COLUMBIA, S.C. \u2014 Depending on which campaign is talking,\u00a0the Republican presidential race is either a three-person, two-person, or one-person affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In any event,\u00a0Donald Trump,\u00a0Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio all claimed success in South Carolina and moved Sunday to take the fight to Nevada and other states that will help decide the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think we’re going to do very well,” said Trump, the unquestioned Republican front-runner after a comfortable win in South Carolina, 11 days after an easy victory in New Hampshire. The New York businessman had predicted he would “run the table” after a victory in South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump stopped short of declaring ultimate victory Sunday telling CNN’s\u00a0State of the Union\u00a0that there are “talented people” remaining in the field. “We’ll see what happens \u2014 certainly nobody’s unstoppable,” Trump told CNN, though he later added that, “so far, I’m really on my way” and “I’m going to win.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cruz noted he is the only candidate to have beaten Trump \u2014 in the\u00a0Iowa caucusesFeb. 1 \u2014\u00a0and said that more and more conservatives realize he is the only who can best him. “We’re seeing Republicans come to us in incredible numbers,” Cruz told CBS’s\u00a0Face The Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rubio, who finished second in South Carolina by a razor-thin margin over Cruz, pronounced it a “three-person race,” and the Florida senator predicted traditional Republicans would rally around him in the face of challenges by anti-establishment “outsider” candidates Trump and Cruz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rubio campaign also began overtures to supporters of Former Florida Gov.\u00a0Jeb Bush, once a Rubio patron,\u00a0who dropped out of the race Saturday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We feel like a lot of the people that were on Jeb’s team are people we’re gonna welcome onto our team,” Rubio told reporters aboard a plane to Tennessee, where he makes a campaign appearance Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up to now, the anti-Trump vote\u00a0has been split among multiple candidates,\u00a0Rubio said on CBS’\u00a0Face The Nation.\u00a0That will change as more and more rivals drop out,\u00a0he added, and “we feel really good about this coalescing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two other Republican candidates who finished low in South Carolina \u2014\u00a0Ohio Gov.John Kasich\u00a0and retired neurosurgeon\u00a0Ben Carson\u00a0\u2014 vowed to stay in the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next up for Republicans is Nevada, which hosts GOP caucuses on Tuesday after handing\u00a0Hillary Clinton\u00a0a win in Democratic caucuses Saturday. Early polls give Trump a huge lead in that state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also on the horizon: March 1 contests in a dozen states, mostly southern states\u00a0that somewhat mirror South Carolina, including Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prospect of\u00a0“Super Tuesday” explains why Trump has an event Sunday in Atlanta, and\u00a0why Rubio plans to campaign in Tennessee and Arkansas. Cruz has campaign appearances in Nevada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In bidding to nail down the\u00a0Republican nomination, Trump has a chance to defeat his nearest rivals in their home states:\u00a0Cruz in Texas on March 1 and Rubio in Florida on March 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kasich, meanwhile, campaigned Saturday in two other March 1 states, Vermont and Massachusetts. The Ohio governor also plans to make major bids on friendlier terrain in the Midwest, including contests in Michigan on March 8 and his home state on March 15<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump’s opponents have long contended that their numbers will rise as other Republican\u00a0candidates leave the race. They cite\u00a0intense anti-Trump feeling within the party because of his critical comments about Mexicans, women, former\u00a0President George W. Bush, and the GOP establishment in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The maverick billionaire\u00a0disputed that analysis, telling supporters during his victory rally in South Carolina that\u00a0“as people drop out, I’m going to get a lot of those votes also.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whoever draws votes from whom, the remaining Republican face figures to be as intense as the contest in South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump and Cruz accused each other of lying and questioned the other’s basic stability. Trump\u00a0has even threatened to sue Cruz\u00a0over his eligibility to be the president, citing his birth in Canada. Cruz notes his mother was a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cruz and Rubio also argued about their positions on immigration, a topic that also triggered disputes between Rubio and\u00a0Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to backers in South Carolina, Trump signaled the coming fury by discussing the difficulties of running for president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s tough, it’s nasty, it’s mean, it’s vicious\u00a0\u2014 it’s beautiful,” Trump said. “When you win, it’s beautiful.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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