Sanders, Cruz push for victory
Neither is national front-runner, but both look poised to win state
Republican Ted Cruz and Democratic contender Bernie Sanders crisscrossed Wisconsin on Sunday, hustling to haul in big victories and maybe even reshape their respective primary races.
For both candidates, a win in Wisconsin seemed within reach even though nationally Cruz, the Texas senator, is trailing real estate mogul Donald Trump in the GOP race and Sanders, the Vermont senator, lags behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
But the race here remains hard-fought, with Trump in the state, too, criticizing rival and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
“Wisconsin is on the national stage — the entire country is looking at the state,” Cruz told more than 1,000 supporters in a packed Green Bay ballroom.
In Milwaukee, Trump predicted an upset
while visiting Miss Katie’s Diner in Milwaukee, a longtime stop for politicians.
“I would tell you, I think this has the feel of a victory,” Trump told reporters.
Meanwhile Sanders brought his wife, Jane; actress Rosario Dawson; and several musical acts with him to a rally at the Kohl Center in Madison.
“Our job is to think outside the box, to think outside the status quo, to ask the hard questions, like why not?” Sanders told the crowd of several thousand.
A new poll Sunday showed Cruz and Sanders ahead but left space for doubts about the outcome of Tuesday’s elections.
The survey by CBS News and YouGov showed Cruz with 43% to 37% for Trump and 18% for Kasich and gave Sanders a 49% to 47% lead over Clinton. The poll, which followed a week of other surveys showing similar leads for Cruz and Sanders, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Monday will bring another frenetic day of campaigning, with Cruz appearing at a Madison town hall moderated by Megyn Kelly and Sanders hitting Janesville, Green Bay and, to cap off the day, the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Former president Bill Clinton will rally supporters for his spouse in Turner Hall on Monday.
Trump on Sunday called on Kasich to drop out of the Republican presidential race, acknowledging he had raised the issue in a meeting Thursday with Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus. Trump said that Kasich, who’s only won his home state of Ohio so far, has no chance of being the nominee.
“He’s taking my votes,” Trump said, disputing the idea that Kasich is hurting Cruz more. “Kasich shouldn’t be allowed to run. . . . It’s very unfair that Kasich stays in.”
Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf quickly pushed back on Trump’s comments.
“Ted Cruz also has no possibility of accumulating enough delegates, and Trump also will not receive a majority of delegates before the convention. Since he thinks it’s such a good idea, we look forward to Trump dropping out before the convention,” Schrimpf said in a statement.
Cruz appeared in Green Bay with Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble (RWis.), Utah Sen. Mike Lee, former Packers player Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and local radio talk show host Jerry Bader.
Walker, who dropped out of the presidential race in September, told the crowd his former rival is a constitutional conservative who would send power from the federal government back to the states.
“He can win the nomination, and he can defeat Hillary Clinton,” Walker said of Cruz.
As president, Cruz vowed he would “get government off the backs of small business,” “repeal every word of Obamacare” and rewrite the federal tax code so the average taxpayer could “fill out taxes on a postcard.”
“Help is on the way!” the Texas senator shouted to supporters, who responded with approving chants of “Cruuuuuuuuuuz.”
For his part, Sanders spent Sunday evening in Madison, striving to get out the vote in the city where his Wisconsin campaign began with a July 2015 visit.
The crowd showing up for the third Sanders event in a week was somewhat smaller than it was at the Alliant Center a week ago, not surprising given that he also spoke at the city’s Orpheum Theater on Wednesday.
Contrasting himself with Wisconsin’s conservative governor, Sanders said his presidency “would be pretty much the exact opposite of a Scott Walker administration.” Sanders called for overhauling the way the nation funds political campaigns, handles criminal justice and treats its poorest citizens.
Dawson, the actress, told the crowd that a win for Sanders would restore some of Wisconsin’s reputation for progressive politics, which conservatives here have partly eclipsed in recent years.
“A lot of people feel that has been lost,” Dawson said. “But this is your opportunity to claim it back.”