Donald
Trump on Thursday reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican
nomination for president, completing an unlikely rise that has upended the
political landscape and sets the stage for a bitter fall campaign.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
Trump,
a political neophyte who for years delivered caustic commentary on the state of
the nation from the sidelines but had never run for office, fought off 16 other
Republican contenders in an often ugly primary race.
Many
on the right have been slow to warm to Trump, wary of his conservative bona
fides. Others worry about Trump's crass personality and the lewd comments he's
made about women.
The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the
biggest name in politics. See
Latest Coverage → But millions of
grassroots activists, many who have been outsiders to the political process,
have embraced Trump as a plain-speaking populist who is not afraid to offend.
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." Trump's
path to the Republican presidential nomination began with an escalator ride.
Trump
and his wife, Melania, descended an escalator into the basement lobby of the
Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, for an announcement many observers said would
never come: The celebrity real estate developer, who had flirted with running
for office in the past, would announce that he was launching his campaign for
the GOP presidential nomination.
That
speech set the tone for the candidate's ability to dominate the headlines with
provocative statements, insults and hyperbole. He called Mexicans
"rapists," promised to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and
ban Muslims from the U.S. for an indeterminate time.
He
put down women based on their looks. And he unleashed an uncanny marketing
ability in which he deduced his critics' weak points and distilled those to
nicknames that stuck.
"Little
Marco" Rubio, "Weak" Jeb Bush and "Lyin' Ted" Cruz,
among others, all were forced into primarily reacting to Trump. They fell
one-by-one -- leaving Trump sole survivor of a riotous Republican primary.
His
rallies became must-see events and magnets for free publicity. Onstage, he
dispensed populism that drew thousands of supporters, many wearing his
trademark "Make America Great Again" hat and chanting, "Build
the wall!"
The
events drew protests too-- with demonstrators sometimes being forcibly ejected
from the proceedings. One rally in Chicago was cancelled after thousands of
demonstrators surrounded the venue and the Secret Service could no longer vouch
for the candidate's safety.
When
voting started, Trump was not so fast out of the gate. He
lost the Iowa caucuses in February, falling behind Cruz and barely edging Rubio
for second. He recovered in New Hampshire. From there he and Cruz fiercely
engaged, with Trump winning some and losing some but one way or another
dominating the rest of the primary season -- in votes or at least in attention
-- and ultimately in delegates.
All
the while, Republican leaders declared themselves appalled by Trump's rise.
Conservatives called the onetime Democrat a fraud. But they failed, ultimately,
to block him. Republican leaders slowly, warily, began meeting with Trump and
his staff. And he began winning endorsements from a few members of Congress.
As
with other aspects of his campaign, Trump upended the traditional role of money
in the race. He incurred relatively low campaign costs -- just $57 million
through the end of April. He covered most of it with at least $43 million of
his own money loaned to the campaign. He spent less than $21 million on paid
television and radio commercials. That's about one-quarter of what Jeb Bush and
his allies spent on TV. Bush dropped out of the race three months ago, after
disappointing results in South Carolina.
Trump,
69, the son of a New York City real estate magnate, had risen to fame in the
1980s and 1990s, overseeing major real estate deals, watching his financial
fortunes rise, then fall, hosting "The Apprentice" TV show and
authoring more than a dozen books.
No comments:
Post a Comment