Politics '16: Then There Were Three

John Kasich (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before the end of this month, the Indianapolis 500 auto race will have had its 100th running.  On Tuesday, Indiana primary voters chose businessman Donald Trump over Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Governor John Kasich of Ohio, essentially pushing Trump over the finish line in the Republican presidential race.  Afterwards, Cruz and Kasich announced that they were dropping out.

For the Democrats, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won his primary over Hillary Clinton.  The former Secretary of State still has a significant lead over Sanders in the delegate count, but he vows to keep fighting until the party's convention in July.

According to CNN.com, Trump currently has 1056 delegates, with 181 needed to win the nomination on the first ballot.  If Cruz (who has 572) or Kasich (who has 156) should choose to release their delegates to Trump, the process would be shortened considerably.  As for the Democrats, CNN says that Clinton has 2218 delegates and superdelegates to Sanders' 1444, needing only 165 to clinch.

Before we say goodbye to the Cruz and Kasich campaigns, it must be said that they were part of the most unwieldy (and mostly unlikeable) field of candidates in history, no matter what the party.  Cruz' far-right positions, social and political, have made him an unpopular figure in Washington and within his own party.  Kasich's relatively moderate positions would have gotten much farther in any other year.  Just not this one. 

None of the GOP candidates could compete with Trump's personal wealth, reality-TV familiarity and the ability to give new meaning to the old complaint that politicians will say and do anything to get elected.  Or that the voters were getting tired of the same old song and dance from Washington-based politicians who claim to be running against Washington. 

Sanders notwithstanding, the focus shifts to Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton.  Before November, there will be attacks on both sides from both sides whether it's on the campaign trail, at the conventions, the endless TV commercials or the debates.  Most will be on the personal side, and it will not be pretty.  If the polls are any indication, America is not looking forward to any of this.