Numbers tell the real story of who can beat Clinton

The recent primary election actually resulted in a number of surprises. Such elections typically have lower turnouts than the general election, but the media is making a big deal of the fact that Donald Trump got 61 percent of the Republican vote. That may be true, but let’s look at what that really means. There are 660,000 registered voters in Delaware, but only 28 percent of them are registered Republicans. Sadly, only 37.7 percent showed up to vote on Tuesday, so, that means we had only 59,243 votes cast in the Republican primary. And Donald Trump got 60.8 percent of those votes, or a total of 36,020 votes. That is less than 5.5 percent of the votes of Delaware residents. Not a very convincing number, is it? Some might say that 61 percent is a mandate, but now, you can see the actual picture. What we are seeing is another example of the very vocal minority trying to force themselves on the rest of us. This is what happens when the majority are complacent and just let the enthusiastic folks take over. Those who did not vote have only themselves to blame. There were actually six candidates listed on the GOP primary ballot, since three had not submitted paperwork to drop out in Delaware. Some 2,085 voters wasted their opportunity to vote by voting for someone who is not even running any longer. I wonder if they knew those people had dropped out. Perhaps they just did not like any of the other candidates — they certainly did not vote for Trump or Cruz! In fact, that could be part of the reason so many stayed home. It is time the GOP took a very good look at whom they are nominating for president. They picked a loser in 2008 (most likely because McCain chose Tea Party activist Sarah Palin as his running mate) and again in 2012 with Romney. And who is now supporting and helping with the Cruz campaign? None other than Mitt Romney. The party really needs to discard their losers during the election cycles. Many people today do not take much stock in the polls, but there have been 16 consecutive national polls comparing prospective head-to-head presidential elections of the various candidates. (Trump vs. Clinton, Cruz vs. Clinton, Kasich vs. Clinton, Trump vs. Sanders, etc.) These all have shown that the only GOP candidate who would beat Hillary Clinton in November is Gov. John Kasich. He is a proven executive as the two-term governor of Ohio — elected by 63 percent of all Ohio voters. He served in the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and served as the chairman of the House Budget Committee for six years. The last time the federal budget was balanced was during his tenure in that position. His popularity includes moderate Democrats and many unaffiliated voters in Delaware, as well as a wide range of voters nationwide. Wake up, GOP leadership. This is a republic, not a democracy. The delegates to the national convention in Cleveland must have the door open to cast their votes for the one and only candidate who can win the White House for the Republicans. Please do not let Hillary Clinton nominate the next justice to the Supreme Court of the United States (or two or even three justices). We will regret the choice of the wrong candidate for a very long time if a mistake is made this year.

Steve Halstead

Frederica