Inevitable?

Trump (45.9%) crushed Rubio (23.9%) and Cruz (21.4%) in Nevada, giving him three consecutive victories.  He won in New England, he won in the South, and now he has won in the West.  His only loss was a second place finish in the Midwest.  Amazingly, he won Hispanics!  How does the man who is best known for wanting to deport illegal aliens (which is strangely synonymous with Hispanic) win the Hispanic vote?  Plus, the turnout was record setting.  Trump had more votes in 2016 (34,531) than were cast for all Republican candidates in 2012 (33,000).  The voter engagement has dramatically increased from 2012.

 

State	2012	2016	% Up
Iowa	121,000	180,000	49%
New Hampshire	248,900	284,000	14%
South Carolina	603,000	730,000	21%
Nevada	33,000	75,000	127%

 

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders' socialist rebellion among the Democrats, which would appear to be hugely popular just based on what I see on Facebook, is proving to provide far less energy than the last contested nomination in 2008.

 

State	2008	2016	% Down
Iowa	239,972	171,109	-29%
New Hampshire	288,672	250,983	-13%
Nevada	120,000	80,000	-33%

 

All the enthusiasm and energy is currently with the Republicans.  Will that hold through November?  It looks very like a Trump vs. Hillary election.  Neither Hillary nor Bernie can fire up the base like Barack Obama did in 2008.  Unless she is indicted, Hillary is going to be the nominee.  She lacks her husband's political gifts and charisma, which means the turn out so far probably reflects the turn out in November.  By contrast, Trump can do no wrong in the eyes of his supporters.  Unless something changes soon, it looks like President Trump might be inevitable.