Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
The Republican presidential candidates.(Photo: Paul Sancya, AP)
WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>One way or another, Republicans are looking at the distinct possibility<span style="color: Red;">*</span>they will enter the fall election as divided as they have been in more than a half-century.
All thanks to Donald Trump and his many conservative critics.
If Trump goes on to claim<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Republican presidential nomination, he may well face opposition from prominent party members ranging from 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to current lawmakers to large groups of policymakers.
If rivals somehow manage to deny Trump the nod, Republicans would likely face the wrath of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>voters who have backed the brash billionaire in large numbers.
Threats included a rancorous July convention in Cleveland and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>continued party in-fighting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that will undermine Republican<span style="color: Red;">*</span>candidates for the White House, Senate<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and House this fall.
"You have Democrats treating each other with kid gloves, and Republicans pounding each other with boxing gloves," said Republican pollster Frank Luntz.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"It's not going away anytime soon. In fact, it's getting worse over time."
Some Republicans are urging people to take a deep breath. Tensions are high now, but the party will eventually coalesce around a single nominee.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with drama and intrigue, and we've got plenty<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of that," said Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, speaking on CBS' Face The Nation.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Priebus said the party needs to get a nominee, "come together, and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>then take it to the Democrats —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>I<span style="color: Red;">*</span>think that we'll get there."
The GOP presidential contest remains unsettled after a series of weekend contests.
Texas Sen.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ted Cruz maintained pressure on Trump, scoring easy wins Saturday over the billionaire in the Kansas and Maine caucuses. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, won Sunday's contest in Puerto Rico, his second win of the campaign.
Trump, who claimed weekend wins in Kentucky and Louisiana, decried suggestions by some Republicans that they should form a new third party if Trump prevails. Such a move, he said, would "make it impossible for the Republican candidate, on the assumption it’s me, to win."
He added, “As a party we should come together and stop this foolishness."
Both Trump and Cruz have called on Rubio and Kasich to withdraw from the race, but don't count on that happening anytime soon.
Rubio<span style="color: Red;">*</span>says he will beat Trump in Florida's March 15 primary in which 99 delegates are at stake.<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kasich, the governor of Ohio, said he will win that state's 66 delegates in another March 15 primary.
Florida and Ohio are both "winner-take-all" primaries, meaning the results could solidify Trump's hold on the nomination or throw the entire race into more confusion, increasing the chances of a contested convention.
USA TODAY
Poll: Trump, Clinton have big leads in Michigan primaries
Both Trump and Cruz have warned of a revolt if Washington elites are seen as manipulating the convention to install<span style="color: Red;">*</span>their preferred candidate.
There hasn't been a contested convention since the Republican conclave of 1976, when conservative insurgent Ronald Reagan narrowly failed to defeat incumbent President Gerald Ford.
This year, signs of Republican discord are all around.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Romney, the party's 2012 nominee, has said he will not support Trump if he is nominated, calling him dangerous for the country.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>His<span style="color: Red;">*</span>speech denouncing Trump won applause from Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 nominee.
More than 70 Republican foreign policy analysis have<span style="color: Red;">*</span>signed an open letter opposing Trump, saying his vow to re-make trade agreements will lead to economic disaster<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and his aggressive foreign policy plans will make the nation less safe.
Trump, meanwhile, has suggested he could still run third-party if he is denied the nomination, or if he feels the party is somehow not respecting him enough.
While Cruz is Trump's closest competitor, many Republicans also dislike him and fear that the abrasive Texas senator would also<span style="color: Red;">*</span>drag the party down to defeat in congressional and state races.
Political analysts said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Republicans may be looking at their<span style="color: Red;">*</span>worst split since 1964, the year that conservative nominee Barry Goldwater drew opposition from moderate<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Republicans (including Romney's father, Michigan Gov. George Romney).
David Axelrod, a longtime political adviser<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to President Obama who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has made the '64 analogy,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said Democrats should not celebrate too much at the GOP's troubles, even if Trump is the nominee.
"Trump has defied conventional wisdom throughout," Axelrod said. "He is willing to go with his attacks where no one else would and, left alone, will play the entire game on his opponent's side of the field."
One former Republican presidential candidate, Steve Forbes, predicted that Republicans would ultimately unite<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because at least one candidate will put together a solid program of issues and win a race that has too often<span style="color: Red;">*</span>been dominated by personality.
"What looks like a food fight is going to morph into something more positive," Forbes said.
Otherwise?<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"If the present course continues, you're going to have a fractured party," said the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media.
The Republican race has been a rough one. Candidates have swapped accusations of lying, the debates have been contentious shout-fests, and arguments have even centered on the size of candidates'<span style="color: Red;">*</span>various body parts.
Luntz, who has been conducting a series of focus groups, said it may not be easy for the Republicans to come together because the campaign<span style="color: Red;">*</span>dispute has gone beyond<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ideology: It's been<span style="color: Red;">*</span>personal.
"Ideological differences can actually be mended over time," Luntz said. "Personal differences are deeper, and they last longer."
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed