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Michael Barone: Only Cruz Can Stop Trump
Thursday, March 17, 2016 01:51 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Donald Trump can be stopped from winning the GOP nomination — but it'll take voters opposed to his campaign to put aside any misgivings about Sen. Ted Cruz, according to Washington Examiner columnist Michael Barone.
In an opinion piece, Barone writes "many anti-Trump voters dislike Ted Cruz and, like most senators, regard him as self-serving."
"But if nominated his interests and the party's will align, at least temporarily," Barone writes. "Republicans who want to stop Trump need to hold their noses, if necessary, and vote for Cruz."
Barone argues Trump's wins on Tuesday show how split GOP voting could help vault him to the 1,237-delegate majority necessary to be nominated at the GOP convention in Cleveland.
"The question is what Republican voters who fear Trump's nomination will damage the party, the nation or both will do about it," he writes.
According to Barone, if Cruz had won the Tuesday votes cast for either Ohio Gov. John Kasich or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, "he would have beaten Trump and deprived him of dozens of delegates."
And Barone argues a similar scenario played out in Ohio after Rubio advised his supporters there to vote for Kasich, and "similar evaporation could have given Cruz victories in Missouri and North Carolina and in numerous congressional districts in Illinois."
Better coordination behind Cruz could work the same in upcoming contests, including Wisconsin, New York and California, he adds, arguing Kasich will do poorly anywhere there aren't a lot of "upscale voters," and will be hurt by a split vote in California where delegates are chosen winner-take-all by congressional district.
