Trump vs. The GOP
With Donald Trump confirmed as the Republican candidate for the 2016 election, we now see the largest split in the history of the Republican Party.
More stories from Kyle Whitely
Donald Trump (left), Ted Cruz (middle) and John Kasich (right) at the GOP debate in Detroit, MI on March 3, 2016. Donald Trump won the GOP primary by 11.6 percent and took away a total of 25 delegates while Cruz and Kasich each won 17.
Election years are crazy regardless of who the candidates are. For example, in 2000 when George W. Bush won one of the most debated Presidential races of all time by winning the state of Florida by just over 300 votes on a machine-run recount. This year, the race for both the Republican and Democratic parties was different from any other this country has seen. It stopped being about the morals and qualifications of the candidates and became more about Establishment vs. Anti-Establishment. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders stood for Anti-Establishment views and captured the hearts (and votes) of many working class Americans who didn’t feel represented by their party. Trump’s battle against illegal immigration and political correctness caused him to easily brush away people like Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina but the one true challenge he faced was Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention.
“If [Cruz] gives [his endorsement], I won’t accept it,” Trump stated at the news conference after the RNC in Cleveland. This showed that there was a divide in the Republican Party as a result of many Conservatives believing Trump doesn’t stand for enough conservative values. This wouldn’t be a problem if Cruz didn’t still have power in the party.
Ted Cruz has majority vote in six Republican voting states from the 2012 election; one of which being Texas. Texas controls 38 Electoral College votes and has voted Republican for every election since 1980. In the roll call vote at the Republican National Convention, Cruz won Texas again. With the history of the Democratic Party’s split in 1860, which gave Abraham Lincoln the election and with talks of a possible secession in Texas, it is not hard to imagine the party splitting and taking electoral votes with them.
The electoral votes from Texas are the only reason that Republican candidates can compete in general elections, as the states of California (55 votes) and New York (29 votes) tend to vote Democratic at most elections. The Grand Old Party that Lincoln built with representation for the common people of America might be on their way out the door for good.
