Trump rebounds in White House race; Sanders surprises Clinton
Updated: 2016-03-10 10:02
(Agencies)
|
||||||||
ENDORSEMENTS: ANY ONE BUT TRUMP
Cruz, with enough primary victories to present himself as a viable Trump alternative, won the endorsement of former Republican rival Carly Fiorina on Wednesday and appealed to anti-Trump Republicans to back him.
"If you don't want to see Donald Trump as the nominee, if you don't want to hand the election on a silver platter to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, then I ask you to join us," Cruz said.
Trump, a former reality TV show host, has peppered his campaign with put-downs of rivals and critics. Many mainstream Republicans have been offended by his statements on Muslims, immigrants and women and alarmed by his threats to international trade deals.
But Cruz, 45, is a hard alternative for some of the mainstream Republican leadership to get behind. A fiscal and social conservative, he is unpopular with fellow senators who were targets of his personal attacks and who blame him for orchestrating a government shutdown in 2013 in a failed attempt to derail President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms.
In January, Graham called a choice between Trump and Cruz like "being shot or poisoned." But the senator softened his tone on Wednesday, saying it had become increasingly clear that "Ted Cruz is the most viable alternative to Donald Trump."
An aide to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race last month, said Bush would meet with Cruz, fellow Floridian Rubio, and Kasich, governor of Ohio, in Miami before the March 15 contests. It was not clear if he planned to make an endorsement.
Clinton, 68, won in Mississippi, but the victory in Michigan by her opponent from Vermont was expected to prolong the fight to pick a candidate.
Clinton holds a sizable delegate lead, with 1,221 compared with Sanders' 571. She has been helped by winning Southern states by big margins and keeping most of her losses narrow.
Clinton's campaign has been dogged by questions over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and - in a sign the issue will not go away - the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking emails between Clinton and her aides.
Trump could open a sizable delegate lead if he is able to win next Tuesday in Florida, Ohio, or Illinois, states that allot all their delegates to the winner.
Kasich, 63, of Ohio, and Rubio, 44, of Florida, could throw a wrench into Trump's delegate stash if they win in their home states next week.
- Trump, Clinton win Mississippi as 4 states vote in presidential race
- Trump-branded building financed in part by Chinese investors
- Republican Cruz wins two states, blunting Trump's momentum
- Trump leads Republican race, but rival candidates continue to hang on
- Republican old guard Romney labels Trump as 'a fraud'
- Trump, Clinton rack up big wins on US Super Tuesday
- Top 10 economies where women hold senior roles
- Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition
- 'Design Shanghai 2016' features world's top designs
- Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival
- Southeast Asia experiences rare total solar eclipse
- Farmer couple finds wealth in raising peacocks
- Google's AI takes on Go champion Lee Sedol in Seoul
- New Year paintings decorate cottage walls in spring
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition |
Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival |
Twin brothers and sisters form acrobatics team |
600,000 tulips bloom in Kunming |
Southeast Asia experiences rare total solar eclipse |
China hits back at US over restrictions on ZTE |
Today's Top News
What ends Jeb Bush's White House hopes
Investigation for Nicolas's campaign
Will US-ASEAN meeting be good for region?
Accentuate the positive in Sino-US relations
Dangerous games on peninsula will have no winner
National Art Museum showing 400 puppets in new exhibition
Finest Chinese porcelains expected to fetch over $28 million
Monkey portraits by Chinese ink painting masters
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |