David Axelrod is director of the non-partisan Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and is a Senior Political Commentator for CNN. This week he had a very special guest on his podcast “The Axe Files” to talk about the Republican National Convention, a veteran GOP strategist, Mike Murphy. Murphy’s take on the GOP primary contest is that Trump will need to secure the 1,237 (or be very, very close) by the end of the primary season, or the party just might find a way to give the nomination to Ted Cruz. Murphy explained that:
“The natural dynamic of the convention will be more Cruz friendly, ideologically, than anybody else. He’ll have the credibility of having run and come in second. He’ll have won states. He’ll have more natural organic supporters on the floor, I believe. And I think you’re going to see some of the establishment folks giving up on the math after maybe giving [John] Kasich a ballot.”
In other words, Donald, they just don’t like you.
If Trump cannot secure the nomination after the first ballot, Murphy believes that his chances of securing the nomination will go down with each subsequent ballot.
Not that any of that will even matter when the general election rolls around. Murphy is very pessimistic that either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz would do well in a general election. But if pressed, he’s likely to pick the lesser of two evils, so to speak.
“Of the two of them, I’m for Cruz over Trump. I think a Trump nomination would be a disaster for the country. I think a Cruz nomination would merely be a fiasco for the Republican Party.”
What is even richer is that Murphy admitted that the conservative super PAC spent most of its funds trying to sell Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race in February after finishing poorly in South Carolina. Whatever they had left, they tried to help Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich. But by then, it was too late.
Oops.
So, Republicans, there you have it. You can have either the disaster, or the fiasco. And neither has a real shot at winning the general election in November.
This election cycle just keeps getting better and better. Let the games begin.
Click here for the entire podcast.
Feature Image via Getty/Scott Olson
