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Nightmares become reality for GOP establishment, Clinton
MANCHESTER, NH -- You couldn't have dreamed a
worse outcome for both the Republican establishment and Hillary
Clinton's presidential campaign than last night's results here from the
New Hampshire primary. And for gloating national Democrats ("Haha,
Donald Trump won!") and national Republicans ("A democratic socialist
beat Hillary by more than than 20 points!"), it's time to take a look
into the mirror. Let's start first with the GOP establishment: Donald
Trump won by more than a 2-to-1 margin over his nearest competition;
second-place finisher John Kasich doesn't have a simple path to victory
in a state until *after* the March 1 primaries; Ted Cruz ran a
surprising third; and Jeb Bush even topped Marco Rubio after the Florida
senator's rough debate Saturday night. Bottom line: If establishment
Republicans were banking on the New Hampshire results to consolidate
support around a single contender going forward (Rubio?), well, that
didn't happen. And while it's possible that Rubio or another
establishment-backed Republican could catch fire in South Carolina 10
days from now, it seems more likely that the race turns into a showdown
between Trump and Cruz. The good news for establishment Republicans:
There's a way out of this mess -- 45% of GOP voters last night want the
next president to have experience, versus 50% who want an outsider,
according to the exit polls. The bad news: Five candidates (Kasich,
Bush, Rubio, Christie, even Cruz) essentially split that 45%, while
Trump took the lion's share of the 50% wanting an outsider.
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