Rubio says Trump ‘underperformed’ in Nevada

― Reuters picWASHINGTON, Feb 24 ― Businessman Donald Trump inched closer to becoming the Republican Party’s presidential candidate yesterday with a victory in the Nevada caucuses, his third win in four early-nominating contests.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida captured the second place with fewer than 2,000 more votes than Ted Cruz of Texas as final vote totals were reported. The other two candidates, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, were in the single digits.

Thirteen states vote in Republican contests on March 1, known as Super Tuesday, and Trump suggested after winning Nevada that he was closing in on the nomination.

“Every time I see him it’s hard for me to turn down money because that’s not what I’ve done my whole life”, Trump said.

But even Trump had sought to temper expectations, saying with caucuses there are “always problems” and imploring the thousands of supporters who turned up at his caucus eve rally in Las Vegas to get out and vote. But home states have helped candidates in the past. That’s slightly more than said they want a candidate who can win in November or who can bring change, each chosen by about a quarter of caucus attendees.

Donald Trump pulled off a big victory.

The Washington Post attributed Trump’s third straight win in Nevada to “an angry electorate hungry for a political outsider in the White House”.

In a remarkable statistic, though one with a large 10 per cent margin of error and on a small sample, a CNN entrance poll found that 44 per cent of Latinos in Nevada voted for Mr Trump, beating two rivals of Hispanic descent with Mr Rubio on 29 per cent and Mr Cruz on 18 per cent.

The victory gives Trump huge momentum going into next week’s Super Tuesday.

Nevada’s caucusing played out in schools, community centers and places of worship. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, appeared to open a wider path in the race for Mr. Rubio when he ended his campaign on Saturday after a disappointing finish in the SC primary.

While Cruz has intensified his hawkish comments on immigration to compete with Trump, Rubio has sought to unite Republican leaders behind his bid, casting himself as the only candidate capable both of defeating Trump and winning a hard general election race. But Trump was supported by half of those who said they were only somewhat conservative, and more than half of moderates.

“One week from today will be the most important night of this campaign”, he said.

Trump was also a candidate who seemed perfectly suited to the blunt-talking, libertarian-leaning, government-loathing voters who live in Nevada, a state that really does sometimes feel like the Wild West.