Click The Pic To Donate
Posted on 03/05/2016 6:08:59 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Ted Cruz has won the Kansas and Maine Republican caucuses as the Texas senator seeks to use the Super Saturday contests to bolster his argument that he is the only viable alternative to Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders picked up his first win of the night in the Kansas Democratic caucuses, according to the state party.
Cruz's robust performance comes on a day of primaries and caucuses in five states that front-runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hope to use to solidify their delegate leads in the Democratic and Republican presidential races.
The GOP slate Saturday, with 155 delegates up for grabs, also includes a caucus in Kentucky and a primary in Louisiana, in which Trump is expected to do well. But it's likely to be yet another tough night for Sen. Marco Rubio, who has claimed only one win so far in the race and is now facing a must win contest in Florida on March 15.
Cruz also got a morale boost from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, where he won a straw poll, further demonstrating his appeal to the Republican Party's conservative base.
"God bless Kansas. And God bless Maine," Cruz said, and argued that his performance on Saturday represented an important pivot point in the GOP race.
"What we are seeing is Kansas is a manifestation of a real shift in momentum," Cruz told reporters in Idaho where he had a campaign event. He again asked rival candidates to "prayerfully" consider whether they had a path to victory as he sought to unite opposition to Trump.
While Kansas may represent too small a sample to validate Cruz's claims, it is clear that his win will be parsed for signs that it represents the stirrings of a backlash against Trump, after the billionaire became embroiled in a controversy he was slow to repudiate the Ku Klux Klan, and introduced a vulgar note into a Republican debate on Thursday night.
On the other hand, the victory by Cruz in Kansas appears to fit squarely into historical precedent. Like Cruz, the previous two victors of that state's GOP contests, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008, had strong appeal among evangelicals which they had also demonstrated by winning the Iowa caucuses.
Neither went on to win the nomination.
And while he is talking up his national prospects, the Texas senator has so far not shown much capacity to win expand his appeal beyond hard-core conservatives.
Super Saturday voting is happening in the wake of former Republican nominee Mitt Romney's assault on Trump, which ignited a civil war within the GOP between establishment figures and the billionaire's army of angry 'outsider' voters.
Democrats, meanwhile, are going to the polls in Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska with 109 pledged delegates at stake.
Clinton is looking to further cement her lead over her challenger Sanders, though the Vermont senator had an advantage in the fact that the contests in Kansas and Nebraska are caucuses, a format in which he has tended to perform better than primaries during the 2016 campaign.
The Super Saturday contests offer a chance for the two front-runners to quicken their momentum after they both came out of the contests last Tuesday with solid delegate leads. They still face major battles in crucial elections in Michigan, Ohio and Florida over the coming weeks.
Louisiana political analyst Silas Lee told CNN on Saturday that his state could reflect the underlying trends shaping the wider Republican race.
"It looks like Louisiana will follow the trends with the previous results from Super Tuesday, whereby Clinton will win by a significant margin," Lee said. "With the Republicans, it looks like Trump."
Clinton has a lead of about 200 pledged delegates over Sanders, while Trump leads Cruz by around 100 delegates and is about 200 delegates ahead of the third place candidate Rubio.
Rubio put on a brave face, saying that the states being contested on Super Saturday favored other candidates, but predicted that his fortunes would soon change. He predicted victory in his home state of Florida on March 15.
"The map only gets friendlier for us after tonight," Rubio told reporters during a trip to Puerto Rico, which holds a Republican primary on Sunday. "There will be more delegates awarded in Florida than basically every state that voted tonight combined."
Cruz is winning some of the states that Santorum won.
Ron Raul got most of the delegates in Maine 4 years ago.
Nothing to see here.
Hillary Clinton is destroying the Democrat Party.
In five years, you won’t find anyone who will admit to being a Democrat.
With Louisiana being a neighboring State with Texas , Cruz home State
Romney , McCain and Lindsay Graham support Cruz.
that’s just more proof Cruz is fake and not a conservative
The gope and including these 3 stooges are against Trump but for Cruz . Also see who the media is attacking as with the KKK smear. Trump is who the establishment and media fear not cruz they know cruz is one of them
This Canadian Harvard government lawyer Cruz is a fraud and has never pushed any good legislation but did shill for and vote for the worst bills ever TPP TPA Obamatrade, and the Corker bill which made Iran nukes possible.
Excuse my pessimistic outlook but isn’t that the same thing that was said about Obama?
The most delicious part of Nebraska... The bern with 55% to 45% wins, but Canky gets 3 delegates to bern’s zero.
RE: Cruz is winning some of the states that Santorum won.
FYI Mitt Romney won Maine in 2012
He (Rubio) predicted victory in his home state of Florida on March 15.
###########################################################
Ain’t gonna happen but I’m glad Rubio is still in.
You got a problem?
Louisiana and Kentucky 92 Delegates Cruz Bots
Watching Fox News one would think Cruz was just elected president.
No worries, Trump will solve everything, just ask his friend Hillary. She should know. He felt enough confidence in her to donate to her 4 times in 2008 alone. Did you frame your Trump wedding invitation, that same invitation that Bill and Hillary got?
Still, it’s okay, if Trump says something you disagree with, he will be “flexible” enough to make you happy.
Here are the delegate results in the GOP today: Number of delegates:
Kansas: 40 total delegates (Proportional) - 10 base at-large / 12 re: 4 congressional districts / 3 party / 15 bonus
Kentucky: 46 total delegates (Proportional) - 10 base at-large / 18 re: 6 congressional districts / 3 party / 15 bonus
Louisiana: 59 total delegate votes (Proportional) - 33 district / 11 at large; 7 Pledged PLEOs; 8 Unpledged PLEOs
Maine 23 total delegates (Winner Take Most) - 10 base at-large / 6 re: 2 congressional districts / 3 party / 4 bonus
So the total delegate count at the end of the day, will depend not on who won, but by how much (subject to Rubio / Kasich even hitting the minimum bound to be awarded any delegates...)
Name 1 good law that Cruz or politicians have passed that helps America . There aren’t Any . Cruz did push for and voted for the 2 worst ever tPP TPA obamatrade and the Corker bill which made Iranian Nukes possible.
Cruz is the only real alternative to Trump. I’m holding out hope, but it does seem like a long shot. I think what we will likely see is Trump as the nominee. Hillary wins the general and in 4 years Cruz is the nominee and wins the general.
Cruz makes a mistake on TPP, but you already know about the EX-IM bank.
Cruz has one mistake, Trump has 4 in 2008 alone, with checks to Hillary.
Have more Cruz “ mistakes”?
Go ahead, I have plenty more Trump” mistakes” to point to.
No worries, you can counter all my arguments with Trump’s “flexibility”.
Ask Chuck if he sent back the check Trump sent him. Ask Hillary. Ask Pelosi.
Cruz only seems to win caucus states, I wonder why? Maybe Carson knows. Too bad for Cruz there are no caucuses in the general. He should drop out with the other loser and support Mr. Trump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
