moderated the prickly South Carolina GOP debate, had interviews
with the top three Republican candidates on yesterday’s ‘Face the Nation.’
When asked if the nomination was now his to lose, Donald Trump had an un-Trump-like
response: “I don’t think it’s mine. Certainly, I’m leading, there’s no question about that. But we have got a long way to go.”
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The new modest
Trump was regarded by former "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer as “Mr. Nice Guy,” raising the question: With a resounding lead, should we expect Trump to change his tone in an attempt
to ease the large downside he has with a significant tranche of GOP voters, particularly of the white-collar breed?
Ronald Brownstein, who coincidentally joined Dickerson’s
show yesterday as a panelist, wrote in The Atlantic: “The simple equation that Trump has consolidated blue-collar Republicans, while the party’s white-collar wing remains divided
remains the most powerful dynamic in the race.”
Trump may have a ceiling, but it is unclear exactly how the newly available voters will be reshuffled in what is now virtually a
three-man race. Rubio, to date, appears to be the most likely candidate around whom the establishment will coalesce.
Jeb Bush suspended his campaign following the results from South
Carolina. The immense failure of the once-expected nominee and most cash-flushed campaign solidifies the apparent rise of an anti-establishment, populist wing of the Republican party.
The Trump, Rubio and Cruz campaigns will be in top gear with Nevada caucusing tomorrow and a significant chunk of delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday.
Chuck Todd, of
NBC and "Meet the Press, tweeted after the S.C. results: “Trump said in his victory speech that he wants to wrap this up soon. Has two early chances: beat Cruz in Tx on 3/1, beat Rubio in FL on
3/15.”