Op Ed: Voters in Wisconsin are unlikely to decide anything in their primary Tuesday. There is no way Sen. Bernie Sanders can deliver a knockout blow. Sen. Ted Cruz is in the same position, unless the unpredictable Donald Trump decides the presidential race is boring him. “Mr. Sanders might still pull off a big win. Barack Obama won the state by 17 points in 2008, after all. But a big win for Mr. Sanders would not necessarily put him on track to win the nomination. Even an overwhelming victory for the senator might only narrow Mrs. Clinton’s lead by 20 delegates,” the New York Times reported. The TV pundits, and to a certain extent, newspapers and news agencies, are loathe to lead a story by saying it really means nothing. Polls at present show Hillary Clinton likely to win Pennsylvania and New York by big margins, whether there is another debate between the two are not. Debates haven’t shown that they moved previous sessions between the two. Clinton also is ahead in California. The sideshow that has been kept alive by the media on Clinton’s email also is unlikely to change anything. But the media these days is 24/7 and needs to say something. These often unscripted sessions bring out claims that are as off the wall as something Trump would say. In past years writers loved expressions like “it raises the question.” Trump learned, and has his own version. He will say “people are saying” Cruz is not qualified to be president because he was born in Canada. After Trump has said it enough times it becomes accepted that there is a legitimate question. Trump’s daily blathering isn’t concealing that his campaign is close to being in tatters. “Donald Trump’s campaign is increasingly falling into disarray as the Manhattan billionaire braces for a loss in Wisconsin that could set him on course for an uncertain convention floor fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Since March, the campaign has been laying off field staff en masse around the country and has dismantled much of what existed of its organizations in general-election battlegrounds, including Florida and Ohio,” Politico reported. Even if Trump manages to win the nomination he will have to rebuild his campaign staff while under fire from the Democratic nominee. A Mason-Dixon poll this week found Clinton was within three points of winning Mississippi, the first time a Democrat has won it in 40 years. A series of polls indicate Trump’s position on issues affecting women, as well as his highly publicized insults, will make it hard for him to win a national election. There are two other possibilities: Trump could withdraw from the race, or decide that he should run as a third party candidate.
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Robert Weller
2016 US election news and other news from the USA
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Worked in journalism, including on the Internet, for more than 40 years. Started as a news editor at the Colorado Daily at the University of Colorado, joined a small Montana newspaper, the Helena Independent-Record, and then United Press International. Archives
November 2016
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