Subject: Re: WashPost/Cillizza - The ‘Never Trump’ movement had the Worst Week in Washington
From: "Brinster, Jeremy" <[email-masked]>
To: "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2016 13:13:33 -0700

Fine by me

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 23, 2016, at 4:12 PM, Walker, Eric <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

Blastable

On Apr 23, 2016, at 1:01 PM, Paustenbach, Mark <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/23/the-never-trump-movement-had-the-worst-week-in-washington/<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=84bef91096&e=848198a255>

The ‘Never Trump’ movement had the Worst Week in Washington

By Chris Cillizza<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=53b94c4bbf&e=848198a255> April 23 at 8:00 AM <mailto:[email-masked]?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27The%20%E2%80%98Never%20Trump%E2%80%99%20movement%20had%20the%20Worst%20Week%20in%20Washington%27>
Remember Wisconsin? That state's primary on April 5 was the beginning of the end for Donald Trump, insisted the " Never Trump" movement within the GOP. The gig was up! Voters were on to him! He was imploding!

Fourteen days later, Trump took more than 60 percent of the vote and all but a handful of the available 95 delegates in New York's primary. Trump's across-the-board win zeroed out Ted Cruz's mathematical chances of getting to the 1,237 delegate threshold before the July national party convention. Meaning that Trump is now the only one of the three Republican candidates still in the race who can secure a majority of the delegates on the first ballot.

[https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/files/2016/04/Magic_Trump.jpg&w=1484]

The calendar will only get better for Trump. He could well sweep all five states -- Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island -- that vote on Tuesday, further adding to his momentum. And anew poll released Friday<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=3b683892f4&e=848198a255> showed Trump leading Cruz in Indiana's May 3 primary, a state where the "Never Trump" forces have already dedicated lots of time and money<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=95a26a9a56&e=848198a255> and the winner can take most or all of the state's crucial 57 delegates.

Amid this series of wins, Trump has also taken genuine strides to improving his campaign staff -- and his new hires have, in turn, begun much-needed outreach efforts to GOP delegates and establishment types to assure them that Trump doesn't present nearly the risk as the party's nominee as some have suggested<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=34344e5e0f&e=848198a255>. The new team also appears to have Trump's ear, as the GOP front-runner delivered a much more measured victory speech than usual<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=44d1850afd&e=848198a255> following his New York win.

What's an organization driven by the sole purpose of keeping Trump from the nomination to do? Struggle, that's what.

A movement like "Never Trump" is entirely dependent on momentum and the money that goes along with it. Allowing Trump to roll through April almost uncontested -- no part of the "Never Trump" group spent any money on TV in New York -- looks like a major strategic mistake in retrospect.

John Weaver, chief strategist for John Kasich's presidential campaign,bashed the "Never Trump" movement<http://washingtonpost.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c5adbd4783d227c40313eb002&id=7402324908&e=848198a255> for its absence from the playing field in two major states.

Trump may not ultimately get to 1,237 delegates. And he may well never end up as the Republican presidential nominee. But, he had a VERY good week. And, that means those trying to keep him from the nomination had a bad week. In fact, the Worst Week in Washington.

--
Chris Cillizza
The Fix
Washington Post
@thefix

--
Chris Cillizza
The Fix
Washington Post
@thefix