Elections Make Odd Bedfellows

Good  Monday morning, Friends,

Someone totally new is feeling The Bern, and it's none other than Donald Trump. He's come out publicly supporting Sanders.

What this is all about is Trump's whining over the primary rules, which both parties have long had in place. Trump is magnanimously declaring that his Dem opponent is being shafted even more by the rules than he is.

Things are getting pretty cozy between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The Donald
claims he's feeling Sanders' pain, but maybe he's really just feeling The Bern.

Trump is telling his own followers that Bernie keeps winning and winning, but by the rules, Hillary Clinton is getting more delegates than Sanders is.

This happens to be true, but you don't hear Sanders complaining very much because he knew and agreed to the arcane rules tilted in Hillary's favor going in. Bernie is counting on his building and sweeping momentum to carry him to the nomination.

It's very strange to hear Trump supporting an opponent, and probably the most formidable one at that, but few things he does have no ulterior motive.

So what might it be?

At the moment, Trump's lack of organization has given Ted Cruz and his superior political skills an opening to outplay him. Cruz's organization blindsided Trump yesterday in Colorado and cost the frontrunner 34 delegates.

Momentum, that all-important intangible, is clearly with Cruz, but Trump is counting on New York to stop it with blunt force and turn it around. That may well happen a week from tomorrow.

If not, and New York and the rest of the East Coast doesn't go well for Trump, he'll be looking for some cover. Donald Trump is a big winner after all. But not even a big winner like him can attain victory if the cards are unfairly stacked against him.

Clearly, The Donald is setting the stage for this contingency. By complaining now that the rules prevent him from getting the GOP nomination fairly and squarely, he's off the hook. He is still a winner, saves face and, above all, his brand.

I'm doubling-down on the Cruz challenge being more smoke and mirrors created by the 24-hour news cycle, and Trump will clinch the 1,237 votes he needs prior to the Cleveland convention.

But Trump's actions do show that he's a little rattled.