One thing to note about this result is that Donald Trump got more than a win here. He got almost the best overall result he could possibly have hoped for. Second place is taken by someone who will have a very, very hard time getting traction in more conservative GOP electorates – Kasich. The race to be the anti-Trump is totally muddled and uncertain. There’s a decent chance that Rubio will come in fifth after an embarrassing debate goof. I won’t say his campaign is over. But this is a major, major setback that I personally doubt he can recover from. The debate goof was a thing in itself. This shows he paid a big price politically. That makes it much worse in terms of how potential supporters evaluate his strengths as a candidate.
Donald Trump needs a big field to dominate with 30% to 35%. He’ll have it for a while to come. Everybody down to maybe even Christie can look at this result and say, ‘Why should I get out?’ Kasich isn’t going to be the nominee. And there’s a big anti-Trump constituency out there. So maybe it could be me? Why not? The simple truth is that Trump clobbered everyone pretty much equally. So why should anyone drop out?
