Trump Snubbed and Cruz Energized before Wisconsin Primary

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Milwaukee Theatre Monday, April 4, 2016, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Milwaukee Theatre Monday, April 4, 2016, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Donald Trump’s rough week, followed by a rough weekend, was followed by another rough day. In an article titled, “Milwaukee snubs Trump,” Politico reports that both Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz held their final campaign events before the Wisconsin Primary near Milwaukee Monday night and it didn’t go well for Trump:

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Trump, the national front-runner, arrived to a half-empty auditorium at the Milwaukee Theatre in a defensive crouch, beaten down by days of bad headlines and growing signs that Wisconsinand perhaps even his best shot at winning the GOP nomination outright — was slipping from his grasp.

Last week the Republican presidential campaign has been dominated by negative coverage of Trump’s war on women. As the Politico article put it:

First, Trump threatened to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife on Twitter, and then he sent a controversial retweet of an unflattering picture of her. His campaign manager was charged with simple battery for grabbing a female reporter. And then Trump said that women should be punished for illegal abortions (and subsequently backtracked on the assertion).

Trump tried to address his worsening problem with women by having his wife Melania and former Miss Wisconsin Melissa Young campaign with him. It didn’t seem to work. According to Politico, the women dominated the first 10 or so minutes of Trump’s rally, which lasted for less than an hour.  Trump was not in his usual loquacious self. He seemed eager to get it over with saying, “we’re going to go really quickly tonight,” as he looked out at empty balconies.

The Cruz event was much different. According to Politico, Cruz, was energized by the support of the Wisconsin political establishment, prominent talk radio hosts and evangelical leaders. He took the stage after Gov. Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina, and Conservative talk-radio host Charlie Sykes, all praised Cruz and pilloried Trump. The Crowd was fired-up repeatedly bellowed out Cruz’s name — “Cruuuuuuuuuz.”
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Politico summed up the two events as “reflective of both contenders’ standing in the state: Cruz has the momentum, as Trump is scrambling to catch up — and get through the day.”

And John “the Spoiler” Kasich, wasn’t in Wisconsin at all.

Based upon the demeanor of the campaigns’ final events, I’m optimistic that Cruz can win today’s Wisconsin Republican Primary.

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