New York - Donald Trump rode a week of insults directed at a popular pope and a GOP president to trounce his opponents in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary Saturday, the most convincing evidence to date that his establishment-smashing campaign is on track to win the nomination.
None of Trump's rivals came close to knocking him off Saturday, despite – or perhaps because of – his position at the center of one of the most polarizing campaign weeks in recent history.
“There’s nothing easy about running for president, I can tell you,” Trump told a cheering crowd in Spartanburg, S.C., late Saturday. "It’s tough. It’s nasty. It’s mean. It’s vicious. It’s beautiful. When you win, it’s beautiful, and we are going to start winning for our country.”
On the other end of the spectrum was the night's biggest casualty, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who quit the race after months of limping along in Trump's shadow and as the target of much of Trump's derision.
"I'm proud of the campaign we've run," Bush told supporters. "But the people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken."
With about one-third of the ballots counted, Trump had about 33% of the vote. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, also running as a party agitator, was running just barely ahead of Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for second place.
As he has throughout the campaign, Trump dominated the vote of Republicans without a college education and those with incomes below $100,000. College graduates were closely divided among backers of Trump, Cruz and Rubio. Those with incomes above $100,000 split their vote between Trump and Rubio, the exit poll indicated.
Almost the only significant demographic group that did not go for Trump were those who called themselves "very conservative," who sided with Cruz.
About half of voters did not make their decision until the last week, the exit poll indicated.
Kevin Holley was still undecided midday Saturday between Trump and Rubio as he headed to a poll in Edgefield, the birthplace of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.
"We need change," Holley said.
For his part, Bush entered the race last year as the front-runner and immediately attracted more funding and high-profile endorsements than any other candidate in what was once a field of more than a dozen.
But voters already in Iowa and New Hampshire and in repeated polls this election season were not looking for another Bush, nor have they paid much mind to the wonkish candidate’s detailed policy proposals that harked back to the conservative ideals he championed as a two-term governor a decade ago.
South Carolina not only ended his candidacy, it may also signal the end of his family’s long hold on the Republican Party.
Trump attacked Bush relentlessly as “low energy,” and he shattered taboos during last weekend’s debate when he accused his brother, President George W. Bush, of lying to bring the country to war in Iraq and failing to keep the country safe from the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Bush family had long counted on South Carolina voters to hoist them in tough times, and Jeb Bush campaigned throughout the week with both his 90-year-old mother, Barbara, and his brother, the former president.
“I feel sorry for Bush,” said Rick Arkell of Columbia, a retired weather forecaster. “He has the wrong last name.”
Trump did not only spar with Bush’s legacy this week. He also took on Pope Francis over immigration and Trump’s oft-stated goal of building a border wall to stop illegal immigration from Mexico. Francis had asserted to reporters, “A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
Trump did not come close to backing down, calling Francis’ comments “disgraceful,” and insisting that the pontiff would pray for a Trump presidency “if and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS," using another name for the Islamic State militant group.
Trump’s voters seemed to lap it all up, becoming more devoted to him with each fight. As one of them said in an interview this week, “We’re voting with our middle finger.”
"Enough bull," said another supporter, Wayne Wates, a retired butcher on his way in to vote for Trump in Edgefield on Saturday. "He's going to change things, I hope."
The sound of gunfire at a nearby range could be heard outside the hall. Just down the road, the central plaza in the town where the high school is named for Thurmond, bustled with activity.
Trump continues to alienate large groups of voters — 40% of all voters polled in a national Fox News poll conducted this week said Trump was the candidate they would most dread watching on television for the next four years.
Yet he maintains seemingly unflappable support from about a third of the Republican electorate. Challengers are hoping that gives them a one-on-one opening.
But two factors could conspire to give Trump the nomination.
First, his challengers continue to find reasons to remain in the race, and the longer the field remains crowded, the harder it is for any one of them to attract more voters than Trump in a given state. In fact, one of Rubio’s main arguments is “the longer this goes on, the worse it’s going to be,” and therefore he is the candidate who can unify the party.
Second, polls show an increasing number of Republicans have become comfortable with Trump leading the party’s ticket in the November general election. In the Fox Poll, 74% of Republicans said they would be at least somewhat satisfied with Trump as president. That number was far smaller (43%) among all voters.
To beat back Trump, Cruz, who won the Iowa caucuses, will need to pick up wins in a slew of Southern state primaries held March 1, and hope other contenders drop out.
Though retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has drawn little support, his Christian conservative followers may flock to Cruz. But the Texas senator ultimately will have to persuade more voters to embrace his pure form of conservatism and reject Trump as a phony, a case he has been trying to make for weeks.
ubio, who was helped by his endorsement this week from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, has a different challenge. He needs Bush to drop out, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to lose the confidence of mainstream Republicans. But the Florida senator also will have to begin winning states, and hope that a majority of Republicans decide they want a more mainstream candidate, despite polls showing voters are looking for candidates who have not served in government.
Hunter Pendarvis knows he is fighting a losing battle, but he still voted for Rubio as the Republican candidate he believes is the best alternative to Trump. Pendarvis, a 30-year-old real estate agent who moved back home after living in New York City, hopes Rubio can pick up some momentum after Saturday's primary and the race shifts into other Southern states.
"It's going to be a long slog," he said
Sunday, 21 February 2016
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