It might be time for [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] to get Larry Bird on the phone.
It was expected Donald Trump would do extremely well Tuesday night in the five states that held primaries, but the boisterous billionaire exceeded even the loftiest predictions. Trump won all but a handful of the pledged delegates, and initial reports suggest he did quite well among the 54 unpledged delegates elected in Pennsylvania.
If you are part of the #NeverTrump movement, Tuesday night was drown your sorrows in whisky night.
The path to stop Trump from winning the Republican nomination on the first ballot just became much narrower. More than ever, next week’s primary in Indiana is crucial. If Trump is to be stopped from winning the Republican nomination, Cruz must best him in the Hoosier State.
That’s hardly impossible. Polls show Trump with only a small lead over Cruz, and with John Kasich agreeing to cede the state to Cruz, the race could well be a dead heat at the moment (though who knows how the momentum from Trump’s victories Tuesday will carry over to Indiana).
But while a Cruz win in Indiana is all but necessary to stop Trump, it is hardly sufficient. With Trump’s apparent solid performance among Pennsylvania’s unbound delegates, it’s not inconceivable Trump could win 50 or so of the roughly 200 unbound delegates available at the Republican National Convention in July. If that’s the case, Cruz doesn’t only need a win in Indiana to prevent Trump from winning the nomination on the first ballot, but he has to have a strong performance in California. He might not need to win The Golden State, but he will probably have to come close to matching Trump in delegates from the state to hold the Republican front-runner under the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the nomination on the first ballot.
This will not be an easy task, even if it is not an impossible one.
But before Cruz can even think of California, he must win Indiana in a week. A change of narrative is probably in order for the Texas senator. It has been suggested that Cruz might name his vice presidential pick before the Indiana primary to change the news cycle in his favor.
That’s not a bad idea. Who is the most popular person among Indiana Republicans? Is Larry Bird a member of the Grand Old Party? If so, Cruz ought to offer him a place on his ticket tomorrow, no questions asked. Or maybe Peyton Manning.
Basically, if Cruz wants to stop Trump and win the Republican nomination, he should offer the vice presidency to whoever will propel him to victory in Indiana. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And after Tuesday night, for Cruz and the #NeverTrump movement, it’s Indiana or bust.