A few months ago, Donald Trump confidently perched atop the Republican roost, but the self-declared mighty man is falling. He’s still holding a delegate lead (743) over Ted Cruz (520), but that may not last long enough to capture the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination. The House of Trump fell to Cruz in the Wisconsin primary, and the reality star’s campaign team did something bizarre in the aftermath. They cancelled Trump’s California trip in order to place focus in New York. And Team Cruz has reacted by planning last minute appearances in Orange County and San Diego. That’s a damn smooth move and could fill the void left by Trump to big advantage.
Such a puzzling call by Trump cannot be rationally explained. There’s little chance of him losing his home base in New York. After all, Cruz’s previous #NewYorkValues flub still follows him and led to a disastrous Bronx campaign stop last week. Trump could relax in New York and throw resources towards winning in California, but no. Decisions like these are what led to Trump’s current performance in Colorado where Cruz is tidily sweeping delegates. The New York Times explains why Colorado (a state with a series of caucuses), doesn’t appeal to the Trump campaign structure, so they basically ignored 37 delegates. As of Friday, Cruz captured 21 delegates, leaving Trump and John Kasich with none. Cruz is expected to take most of the remaining delegates on Saturday, and the Trump camp’s explanation is weak:
Colorado awards its delegates differently from the way most states do. Instead of holding a statewide primary — the kind of contest Mr. Trump is used to commanding through his dominating and ubiquitous media presence — it is using a series of caucuses.
Alan Cobb, an adviser to the Trump campaign who was in Colorado Springs on Friday to manage the delegate efforts, set expectations low. A pickup of one delegate would be worthwhile, he said, given how little effort the campaign had put into the state.
“We made the conscious decision back in October that Colorado, because of the structure, just didn’t make sense for us to invest a lot of time and resources in.” he said. “It doesn’t lend itself to the kind of campaign we have and the folks who support us.”
So, Trump’s people think nabbing one Colorado delegate counts a success. How did he get here? Trump is about winning, and his absurd reaction to losing ground (which he’s steadily been doing for weeks) is to shrug on Twitter. He’s still winning, you know.
Isn't it a shame that the person who will have by far the most delegates and many millions more votes than anyone else, me, still must fight
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 9, 2016
Trump did capture the coveted Kirstie Alley endorsement, so he’s definitely scoring votes from the few Scientologists who aren’t in Sea Org labor camps.
"@kirstiealley: HELLO BOYS! this is my formal endorsement of @realDonaldTrump & I'm a woman! (last I checked) And Rudy, U R amazing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 9, 2016
Cruz scored bigger, however, with the elusive Clint Howard vote. The character actor and brother of Ron delivered an entertaining interview to The Daily Beast, which features him calling Hillary Clinton “a bitter old grandmother” and praising Cruz as “a true patriot.” Then this happens:
“Wait, wait, wait – you mean THE Zodiac Killer? From the movie with Clint Eastwood?” roared Howard, veteran of over 200 movies and certified Hollywood That Guy. “That’s pretty good … Ted’s not the most handsome man in the field. Maybe that’s why I support him.”
There you go, folks. Cruz may already be the Zodiac Killer and the Stryper lead singer, but Clint Howard’s support may soon give him that extra push needed to be the GOP nominee.