The Nevada caucus "sets up the plate for Super Tuesday" next week — and that could seal Donald Trump's bid for the Republican presidential nomination, political strategist Dick Morris told
Newsmax TV on Tuesday.
"Trump seems poised not only to win Nevada, but to do very well in all the states coming up on Super Tuesday," Morris told host Ed Berliner on the "Newsmax TV 2016 Nevada Caucus Special" in an interview. "The importance of Nevada is that it sets up the plate for Super Tuesday and creates expectations for what happens then."
And the test is where rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz finish in Nevada as well as next week, Morris said.
"If Rubio finishes third, a majority of his votes would go to Cruz in a two-way race," he told Berliner. "But if Cruz finishes third, most of his votes will go to Trump and not Rubio."
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That is because "the fault line that runs through the Republican Party is establishment against the anti-establishment," Morris said. "The establishment guys are Rubio, [Jeb] Bush, [Chris] Christie and [Scott] Walker — and the anti-establishment is Trump and Cruz and [Ben] Carson.
"The Trump and Cruz voters have a lot more in common than the Cruz and Rubio voters.
"If Rubio finishes second [in Nevada] and on Super Tuesday, then Trump is going to be the nominee," Morris said. "If Cruz passes Rubio and finishes second, then it's going to be a tough fight between Trump and Cruz."