“The only way to beat Donald Trump is to stand together united.” - Ted Cruz tonight.
But how will one convince the other to drop out? It's hard to definitely say that one is in a better position than the other, especially considering that a lot of big delegate states that favor Rubio over Cruz remain that would close the current delegate gap. And based off the tone of their speeches tonight, both are convinced that they can and will win the nomination. The other issue is that if one drops out, it doesn't guarantee the Trump will lose. A reporter put up this game theory chart of the dilemma:
It would help if Carson/Kasich both LEAVE first thing tomorrow morning and see how their supporters redistribute in the more meaningless primaries that are coming up in the next week. See if that rocks the balance enough to show that one of Cruz/Rubio would be a better option than the other.
But here's the thing... I'm not entirely sure these two would voluntarily give up their shot at the white house just to beat Trump. There's almost more to be gained from a selfish individual standpoint by letting Trump win if you can't beat him, let him inevitably crash and burn in the general election vs. Hillary, then run again in 2020. I could totally see Ted Cruz, the anti-establishment guy who's made every Republican in Washington hate him already because of his personal aspirations coming before the party's goals, doing this. Rubio might even too, but its less likely.
So I don't see a scenario where either drop out. Which means Trump in November, which means dems have a better shot at the white house.
Comments
Rubio is jealous of his win by losing bump
Cruz has always been the threat which is why Trump left Rubio alone for so long. If the Hillary camp says they fear Rubio you know that they don't
You might even call it a "political jihad".
Rooting for both parties to screw over the old, rich and white guys.
The majority of the US more or less sit in the middle to some degree between fiscal conservatism and being liberally social.
The Democrats under Hillary and Sanders are going further and further left of center to the point of being socialists.
The Cruz angle of the party that is based on faith and the Constitution continue to take the Republicans further to the right.
Part of the reason IMO for Trump's success is that he's the one candidate that is more or less in the center ...
And Rubio's an empty suit that falls right of Trump and left of Cruz.
The sense that I'm getting from a lot of people is that none of the candidates are overly appealing (too extreme on the edges of the spectrum and Trump's too volatile) ...
There's an opportunity for a third party to emerge between the two wings at this point ... it's probably time for something like that to happen.