It’s Over! Trump Passes 1,237 Delegates

by | May 26, 2016 | Politics

The Lid
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It’s finally over, according to the Associated Press Donald Trump has passed the magic number of 1,237 and will be the RNC’s presidential candidate in 2016.  Not that it’s a surprise after Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out, but it should put to bed those remaining stragglers in the party hoping to deny him the nomination at the convention.

Trump was put over the top in the Associated Press delegate count by a small number of the party’s unbound delegates who told the AP they would support him at the convention. Among them is Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard.

 

“I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn’t like where our country is,” Pollard said. “I have no problem supporting Mr. Trump.”

 

It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president. Trump has reached 1,238. With 303 delegates at stake in five state primaries on June 7, Trump will easily pad his total, avoiding a contested convention in Cleveland in July.

 The fact that these unbound delegates have announced their support of Trump is one more indication that the party is rallying around their nominee.
 Steve House, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party and an unbound delegate who confirmed his support of Trump to AP, said he likes the billionaire’s background as a businessman.
“Leadership is leadership,” House said. “If he can surround himself with the political talent, I think he will be fine.”
Others who confirmed their decision to back Trump were more tepid, saying they are supporting him out of a sense of obligation because he won their state’s primary.
Cameron Linton of Pittsburgh said he will back Trump on the first ballot since he won the presidential primary vote in Linton’s congressional district.
“If there’s a second ballot I won’t vote for Donald Trump,” Linton said. “He’s ridiculous. There’s no other way to say it.”
But Linton has nothing to worry about there will not be a second ballot.
Now that he’s reached the number the best thing Trump can do is avoid controversy the next few days. It’s not just the “looking presidential” thing, but the story of Hillary and her emails is dominating the news cycle. He should allow Hillary’s bad news to continue dominating the news.
Also if he wants to continue to unify the party, now that he’s over the 1,237 he needs to stop bashing other Republicans. There is no need for it and his recent attacks on Susana Martinez hurt his attempts to unify the party.

 

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