ON the 3rd of May when Donald Trump won the Indiana primary, Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Congress, declared him the Republican presumptive nominee to face a Democratic challenger in the November presidential election. It is not an unfair assessment to say Trump blind-sighted opponents and dumbfounded those who saw him as a distraction and unsuited to be the nominee. Deploying a strategy which departed from the normal campaigning, Trump labelled and mocked rivals, held big rallies, some of which were characterised by violence, and attracted votes without any clear or consistent position on any policy issue.
Jeb Bush, whom it was felt would have been the nominee, failed in repelling Trump who labelled him “low-energy Bush.” Having spent more than US$100 million and receiving poor showing in the first three races, he suspended his campaign after the third state weighed in. Not even the Bush brand and prestige of having a father and brother who were presidents could have saved his campaign.
Macro Rubio, the young, fresh face of Hispanic heritage, who was thought to be ideal to attract this growing demographic to the Republican Party fell to Trump. He was caricatured and called “lil Marco” by Trump who dismissed him as unworthy to compete for the country’s highest office. And when in March his home state of Florida rejected him in favour of Trump, he left the race. Of the initial 17 candidates, in April that field comprised Trump, John Kasich and Ted Cruz. While Trump ignored Kasich for personal ridicule, his attention was turned on Cruz, who was receiving the second highest votes and delegates. In ‘trumpian’ style, Cruz was called “lyin’ Ted” and mocked at campaign rallies.
The strategy by Kasich and Cruz to singularly concentrate on states and reduce the race to two contenders as against three in order to stop Trump backfired. On 3rd May Cruz left the race having lost Indiana and the next day Kasich followed.
With Trump in the field alone, he turned attention to those whom he felt were trying to deny him the nomination. He castigated his party and took swings at those he felt stood in his way, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (Republican-Wisconsin). Where there have been talks within the republican midst to field a third-party candidate to contest in November, Priebus came out and condemned the proposition calling it a “suicide mission.”
Apparently, even Trump underestimated himself as seen in his lack of a campaign structure consistent with contests of such nature. On the ground, in respective states he failed to galvanise his own supporters to turn up at state conventions where delegates were identified and voted for, even losing delegates in states he won. Not one to be quiet, he accused the party of rigging the system even though he failed in doing what he had to do. Even as some called attention to what they consider chaos in Trump’s campaign, his unpreparedness and unfitness for the White House, he has secured the most votes in any republican presidential nomination run. To his credit, he has stockpiled almost 11 million and counting with more states to weigh in.

And as Trump turns attention to the Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, he is referring to her as “crooked Hillary,” accusing her of playing the “woman card” and saying she was abusive to women who allegedly had affairs with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. It is yet to be seen how these attacks will play out. In the meantime, those outside the USA society and electorate expressing reservation of a Trump presidency their only hope rests on the electorate. Chris Kahn’s Reuters’ story (11th May 2016) offers a sobering thought. In this article, a Reuters/Ipsos poll on the “State of the Race” was reproduced. It shows Trump at 33.8 %, Clinton at 39.2%, and for ‘Other/won’t vote/refused’ at 27 %. These figures are reportedly within the margin of error +/- 4%. These statistics show Trump is gaining on Clinton. And whereas for both candidates polls show the majority of voters do not trust them, and the presidency is determined by the Electoral College (i.e. state by state), to be in a sane place is to not underestimate Trump.