Fearful of a Donald Trump nomination to
lead the GOP, conservative leaders huddled privately in Washington on Thursday
in search of a plan to stop the billionaire businessman. His Republican rivals
braced for another Trump victory next week, this time in delegate-rich Arizona.
The GOP has an eager alternative in
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, yet some party leaders are exploring "other
avenues" instead of rallying behind the fiery conservative, an ominous
sign that Republican leaders' deep dislike of Cruz complicates their
overwhelming concern about Trump.
"The establishment is like a
wounded animal, now cornered," said Mark Meckler, an early leader in the
tea party movement. "They are terrified, irrational and flailing
wildly."
Even after being denied victory in five
contests Tuesday, Cruz insists he still has a path to the 1,237 delegates
necessary to claim the Republican presidential nomination. But in a strategy
memo obtained by The Associated Press, his campaign essentially cedes Arizona's
March 22 primary to Trump and acknowledges Cruz must win 79 percent of the
remaining delegates before the GOP's July national convention.
"This is the moment for all those
who believe in a strong America to come together and craft a new path
forward," Cruz declared on Twitter while conservatives were meeting in
downtown Washington to brainstorm ways to stop his party's front-runner.
Organizers of the meeting included
conservative commentator Erick Erickson and Christian conservative leader Bob
Fischer. The goal, as stated in the invitation, was "to strategize how to
defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, and if he is the Republican
nominee for president, to offer a true conservative candidate in the general
election."
The group released a statement after
roughly four hours behind closed doors calling for a "unity ticket that
unites the Republican Party."
While many in the room supported Cruz,
they declined to endorse the Texas senator or the only other remaining
presidential contender, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and instead urged all former
Republican presidential candidates to unite against Trump. They also embraced the
possibility of a contested convention.
"Lastly, we intend to keep our
options open as to other avenues to oppose Donald Trump," they said, an
apparent reference to a possible third-party candidacy that might stop Trump
but would likely sacrifice the Republican Party's chances in the general
election to Democrat Hillary Clinton.
On Capitol Hill, South Carolina Sen.
Lindsey Graham said he'd help Cruz raise campaign cash in the hope of stopping
Trump's march.
Graham, who dropped his own
presidential bid last month, called Cruz "a reliable Republican."
That was a sharp shift from Graham's recent statement comparing the choice
between Trump and Cruz to "the difference between poisoned or shot —
you're still dead."
Amid the Republican chaos, Democratic
front-runner Clinton focused on fundraising as her campaign begins to look
ahead to the general election. She claimed a fifth victory in Tuesday's
primaries, as rival Bernie Sanders conceded defeat in Missouri.
However, Sanders continued to campaign
aggressively ahead of contests next Tuesday in Arizona and Utah.
Arizona residents are far more likely
to see commercials for Sanders than for any other candidate in either party,
advertising tracker Kantar Media's CMAG shows. Though trailing badly in
delegates, he is spending about $1.8 million on Arizona ads, triple Clinton's
media plan.
On the Republican side, so far only
Cruz is advertising in the state, a relatively light $256,000, but he got a
boost from an allied super PAC on Thursday that reserved $415,000 in Arizona
and another $165,000 in Utah, according to CMAG. The ads are scheduled to run
through the states' March 22 primaries.
While none of the Republican candidates
campaigned publicly on Thursday, Cruz was to appear in Arizona on Friday before
shifting his attention to Utah, which his campaign identified in the strategy
memo as a key state in his path forward.
Kasich is also making an aggressive
play in Utah, with four public events scheduled there over the next two days.
The Ohio governor also unveiled the endorsement of former Utah Gov. Mike
Leavitt, who praised "the temperament and the tone" of the Kasich
campaign, an indirect jab at Trump.
Kasich has seized on Trump's sometimes
violent rhetoric, while an allied group began airing running a TV ad across
Utah Thursday that shows a protester being punched in the face at a Trump
rally.
"There was a time when presidents
were honorable. Trustworthy. What's happened?" the narrator asks, later
adding, "John Kasich is presidential."
With a big delegate lead over Kasich,
Cruz remains the Republican best positioned to catch Trump.
Even under a best-case scenario,
however, Cruz's campaign envisions a slim chance he can win enough delegates to
claim the nomination before the convention. The campaign is predicting success
Tuesday in Utah and upcoming contests in North Dakota, Wisconsin and Colorado.
The Cruz strategy also depends upon
victories on the final day of primary voting, June 7, which features contests
in California and New Jersey, among other states.
In Arizona, experts believe about half
of all Arizona voters have already cast their ballots — many of them for Trump.
Cruz's state director, Constantin
Querard, downplayed Arizona's importance Thursday even as he said Utah and
Arizona have the potential to "reset the race" as a two-person
contest.
"I think Utah will be a better
measure than Arizona," Querard said.
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