Republicans barrel toward Super Tuesday
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and CALVIN WOODWARD

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Republicans are barreling toward Super Tuesday with another debate in the offing and Donald Trump's opponents reaching for perhaps their last best chance to knock him off stride for the presidential nomination.

Expect a nasty turn, Trump warned, as if the roiling GOP race were anything but that already.

The New York billionaire predicted that the relative civility between Marco Rubio and himself would fall away in the frantic grasp for hundreds of convention delegates in the 11 states that hold Republican primaries Tuesday.

Even John Kasich, a trailing contender whose calling card has been a positive campaign, went sharply negative Wednesday in a campaign broadside against Rubio, the Florida senator who is soaking up Republican establishment support and thereby threatening to starve Kasich's effort of its remaining oxygen.

Trump exercised bragging rights with trademark gusto after Nevada handed him his third straight victory the night before.

Relaxed on stage at Virginia's Regent University, Trump fielded questions from Christian conservative figure Pat Robertson, ticking off Obama administration executive orders he wants to reverse as president and joking about his recent dustup with the pope.

He said earlier he might tone down his contentious rhetoric if he makes it to the White House — or not, since "right now it seems to be working pretty well."

And what of Rubio?

"So far he's been very nice and I think I've been very nice to him," Trump said on NBC's "Today" show. "We haven't been in that mode yet but probably it'll happen." He meant attack mode.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton scored the endorsement of Nevada's Harry Reid, the party's Senate leader, in advance of a primary Saturday in South Carolina, where she looks strong. She prevailed in the Nevada Democratic caucuses days before the GOP contest there, dulling rival Bernie Sanders' drive and making Super Tuesday of crucial importance to him.

On Tuesday:

—Republicans will award 595 delegates in 11 state races, with 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

—Democrats will award 865 delegates in 11 states and American Samoa, with 2,383 needed for the nomination.

The election calendar suggests that if Trump's rivals don't slow him by mid-March, they may not ever. Overall, Trump has 81 delegates, Ted Cruz and Rubio have 17 apiece, Kasich has six and Ben Carson has four. The Republican races Tuesday will divvy up delegates proportionally.

For Republicans, Nevada offered little evidence Republicans are ready to unite behind one strong alternative to Trump, who many in the party fear is too much of a loose cannon to win in November.

Mainstream Republicans who don't like Trump are also in large measure cool on Cruz. With Jeb Bush out of the race and time short, they have begun gravitating to Rubio, long a man of promise in the race but one who has yet to score a victory.

The Florida senator edged Cruz, a Texas senator, for second place in Nevada, and it's clear his time is at hand — if he's to have one.

With Bush gone, the GOP debates have lost a prime Trump critic, though Cruz has been a fierce antagonist at times and Rubio faces pressure to confront the billionaire more directly before it's too late.

Their debate Thursday night is in Texas, the largest of the Super Tuesday states and one where Cruz has an advantage as home-state senator.

Trump's provocative proposals to build a massive border wall with Mexico and to deport all people in the country illegally are sure to feature in the debate, which has Spanish-language Telemundo as a partner with CNN.

Trump is just as certain to brag about winning the largest share of Hispanic votes in Nevada, among the limited numbers of Latinos who participated in the Republican caucuses.

Cruz, a fiery conservative popular among voters on the GOP's right, won the leadoff Iowa caucuses but underperformed in South Carolina and Nevada. He's recently been on the defensive for his campaign's sharp-elbowed tactics and in the face of withering criticism by Trump of his integrity.
___

Woodward reported from Washington.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-02-25

Cruz will be eliminated Tuesday. The establishment GOP will be desperate looking for any real dirt that might stick to the Teflon Don and give their boy Rubio a hope. Should be interesting to see what kind of scandalous stories, real or fabricated, emerge

Trump himself might be wondering how he got himself into this position.

GO TRUMP GO...

Trump appeals across party lines. There is a lot of blue collar, hard working democrats that don't like what Hillary or Bernie have to say, especially when it comes to taking their pay to prop up illegals and bums.

Trump will be the next pres. of the USA minus a scandal emerging on his behalf...or a random bullet that sometimes happens to those that are not in line with the "establishment".

That’s a good point.

Pat Robertson.

Another imbecile.

More shameless sucking up by Trump...

bassman, on 25 Feb 2016 - 09:03, said:

Trump appeals across party lines. There is a lot of blue collar, hard working democrats that don't like what Hillary or Bernie have to say, especially when it comes to taking their pay to prop up illegals and bums.

Trump will be the next pres. of the USA minus a scandal emerging on his behalf...or a random bullet that sometimes happens to those that are not in line with the "establishment".

That crossed my mind also.

The GOP establishment need to be ready to get behind Trump. He is the most probable

candidate to win and lead the GOP into the next election. He is a far better candidate

than Cruz and just because you can't control him does not mean you cant work with him.

"Heartland" Americans are just sick and tired of PC Politics. Trump isn't PC. What he turns into if he attains the Oval Office. I'm not optimistic. Probably same, same, but different.

Edited February 25, 201610 yr by connda

The real party is just beginning. Here comes the first shot across the bow from the GOP...

"Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney stated that Republican presidential candidates...ought to release their taxes for “the last two years that have already been filed,

and that there’s “good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes” on Wednesday’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the Fox News Channel

“I think there’s something there, either he’s not as anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay,

or perhaps he hasn’t been giving money to the vets, or to the disabled, like he’s been telling us he’s been doing."

"But I think it’s pretty clear that, given Donald Trump’s dodging and weaving and delay, I think the last time he was asked about his taxes he said, well, it’s going to be a month.

Look, people have a right to know if there’s a problem in those taxes before they decide.”

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/02/24/romney-good-reason-to-believe-that-theres-a-bombshell-in-donald-trumps-taxes/

Edited February 25, 201610 yr by iReason

Romney hasn't been paying attention and seems a bit bitter rather than providing objective insight. I have seen Trump say repeatedly that he, like most in his position, use the current mess of a tax code to his advantage in paying the least amount of tax required

Romney hasn't been paying attention and seems a bit bitter rather than providing objective insight. I have seen Trump say repeatedly that he, like most in his position, use the current mess of a tax code to his advantage in paying the least amount of tax required

Yeah, but the charities he gives to are going to be interesting from a political POV.

Who actually casts their one & only Presidential ballot based on charitiemocrats lefts a candidate contributes??? The Story mentions veterans. Trump will promise to fix the mess of a VA that the Democrats left

That is grasping for air.

Romney hasn't been paying attention and seems a bit bitter rather than providing objective insight. required

I don't really like Trump and I do like Romney, but have to admit his interference is rather bizarre when it comes to taxes.

Romney would have been far preferable to re-upping Obama. He was too much of a gentleman and allowed the DNC and their media to kraft a false narrative and sell it to the public nonstop without ever counterpunching

I don't care who the Republicans prop up there. All the Republican candidates have little appeal outside of Wingnuttia.

Democrats will take the Senate with the Presidency in a crushing defeat in November.

Hand wringing and tears with the usual, "Where did we go wrong," rhetoric to follow. "I know," a bubble headed, bleach blond, Fox Pundit will say, "We didn't go far enough right wing loony tunes crazy."

Rinse, repeat.

The next Republican President hasn't been born yet.