• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, March 2, 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) admonishing of Trump -- “this party does not prey on people’s prejudices” -- did not do much to stem the Trump tide on Super Tuesday.

Businessman Donald Trump remains the Republican front-runner and has a significant delegate lead with 316 to Sen. Ted Cruz’s 226. Sen. Marco Rubio had a poor night, now a distant third with 106 delegates.

Trump won the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. Marco Rubio has little to be thrilled about after last night; his only win was in Minnesota.

Rubio’s key opponent going forward, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, bolstered his win in Iowa with wins in Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska, as well as picking up strong delegate counts in Arkansas and Minnesota. Rubio hoped to win the moderate state of Virginia, but he fell second behind Trump.

As astutely pointed out by Chris Hayes on MSNBC yesterday, Marco Rubio’s establishment appeal in the pundit and political class does not represent a “natural constituency” in the Republican base. Or at least not one the size of Ted Cruz’s religious conservative demographic.

What we are experiencing is the Balkanization of the Republican party, as leaders try to keep it intact in the face of what we can now call a populist revolution.

Both Cruz and Rubio attacked Trump in their Tuesday night speeches, accentuating the fractures that are appearing throughout the GOP.

Tellingly, The New Hampshire Union Leader apologized for their endorsement of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently championed Donald Trump. Christie introduced the GOP front-runner in West Palm Beach, Florida, last night without enthusiasm, sporting a expression that cycled from unease to alarm. The internet didn’t skip a beat to start on the Chris Christie memes.

Trump’s Tuesday night venue looked like the scene of a celebrity’s press conference, with a row of American flags and colorful lighting in the background. Rachel Maddow, a bit bluntly, described it as a “Tinkerbell version of a presidential press conference.”

Questions were taken, but mostly skirted as expected. Trump made veiled threats to GOP leaders in Congress and proffered incendiary comments about Hillary Clinton, whom he called a “criminal.”

Donald Trump holds a strong grip on the Republican nomination. With his extravagant “press conference,” harsh language toward GOP leaders and seven-state pickup, we can call Trump the prohibitive Republican nominee. Nevertheless, Ted Cruz remains a formidable opponent, while Marco Rubio needs to win big in Florida on March 15 to keep his campaign alive.

As Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson said last night, the Republican party has “cracked.”