"Traditional Republicans and Republicans who understand how we elect
our president, or pretty much everyone who's conservative, likes Cruz,"
he said.
Trump hopes to land decisive blow in Indiana showdown with Cruz(Reuters)
New York billionaire Donald Trump hopes that Indiana's nominating contest on Tuesday will make him unstoppable in what originally had seemed to many a quixotic quest for the Republican presidential nomination.
The famously blunt-spoken real estate mogul holds a double-digit polling lead over U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
of Texas, who has been campaigning in the Midwestern state almost
non-stop since mid-April. Cruz has trumpeted Indiana, one of the last
big states left in the fight to get onto the November ballot, as his
golden moment to force a brokered nomination at the party's July
convention. But it appears to be shaping up as his Waterloo.
Fresh
off a sweep of five Northeast states last week, Trump hopes a win in
Indiana will put him within reach of the 1,237 delegates required to
lock up the Republican presidential nomination before the convention.
Cruz
has been Trump's strongest rival but still trails him considerably in
the delegate race. He has been struggling to keep Trump from reaching
the 1,237 threshold and force a brokered contest, which, after a string
of big losses in April, is Cruz's only chance of securing a spot on the
Nov. 8 ballot.
A loss in Indiana would be
particularly crushing for Cruz, who has argued that his brand of
religious conservatism is a natural draw for heartland Republicans. He
won the endorsement of Indiana's conservative Governor Mike Pence.
In
addition, Cruz was looking for smoother sailing in Indiana after he and
Ohio Governor John Kasich, a distant third in the Republican nominating
contest, reached a "stop-Trump" deal in which Kasich would steer clear
of Indiana while Cruz would do likewise in Oregon and New Mexico.
But
the waters are looking choppier for Cruz, with the senator losing
considerable ground against Trump in opinion polls as voting has neared.
Cruz
last week also announced his choice for a prospective vice president,
the former presidential contender and Hewlett Packard chief executive
Carly Fiorina, during an event in Indiana that some criticized as
premature.
"I trust the people of Indiana to differentiate," Cruz said on Monday at a campaign stop. "We are not a bitter, angry, petty, bigoted people. ... I reject that vision of America," he added in a swipe at Trump.
Trump
now has 996 delegates, compared with 565 for Cruz and 153 for Kasich.
Another 57 delegates are up for grabs in Indiana, a state that has voted
Republican in nine of the last 10 presidential elections.
NEW BLOOD
Trump
has drawn both passionate support and vitriolic condemnation with his
hardline stands on immigration and national security - including a call
to build a 1,000-mile wall along the Mexican border that he says Mexico
would pay for and a bid to temporarily banning Muslims from entering the
country.
Julie Blackwell Chase, a clerk treasurer
of Bedford in southern Indiana, said she voted early for Trump in part
because she appreciated his willingness to break with conventional
politics. "We need new blood," she said.
But
the outcome in Indiana may also ride on the votes of evangelicals,
after Trump offered praise for Planned Parenthood family clinics and
signaled support for gay and transgender rights, views that rankled some
Christian conservatives.
Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, chair of the county's Republican party, said he is voting for Cruz.
"Traditional
Republicans and Republicans who understand how we elect our president,
or pretty much everyone who's conservative, likes Cruz," he said.
Jeff
Cardwell, chairman of the state's Republican party, said Tuesday's
primary marked an exciting day in Indiana politics, mainly because White
House nominations are usually locked up by this late in the election
cycle.
"This is the first time in my lifetime where Indiana has really had an opportunity to make a difference," said.
Indiana
is the second most populous state of the 10 remaining to hold
nominating contests on the Republican side, behind California, which
holds its primary June 7.
On the Democratic side,
front-runner Hillary Clinton holds a more than six-point lead over
challenger Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, according to an
average of recent polls compiled by Real Clear Politics.
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