The Fix’s week in politics
|
Version 0 of 1. The party establishment came to the realization that Donald Trump is the most likely candidate to be their nominee for president. The unpredictable, off-message, polarizing billionaire may not be who they would have picked — okay, Trump might also be the last person they would have picked. But just coming to terms with a reality that had been apparent to some outside political observers for weeks means party leaders can now focus on what to do about it. There are deep divisions within the party about that, too: Do you join Trump or fight him? And if the establishment does try to stop Trump, whether on the trail or at the nominating convention in July, some figure it might be too late. But, hey, they say the first step toward solving a problem is recognizing there is one. Their opponents broke out into open warfare. On Thursday, the Republicans' 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, tried to systematically discredit the likely 2016 nominee. All week, Republican party leaders bickered over whether to hold the line against Trump or throw all their weight behind one candidate to try to stop him. And party leaders and Senate candidates wavered on whether they would support Donald Trump if he is their nominee. Perhaps nowhere was the week's chaos more clearly on display than at the Republicans' Thursday debate, where petty, teenage-like insults dominated the night. In short, this past week was a nightmare for Republicans and quite possibly a dream come true for Democrats. — Amber Phillips Sen. Marco Rubio's win-loss record as of Sunday night. Some in his party are calling on him to drop out of the race after a poor showing in Saturday's nominating contests. The number of delegates Hillary Clinton has as of Sunday night. Her opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), has 484. The number of percentage points by which Trump won Saturday's Louisiana primary, one of the closest win margins for the front-runner yet. |