Political Analyst: Some Republicans Will Vote Hillary Over Trump
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Hill's A.B. Stoddard took stock of what she called a divided Republican Party following last night's presidential debate that saw Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio assert themselves at the front of the competitive pack.
Stoddard told Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that some in the party are so dismayed with how the primary season has played out that they could potentially cross over and vote for the Democratic nominee.
"I've spoken to many Republicans who will vote for Hillary. They will not stay home if Donald Trump is the nominee. They will actively try to make sure that she has all the votes. That way, they believe, you lose the cycle but you save the party and you move on. The idea of a Trump or Cruz presidency scares them more."
She said she's having a hard time seeing how the party will coalesce around one person once the nominating process is over.
"If you're a hawk, Donald Trump is an abomination and you don't want him spending a week in the Oval Office...They are worried about Ted Cruz on metadata collection. They're worried about Donald Trump all over the place. They don't think he has the temperament, the knowledge, the interest, the focus, nothing to be Commander in Chief. They're going to be backing Rubio. But if you're a social conservative, you're probably with Ted Cruz. If you're a fed up conservative and you hate the establishment and you want to burn it down, you're with Trump. It's so divided now. It's so balkanized that it's really hard to say there's a conservative candidate."
Regarding the debate itself, Stoddard thinks Cruz performed well, but took a lot of shots in the process.
"I guess that people could say Cruz won the night just because he bobbed and weaved and slapped few people down at times, came back on the loan story, came back on the birther thing. I think that Rubio had his moment where he did a machine gun take down of Cruz's flip-flops. It was at the end and he was getting desperate and running out of time but I think he attacked him 15 times in one soundbite and Trump took [Cruz] down on 'New York' values. I think those are the three players right now. Unless and until something else happens, they represent the three wings of a very, very divided party."
