Trump: 8.25m

Cruz: 6.32m

Kasich: 2.98m

Didn't bother counting suspended people, but rubio came up ahead of Kasich a lot.

WSS

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/04/john_kasich_and_donald_trump_j_1.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Donald Trump is a con man perpetrating a fraud against Republican voters and the American public at large. Somehow, some way, Trump has convinced people that he is a right-wing Republican. He is lying. On issue after issue — from guns to taxes to immigration — Trump has consistently espoused views that reveal him to be, at best, a left-leaning narcissist whose ravenous hunger for fame is so overpowering that he is willing to forsake any core belief in order to obtain more of it. He cannot be trusted by anyone, especially movement conservatives.

Immigration: "This extreme immigration rhetoric seems awfully hollow given that in November 2012, Trump told Newsmax that Mitt Romney lost in part because he was too tough on immigration. Moreover, for all of Trump's comments about the evils of undocumented workers, it seems Trump does not practice what he preaches. No less an authority than a federal district court judge has, in court documents, confirmed that the crown jewel of the Trump empire was built on the back of labor performed by undocumented workers. Even now, Trump is still using undocumented workers at his worksites."

In his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Trump has stoked his crowds by promising to bring back jobs that have been snatched by illegal immigrants or outsourced by corporations, and voters worried about immigration have been his strongest backers. But he has also pursued more than 500 visas for foreign workers at Mar-a-Lago since 2010, according to the United States Department of Labor, while hundreds of domestic applicants failed to get the same jobs.

Trump has claimed that the applications received were by people who were not qualified or otherwise unwilling to take the job.

A guest worker in the United States is bound to the employer who issued them a visa, and cannot switch jobs without an additional visa approval. Critics of the program say that these workers are effectively indentured servants.

If these allegations are true, they look pretty bad for Trump. I find it incredibly hard to believe that out of hundreds of applicants for a waitressing or housekeeping job that only 17 were qualified or willing to do the job. While I understand the appeal of having a captive workforce that is legally unable to leave their jobs for a better one, I personally wouldn't categorize the H2 visa program as one that makes America great.

killing terrorists: At least Trump wants to kill the terrorists. Maybe so, but in order to do so, it would be helpful to be able to identify who they are. On an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump was unable to identify the leaders of some of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world.

not a conservative;

As Warren Buffett once said, "Writing a check separates a commitment from a conversation." This is especially true when it comes to political spending, which is, after all, speech. In this space, Trump's choices are revealing. Time and time again, Trump chose to spend his support on Democrats in general, and Hillary Clinton in particular. As federal election disclosures reveal, Trump gave money to Hillary Clinton's campaigns in 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Trump donated $5,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $20,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2006 cycle, as compared to just $1,000 to the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

It is a testament to Donald Trump's powers of persuasion that he has managed to convince so many in the media that he is a right-wing extremist. But a leopard cannot change its spots, and Trump has not changed his political beliefs, no matter what he says or how loudly he says it. A choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is no choice at all — they are both typical, rich New York City liberals who would (further) socialize our healthcare system, raise our taxes, shrink our economy, and castrate our military.

Second amendment: What about guns? Sure, Trump now claims he is carrying a gun off and on to keep us all on our toes, but this is a decidedly new tune for the Donald. Not so long ago, Trump supported the Clinton era assault weapons ban.

Donald Trump, says we should get rid of gun free zones: However, it appears that Trump’s demand to eliminate gun-free zones may have been nothing more than a statement of pure hypocrisy. According to ThinkProgress, Mr. Trump advocates for eliminating gun-free zones, except on his own properties.

ThinkProgress spoke with a number of hotels and golf courses in the Trump empire and found that multiple locations were gun-free zones, even for guests with concealed-carry permits.

“No, we don’t allow any firearms in the hotel,” a manager at Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago told ThinkProgress over the phone.

Guns are also banned at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. An employee at the course told ThinkProgress that “we don’t allow firearms on the property.” Asked whether that ban applies even to those with a concealed-carry permit, he said that “with a permit we still don’t allow firearms.”

* When it comes to political hypocrisy and intellectual inconsistency, Donald Trump deserves a gold medal. At the same time that the billionaire businessman criticizes Ford for producing some of its cars in Mexico, and threatens to stop Ford’s expansion there and impose a 35% tariff on Ford’s imports from Mexico, he certainly has no problem taking advantage of the global marketplace when it comes to his own businesses. For example, some of the clothing for his signature Donald J. Trump Collection is produced in Mexico and some is made in China..

Pro life?: In 1999, Tim Russert asked Trump if he would support a ban on "abortion in the third-trimester" or "partial-birth abortion."

"No," Trump replied. "

During the first Republican presidential debate, Trump explained that he "evolved" on the issue at some unknown point in the last 16 years. "Friends of mine years ago were going to have a child, and it was going to be aborted. And it wasn't aborted. And that child today is a total superstar, a great, great child. And I saw that. And I saw other instances," Trump said. "I am very, very proud to say that I am pro-life."

When the Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein asked Trump if he would have become pro-life if that child had been a loser instead of a "total superstar," Trump replied: "Probably not, but I've never thought of it. I would say no, but in this case it was an easy one because he's such an outstanding person."

That Trump could go from supporting third-trimester abortion--something indistinguishable from infanticide, something that only 14 percent of Americans think should be legal--to becoming pro-life because of that one experience is a bit hard to believe. If it's true, the story still indicates at the very least that Trump is not capable of serious moral reasoning.

"The trade deficit with China isn't $500 billion what a liar!"

Well, 366 billion but calling Trump a liar for saying 500 instead of 366 is just deflecting from the fact that Trump is the only one on the right side of the issue - with s plan to fix it.

"Tariffs lol"

As everybody else is scared of a trade war, China forces Boeing to build plants in China or they threaten to buy Airbus instead. They impose tariffs on our goods and straight up refuse to buy perishables after the ship arrives.

You realize that the big corporations who support Clinton and Cruz (Cruz has received more corporate money than anybody except Clinton FYI) - and therefore the politicians are in favor of these policies that fail us in every way. While they don't benefit the people, the small businesses, the country as a whole - they benefit the biggest sharks in the pond.

Trump is a nationalist and he's on the right side of the big issues, and he's hated for it.

If you're fed up with the way things have gone under Bush and Clinton and Bush and Obama - then you need to get on board with Trump.

Supporting Clinton or Cruz (especially Cruz) is only going to make it worse, much much worse.

I will vote for Clinton's terrible presidency every day of the week before I vote for a consumption tax imposed by the federal government, and the other disastrous Cruz policies mentioned.

"But Trump supported universal health care before"

Ted Cruz holds the Bible high! Then he puts it down and lies.

@vaportrail said:

If you aren't happy with Politifact there are as Trump would say huuuge amounts of other news sources calling out Trump for his lying. Bigly really. I listed some of them which was only a small partial list.

@westside-steve said:

Why Donald Trump's brazen lies overwhelm the press

http://theweek.com/articles/611581/why-donald-trumps-brazen-lies-overwhelm-press

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/chronicling-donald-trumps-lies/

http://www.weeklystandard.com/lies-damned-lies-and-donald-j.-trump/article/2001471

Donald Trump is constantly lying - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/11/23/donald-trump-is-constantly-lying/

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/270344-trump-sending-lies-halfway-around-the-world

They say "well we couldn't find substantial evidence to support the claim, pants on fire"

Or it's a matter of exaggerating a number, 10 million versus 15 million - pants on fire.

80% of what they rated Cruz on his half true or below, with almost 70% being false.

WSS

@bbedward said:

PolitiFact has been documenting Trump’s statements on our Truth-O-Meter, where we’ve rated 76 percent of them Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire, out of 77 statements checked. No other politician has as many statements rated so far down on the dial.

In considering our annual Lie of the Year, we found our only real contenders were Trump’s -- his various statements also led our Readers’ Poll. But it was hard to single one out from the others. So we have rolled them into one big trophy.

To the candidate who says he’s all about winning, PolitiFact designates the many campaign misstatements of Donald Trump as our 2015 Lie of the Year.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/dec/21/2015-lie-year-donald-trump-campaign-misstatements/

@oldbrownsfan said:

I posted the polling data from Real Clear Politics that does not support what you are saying.

Well to be fair I'm basing it on nearly everybody I associate with and reddit - unanimous that Cruz is worse than Trump in those circles.

You're saying 50% don't like Trump based on actual voting, but don't use the same logic with Cruz because he polls better against Hillary.

The never Cruz crowd is bigger than the never Trump crowd, you're deluding yourself if you think otherwise.

If you look at the real people who have voted, Trump does better with every demographic sans evangelicals. He turns out the biggest numbers, he gets the most independents, the most Democrats.

Frankly I don't know what you like about Cruz - aside from being an evangelical in disguise who is insanely corrupt and cheated on his wife 5 times, his policies are an absolute disaster.

Consumption tax, flat tax - punishes the poor and middle class. I don't want the federal government taking 10% of everything I buy.

Double down against Assad and Russia, I don't want WW3

Raise social security age, cut Medicare, abolish Obama care. Spending cuts that look good on paper but don't benefit the American people.

Further deregulate wall Street

Bolster big oil, cut any benefits for companies that work towards cleaner energy - ethanol, solar, wind - no more incentive to do that under Cruz

Cut incentives for companies that offer health care and other benefits to employees

Triple H1B visas, lowering wages and opportunities for skilled American workers

He pretends not to support the TPP because it's popular to do so thanks to Trump - but in reality as president he will change one or two words and it'll go into effect. The next president needs to tear it up completely

But hey, he's against abortion even in cases of rape and incest, cases where life of the mother is on the line, cases where theres pre existing conditions the child will have - like heroin addiction.

That convinces me, Cruz 2016!

@mld-woody said:

Whom Does America Hate More - Donald Trump Or Hillary Clinton?

http://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2016-02-26/the-most-hated-candidate

@bbedward said:

I posted the polling data from Real Clear Politics that does not support what you are saying.

Most Democrats will tell you they'd rather have Trump than Cruz. Cruz gets obliterated in non red States and has been obliterated in purple states.

@bob806 said:

@oldbrownsfan said:

While I do understand this take, it is very amusing to me that the Party (be it D or R btw) has more concern for their stupid platforms than the will of the people/constituents of our nation.

This is problem #1, and the very reason candidates like Trump and Sanders have gained traction this time around. The middle-of-the-road Ds and Rs are fed up with partisan stances, and a pompous jerk like Romney only fueled the fire a month or so ago.

IMHO, Romney sealed a D victory in November. I don't know if it was just his opinion, or his R party urged him to speak out, but it was probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a Presidential campaign. He basically told the voters of 11 primaries out of 15 states (roughly, I'm just estimating) that they are stupid for voting for Trump. So now we have K-Sick at 1 for 30 in primary wins thinking he's "got a chance." Reminds me of the famous Dumb & Dumber quote by Jim Carrey.

I was honestly looking at the Rs (I'm a registered D who is not happy with the Obama Administration) this time around, even though I disagree with many of their planks on the platform. Well, like I said then and say again, bye bye Rs, you're a bunch of fools. And I'm not voting Hillary before some pile on.

@westside-steve said:

Polling Data Poll Date Sample MoE

Kasich

Spread RCP Average 2/16 - 3/10 -- -- 54.3 36.7 Kasich +17.6 NBC/WSJ/Marist 3/4 - 3/10 2052 RV 2.2 57 36 Kasich +21 PPP (D) 3/3 - 3/4 1248 RV 2.8 52 37 Kasich +15 Quinnipiac 2/16 - 2/20 1539 RV 2.5 54 37 Kasich +17

All Ohio: Kasich vs. Clinton Pol

General Election: Trump vs. Clinton

Poll Date Sample MoE

Clinton (D)

Trump

Spread RCP Average 3/16 - 4/2 -- -- 49.4 38.9 Clinton +10.5 McClatchy/Marist 3/29 - 3/31 1066 RV 3.0 50 41 Clinton +9 IBD/TIPP 3/28 - 4/2 819 RV 3.5 47 35 Clinton +12 PPP (D) 3/24 - 3/26 1083 RV 3.0 48 41 Clinton +7 FOX News 3/20 - 3/22 1016 RV 3.0 49 38 Clinton +11 Bloomberg 3/19 - 3/22 815 LV 3.4 54 36 Clinton +18 Quinnipiac 3/16 - 3/21 1451 RV 2.6 46 40 Clinton +6 CBS News/NY Times 3/17 - 3/20 1058 RV 4.0 50 40 Clinton +10 CNN/ORC 3/17 - 3/20 925 RV 3.0 53 41 Clinton +12 Monmouth 3/17 - 3/20 848 RV 3.4 48 38 Clinton +10

All General Election: Trump vs. Clinton Polling Data

*******************************************************************************

Polling Data

Poll Date Sample MoE

Clinton (D)

Cruz

Spread RCP Average 3/16 - 4/2 -- -- 46.2 43.4 Clinton +2.8 McClatchy/Marist 3/29 - 3/31 1066 RV 3.0 47 47 Tie IBD/TIPP 3/28 - 4/2 819 RV 3.5 44 39 Clinton +5 PPP (D) 3/24 - 3/26 1083 RV 3.0 45 42 Clinton +3 FOX News 3/20 - 3/22 1016 RV 3.0 44 47 Cruz +3 Bloomberg 3/19 - 3/22 815 LV 3.4 51 42 Clinton +9 Quinnipiac 3/16 - 3/21 1451 RV 2.6 45 42 Clinton +3 CBS News/NY Times 3/17 - 3/20 1058 RV 4.0 47 44 Clinton +3 CNN/ORC 3/17 - 3/20 925 RV 3.0 48 48 Tie Monmouth 3/17 - 3/20 848 RV 3.4 45 40 Clinton +5

All General Election: Cruz vs. Clinton Polling Data

******************************************************

WSS

@westside-steve said:

I think Kasich helps Cruz in the northeast for sure. It gives people another option who don't want Cruz or Trump. Even the best case scenario Ed posted showing Trump up with 48 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania shows over half the electorate does not want Trump. The argument is then well they want Trump more than Cruz or Kasich and that might be right in Pennsylvania in the republican primary but in a general election the one who does worst in the republican primary Kasich does the best in the general. That is the key. The demographics and type of voters you will have in the general are not your typical republican primary voters.

I would not put past the GOP in trying to get either Romney or Ryan the nomination. Cruz isn't liked by the establishment much better than Trump. If it goes to two or three ballots I would favor Cruz getting the nomination. If it gets up past five the GOP parachuting in Romney or Ryan looks better. I think Trump has to win on the first ballot.

Would it be political suicide parachuting in Romney or Ryan? Maybe but they are thinking about losing the House and Senate with Trump at the top of the ticket. Many of Trump's supporters are only interested in voting for Trump anyway and have no intention of voting a republican ticket. Some are democrats or people who have never voted before.

Mark Levin said (before he joined the never Trump movement) he thought by the time the election came around most people who say they will never vote Trump which is about 30 percent would dwindle to 5 percent and probably be a wash with the Bernie Sanders never vote Clinton crowd. That might be accurate who knows. I do know that I have voted republican since 1980 with Reagan and voted for every republican candidate since. I won't vote for Trump and I hate Clinton. If the choice is between two New York liberals that is no choice to me. I know many others who feel the same way but we will see how all this plays out. I think there are still some twists and turns to come.

If you like corrupt, sleazy DC politics then Cruz is your only option at this point on the Republican side

Why I’m Voting For Cruz In Colorado’s Republican State Convention

I am what you might call an accidental conservative. I grew up in another country – Australia – where the prevailing culture is much more left-wing than the political environment of the United States.

I moved here in my mid-twenties as a news reporter, and at first, I sympathized with liberal politicians and liberal causes. I was used to left-wing politics, after all, and it was the path of least resistance in the newsrooms where I worked.

But over time, that started to change. After growing up in a country where the government plays a much bigger role in daily life, and the private economy is much smaller, living in America taught me a simple truth: When the government is smaller, and the economy is bigger, life is better.

Today, I am a proud U.S. citizen and a vocal advocate for the system of limited government made possible by our Constitution. I am also a husband and a father – and I’m worried. I fear my two young girls, and children all across America, will be denied the freedom and opportunity they deserve if the next president fails to honor the Constitution and our nation’s founding principles.

For this reason, I will be supporting Ted Cruz at the Republican State Convention in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

To be clear, Cruz was not my first choice. I supported Marco Rubio before he dropped out. Cruz is the only candidate in the race who can secure the Republican nomination, run as a conservative who will honor the Constitution, and win the general election. He understood our anger at Washington, D.C. – and acted on it – years before the presidential campaign even began. And for anyone who believes in limited government, Cruz is a far better choice than the current frontrunner, Donald Trump.

Trump would increase the size, scope and power of the federal government in a number of deeply troubling ways. Today, the national debt is $19 trillion and rising, with roughly two-thirds of federal spending devoted to Medicare, Social Security and other entitlement programs. But Trump has no plan to reform entitlements, even though they will saddle our children with crushing federal debt. He’s even bragged that he won’t touch entitlements, unlike “every other Republican” in the race.

Trump has also suggested even more entitlements are on their way. “I am going to take care of everybody,” Trump said while attempting to explain how he would replace Obamacare. And for those who don’t buy insurance? “The government’s going to pay for it,” he said. When challenged, Trump attacks like he’s a big-government liberal: “We’re not going to let people die in squalor because we are Republicans.”

Even more disturbing, Trump talks like someone who believes the president is above the law. When asked how he would respond if the military refused to carry out illegal orders from the White House, Trump replied: “They’re not going to refuse me … If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about.”

Trump has also threatened news organizations with new libel laws so people can “sue you like you’ve never got sued before.” Only a candidate who doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the Constitution – and specifically the First Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from abridging the freedom of the press – would make such a threat. And speaking of press freedoms, Trump still refuses to fire or even discipline his campaign manager, who was charged with battery for allegedly manhandling a reporter at a news conference.

Of course, Trump has become famous for backtracking on his past statements and changing his positions until it’s practically impossible to tell where he stands from one day to the next. But the underlying message is crystal clear: Big government is fine as long as Trump’s in charge.

But big government isn’t fine. We don’t need a “strongman” in the Oval Office who will do even more damage to our constitutional republic. Simply put, we need to get back to basics, starting with the principles of limited government that created this great nation.

You don’t have to agree with Cruz about everything. But in this moment, he’s the only presidential candidate who can steer the Republican Party and the nation in the right direction. Please, if you believe in limited government, vote Cruz.

Simon Lomax is a Boulder County delegate to Colorado’s Republican State Convention and a candidate for national delegate.