Letterto the Editor: Vote in the primary and support a winner

Recently, a petition was circulated among some Republican voters in Kent County. This petition called for the support of Donald Trump and also called for Governor John Kasich to drop out of the race. I want to write a quick note to apologize for my angry response to the petition. I am sorry if I hurt anyone’s feelings. I should have been more objective in my response. Truthfully, I am very surprised and disappointed in the number of Trump supporters in Kent County. I like numbers, and so, I have collected some recent statistics. I did a tally of the support for winners of the Republican primaries after 30 states had held their primaries (not counting New York). Mr. Trump “won” the primaries in 20 of those states, but he only got more than 40 percent of the vote in 10 of those states — fewer than 40 percent of the voters supported him in the 10 other states where he “won.” In the states where he “lost,” he only got more than 30 percent the votes in three states. But as we all know, you can lie with statistics. The highest percentage of Republican voters in any state to support Mr. Trump was [in] Massachusetts, with 49.3 percent. That is very misleading because Massachusetts is obviously a Democratic Party stronghold. In polls quoted in the April 8, 2016, Leominster Champion (a small local Massachusetts newspaper) in the general election, Clinton would beat Trump by a margin of 62 percent vs. 26 percent and Cruz by 63 percent vs. 30 percent. Not only that, Sanders would beat Trump 70 percent vs. 23 percent and Cruz by 71 percent vs. 24 percent. And, to add insult to injury, about one-fifth (20 percent) of Republican voters surveyed said they would cross party lines and support either Clinton or Sanders over Trump or Cruz if the election were held now. What does this mean to voters? Even amongst Republicans, Mr. Trump is supported by no more than 40 percent of the voters. Factoring in the number of Republicans nationally — which is obviously less than 50 percent (and even using that very generous figure), Mr. Trump only has the support of 20 percent of the American people. It may be true that some Democrats would support Mr. Trump, but in the big picture that is certainly an insignificant number. Independent voters are going to be a significant factor in this election, but if only 40 percent of Republicans want Mr. Trump as the nominee, it is very unlikely that a significant number of Independents would support him. Why would the Republican Party nominate a candidate like Mr. Trump for the highest office in our country, and arguably the most powerful person in the world, when only 20 percent ± 5 percent of the people would support him? Polls continue to show that Governor John Kasich is the only GOP candidate who would win the election in November. When will Republicans wake up and recognize the need to get together and support the only candidate who can win for the GOP? Selecting a loser (once again) for the general election will indeed probably signal the beginning of the end of the GOP. It is now or never for Delaware voters. When you vote next Tuesday (and I certainly hope you will), be sure to support someone who can win in November.

Steve Halstead

Frederica