| Trump is the last man standing. But will Hillary be the first woman standing? Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel writes |
Well we knew Indiana was going to be a big moment in this campaign but the Hoosier state has outdone itself.
Donald Trump's rivals are limping home after putting it all on the line, and he can now jog on to the convention secure in the knowledge that, barring the proverbial Act of God, he will be the Republican nominee for the presidency.
And unlike the legendary film about Indiana's 1954 state basketball champs, this match wasn't even close.
Although it could be argued that Donald Trump did start the season as the underdog (financial status aside).
"I feel like I got smacked by a two-by-four," said one Republican after The Donald's closest rival Ted Cruz dropped out.
Now that's a metaphor Australians can understand, right?
It unfolded like any other primary day. Voters voted (in big numbers comparatively), counting began, Donald Trump was declared the winner in the first few minutes (ho hum) and then... drum roll... Ted Cruz said he no longer saw a viable path to the nomination and gave up.
As previously discussed, he and fellow rival John Kasich had joined forces in a kind of "Let's nobble the Donald" alliance whereby Kasich didn't campaign in Indiana to avoid splitting the vote and therefore to help Cruz win.
Abject failure.
I hate to say "I told you so" but this was my feeling when this little piece of scheming was announced a couple of weeks before Indiana.
Initially John Kasich (with only 153 delegates to Trump's 1053) said he would stay in until "someone" hit the delegate threshold of 1237 required for the automatic nomination.
That was a little ridiculous really and he thought better of it, also leaving the race.
So Donald Trump is your "presumptive nominee" and presumably, unless lightning strikes, will run for the United States presidency against Hillary Clinton.
By the way the week's events provided some extraordinary headline fodder for the tabloids.
My personal favourites? "Hoosier Daddy?" from the New York Post and the pithy illustration on the front page of the NY Daily News.
The Democrats had an interesting week too.
Bernie Sanders pulled out a win in Indiana.
This was more irritating than significant for Hillary given that she still got 38 delegates to his 44 and she's ahead by a huge margin so in the broader scheme of things it makes not much difference, except that she still can't quite shake him off.
That must be particularly annoying now that Donald Trump is crowing.
Still, it looks like a Trump-Clinton presidential race ahead.
VICTORS
Trump all the way.
VANQUISHED
Everyone else.
Cruz and Kasich are gone.
Bernie won but can't actually win without some kind of miracle.
And Hillary. It's time to channel some Taylor Swift and shake The Bern off if she's to concentrate on the actual campaign ahead.
REPUBLI-CAN'T-DO-IT!
Donald Trump has been divisive for the duration of this campaign and the Republican Party is still grappling with how to cope with his candidacy.
Members were seen literally lighting their party memberships on fire after Trump took Indiana on Tuesday.
GOP Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted encouragement to party members to rally around Trump but for many it's a tough pill (or billionaire) to swallow.
2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney pledged to skip the convention in Cleveland in July.
A couple of weeks ago 2008 nominee John McCain did likewise.
Meanwhile, the two most recent Republican Presidents: George H W Bush and his father George W Bush apparently are refusing to endorse Mr Trump.
And Republican Speaker Paul Ryan? Well, he's not quite ready to embrace him either.
But just to be clear, Paul Ryan is NOT going to all of a sudden become a candidate for the presidency (as he's repeated ad nauseum), so don't get any ideas.
WORD OF THE WEEK
It looks like Donald Trump has run out of ways to describe his own success.
You know, everything has been huge and Esquire has even had its own instruction guide for how to sound like Mr Trump.
But on Tuesday night, Donald Trump said America will win "bigly".
Yup, bigly.
BY THE NUMBERS
13 - that's the lead Hillary Clinton has over Donald Trump in the latest head to head presidential polling. (It's not insurmountable.)
CINCO DE MAYO
Every year in May, Mexicans (and Americans) celebrate Cinco de Mayo; it's a date to commemorate the unlikely victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla back in 1862.
For Donald Trump, it's an opportunity to tout the taco bowls at Trump Tower Grill, oh, and his love for Hispanics.
TRIVIA OF THE WEEK
Here's one to help you out at the next quiz night: Who had the shortest running mate bid of all-time? Yep, you guessed it: Carly Fiorina.
The former Hewlett Packard CEO jumped gallantly on board the Cruz Campaign's sinking ship but she's not Wonder Woman and she couldn't save the already partially submerged vessel under heavy fire from the Trumpinator.
The Texas Senator jumped over board just seven days later. You're welcome.
HANDS UP!
Speaking of Carly, holding hands can be awkward - especially in a new relationship and this attempted show of unity between Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina is just so cringe-worthy it's like watching a train wreck.
You can see the cringe-worthy video here.
SINKING FEELING
Maybe we should've seen Ted Cruz's downfall coming - after all there were a lot of signs that he was slipping during the week.
And there was no better example than when running-mate Carly Fiorina literally dropped out at an event in Indiana.
Thankfully, she wasn't injured and it gives us an excuse to bring out this classic candidate stack from Bob Dole back in 1996.
Ouchie.
KNOCKED OUT
Ted Cruz again?! It really wasn't his week was it?
After dropping out, Ted Cruz proceeded to nearly knock out his wife, Heidi on stage in Indiana.
It was an accident of course, but poor Heidi really copped it - not just once but twice!
The rough and tumble of politics, eh?
See the video here.
OBAMA OUT
Remember that there's actually still a president in office?
Over the weekend Barack Obama delivered his annual roast at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
It was his final one and he delivered appropriate bipartisan digs at everyone from Donald Trump to Hillary and Bernie. Not to be missed!
There's also this hilarious video involving FLOTUS and VPOTUS and the soon to be couch commander.
#%@# you Chuck Todd!
Perhaps he should go into comedy?
WHAT NEXT?
Well, there's a clutch of primaries still left but it's all starting to look and feel pretty academic with Hillary and The Donald both flexing their muscles for the actual presidential campaign.
That's right, we may be getting close to the start of the two-horse race but that's one for stayers. Bring on November! |  | | | About this email You received this email because you are subscribed to ABC News email alerts. This message was sent to you at starnewsposting@gmail.com. Please add newslists@your.abc.net.au to your email address book to see images by default and stop the email being treated as spam. This email address is not monitored - Please don't reply to this email. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Add or remove topics | Unsubscribe | Contact Us |
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