Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks at a campaign stop March 25 in Oshkosh, Wis. (Darren Hauck/AP) (Darren Hauck/AP)
INDIANAPOLIS — Ted Cruz said Wednesday morning that he would make a “major announcement” at an afternoon rally here, a day after his drubbing by Donald Trump in Republican presidential primaries in five East Coast states.
Cruz declined to say what his announcement would be. It comes as Cruz, who is in desperate need of a way to gain ground on Trump, is vetting potential vice presidential running mates. He joked Tuesday night that he would have an announcement on that front, before saying in jest that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had picked Trump as her running mate.
Trump and Cruz were quickly setting their sights on Indiana on Wednesday, where Trump is seeking a knockout blow and Cruz was making a last-gasp effort to survive.
Trump will return to the Hoosier State to hold an evening rally after delivering a foreign policy address in Washington that his team hopes will make him appear more presidential. He will be joined in Indiana by longtime Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight, who is a fan favorite here.
Cruz, who has spent the past few days in Indiana trying to get a head start on Trump and move swiftly past his humiliating Tuesday defeats, planned to campaign at a restaurant Wednesday morning before the afternoon rally.
Looming over the race is the question of whether Gov. Mike Pence will publicly back Trump, Cruz or no one. The governor met with both candidates last week.
“He may not endorse — I don’t think he’ll endorse anybody, actually — and he may endorse us, I don’t know,” Trump said on CNN on Wednesday morning. He added that he thinks Pence will either endorse him or no one.
Indiana is the only state holding a Republican primary next Tuesday. Trump and Cruz are expected to spend much of their time campaigning here. A loss for Cruz would deal a catastrophic blow to his struggling campaign, which was set back immensely by his poor showing Tuesday.
The third remaining candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, has stopped actively campaigning in Indiana, clearing the way for Cruz to square off against Trump one on one. In exchange, Cruz is clearing the way for Kasich to face Trump in Oregon and New Mexico. Kasich plans to stump in Oregon on Thursday.
The Cruz-Kasich deal has been unsteady, and it’s not clear whether it will have the intended effect of isolating and defeating Trump in three key states.
Polls show Trump and Cruz in close competition in Indiana. In a speech Tuesday night at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, where the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed, Cruz declared to supporters: “Tonight this campaign moves back to more favorable terrain.”
Cruz will enter the next week badly wounded by two straight weeks of East Coast blowout losses where he mostly finished third behind Trump and Kasich. On Tuesday, Trump swept Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. In all but Pennsylvania, Cruz finished last.
According to the Associated Press’s latest delegate count, Trump has nearly a 400-delegate lead over Cruz and is nearly 800 ahead of Kasich.
Trump called his Tuesday sweep the “biggest night” of the campaign, confidently predicting that he could capture the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination outright. He also suggested during a question-and-answer session with reporters at Trump Tower on Tuesday evening that Cruz and Kasich were doing the party harm by remaining in the contest.
“I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely,” Trump said. He suggested that Cruz and Kasich exit the race because “they have no path to victory at all.”
He added: “The best way to beat the system is to have evenings like this, where you get record-setting votes.”
Responding to reports that Cruz is vetting Republicans, including rival-turned-supporter Carly Fiorina, to be his vice presidential running mate, Trump said Wednesday morning that it was not a good idea.
“I think it hurts him. I can’t imagine he does it,” the mogul said on “Fox and Friends.” “First of all he shouldn’t be naming anybody because he doesn’t even have a chance.”
Cruz nodded at the vice presidential intrigue surrounding him Tuesday night, saying he had an announcement. But the announcement — that Clinton had tapped Trump as her running mate — was made in jest.
During a rally in Indiana last week, Trump put the air-conditioning maker Carrier at the center of his pitch. He is expected to continue doing so. The company has announced that it plans to move jobs from Indianapolis to Mexico. Trump said that as president, he would subject such a move to a tax penalty. He has mentioned Carrier in other states, too.
Trump also has bragged about Knight’s endorsement on the campaign trail for days.
“He’s tough, he’s sharp and he wins. And the people of Indiana love him,” he said Tuesday.
Cruz repeatedly tried to link Trump to Clinton on Tuesday night, signaling that he plans to try to blur the distinction between them on several policy and political fronts during the next week.
Clinton and Trump are “flip sides of the same coin,” argued Cruz, who accused Trump of holding Clinton-like views on health care, foreign policy, immigration and other issues.
Trump has been an outspoken critic of Clinton. He has referred to her on the campaign trail as “Crooked Hillary.”
Indiana awards 57 delegates to the Republican National Convention on a winner-take-all basis by congressional district and statewide.
DelReal reported from New York. Katie Zezima in Washington contributed to this report.
選舉語言 = 順乎民心
來源: TJKCB 於 2016-04-27 12:00:08 [檔案] [博客] [轉至博客] [舊帖] [給我悄悄話] 本文已被閱讀：1643 次 (95723 bytes)
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? 一般說話象川普一樣氣勢雄雄有兩種情況 -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (618 bytes) (169 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:15:23
? 他是第一類，好多思考他80年代就有，實踐前就看出來，但他說話用詞簡單犀利，太透明缺表演深沉的技巧，明白他要時間 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (13 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:23:02
? Take the wall as an example -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (803 bytes) (53 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:32:47
? there will be no wall -爾思- ♀ 給 爾思 發送悄悄話 爾思 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:37:38
? 建和不建這個wall，還需算算opportunity cost，這個邊境太鬆野管不住的毒品運輸，增加就業，等等 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (185 bytes) (18 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:43:09
? Whether it is worth building the wall--is ANOTHER question -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (74 bytes) (7 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:49:51
? 你怎麽知道？不知要增加多少就業呢，各州政府高興配合，可能換來其它一些deal的免稅，discount，等等優惠 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:52:58
? 就是個引子（還讓別人付成本），接著，要是優惠吸引來投資，那個州，地區可能就開始繁榮起來 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (0 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:00:23
? 早說過了，隻要減少一點美墨貿易逆差，牆的錢就出來了。川黑覺得不停重複別人就會相信牆的錢墨西哥不出，事實不是這樣的。 -MAGA2016- ♂ 給 MAGA2016 發送悄悄話 MAGA2016 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (10 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:49:29
? 反正中心思想就是反對非法移民，保障美國人民利益和安全為先，至於是用何種手段，建牆或其它手段，隻要都能達到目標，就不必在意詞麵上的 -72變- ♀ 給 72變 發送悄悄話 72變 的博客首頁 72變 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (11 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:06:24
? 明白人 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:10:03
? 聰明的商人如果有更經濟有效的方式可以達成自己的目標，為何要拘泥於形式？如果做為一個國家領導人，意義會更重大，因為受益者是人民和國 -72變- ♀ 給 72變 發送悄悄話 72變 的博客首頁 72變 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:26:11
? So he has an idea but really don't know how? very practical!!! -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:13:18
? leader要有vision，剩下技術細節交給專家。判斷leader就是不能順序反著。ObamaHillary說技術很細，但方向 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:18:10
? 很細，看HillarySanders的debate就看出她能細得讓人聽睡著，但大方向錯的，班加西事件也一樣 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:21:05
? A visionary does not have to know the details but would have not -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (335 bytes) (14 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:21:21
? 我理解你的意思，你這樣人很多，喜歡別人按照自己想像的那樣操作，關鍵，如果那樣政治正確就不是他了 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (5 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:25:30
? Is it me who is imaging things or Trump??? -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:26:35
? 再看看，你在期待image他該這樣那樣說，作吧？ -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (5 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:31:17
? 如果那麽會政治正確就不是他了。看大方向就是了。再會開車方向錯了更危險 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (10 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:29:07
? I also thought Trump's supportors trust him to honor his words -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (147 bytes) (13 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:16:06
? "Reducing deficit" means "mexico pays for it"?? very good -SwiperTheFox- ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (41 bytes) (4 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 13:08:52
? 是啊，川普的做人，他的家庭，都是值得信賴的。況且事實已經證明08和喜姐不行。 -Mom9504- ♀ 給 Mom9504 發送悄悄話 Mom9504 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (2 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 14:07:38
? 他這類人打破好多既定判斷人的模式。舉個例子：一個謙虛，一個驕傲，真實力你怎麽判斷？謙虛的那位。。。。。 -Narnar- ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (455 bytes) (69 reads) 04/27/2016 postreply 12:37:41