Watch CBS News

In Wis., Trump Aims For Disaffected Voters

RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump wants voters to know his message to the disaffected isn't meant for Republicans alone.

The party's presidential front-runner told supporters Saturday that he's out to bring independents and Democrats behind his cause even though "right now I'm catering to the Republicans."

Contenders in both parties bid for an edge ahead of Wisconsin's primaries Tuesday, none more actively than Trump, who faces a likely struggle against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the state.

The Republican race is overshadowed by a persistent effort by Trump's rivals in the campaign and the party to force the nomination fight into the July convention — and by his equivocations on whether he will be loyal to the GOP or bolt for an independent candidacy if he feels mistreated.

In Racine, in the first of his three rallies Saturday, Trump said little to suggest his allegiance with the GOP is cast in stone. He offered the critique that the Republican Party had a "falling-asleep reputation" until his campaign caught fire and brought millions of new voters out to primaries and caucuses.

And he sharply challenged Cruz, who appears to have the advantage in the Wisconsin race. "There's such deception and lying," he said of his rival.

The Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders has grown increasingly bitter, too, though it has not matched the GOP contest for raw hostility. Their attention will quickly turn to an even more consequential contest, in New York on April 19, where the Democratic front-runner dearly hopes to avoid an upset in the state she served as senator.

Sanders urged Wisconsin rally-goers to come out in droves Tuesday.

"Here is the political reality," he told a young, pumped-up crowd on the University of Wisconsin's Eau Claire campus. "If there is a large voter turnout — if working people, many of whom have given up on the political process, if young people come, perhaps for the first time — ... we will win on Tuesday."

Wisconsin has emerged as a proving ground for anti-Trump forces as the front-runner's campaign hit a rough patch.

In an interview Friday, to be broadcast on "Fox News Sunday," Trump left open the question of an independent candidacy when asked about it. "I want to run as a Republican," Trump said. But if he doesn't get the nomination? "I'm going to have to see how I was treated. Very simple."

Cruz has little chance to overtake Trump in the delegate hunt before the convention; Ohio Gov. John Kasich has none. Both hope to deny Trump a delegate majority in what's left of the primary season, forcing the nomination to be settled at a contested convention at which one of them might emerge.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.