THE DECISIVE NIGHT – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:   Donald Trump handily defeated Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary, forcing Cruz to announce that he is suspending his campaign.  Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president. 

On the other side, Bernie Sanders won a stunning, unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton in a sign that the Democratic base is far from united on Clinton as its nominee.  However, delegates from Indiana are awarded proportionally, and Bernie's gain in convention votes will be very small.  Sanders, statistically, can probably not get the nomination, but he's staying in the race to press for his views to be adopted the Democratic convention.  And remember that Clinton still faces the results of an FBI investigation into her cyber activities while secretary of state.

The Republican national chairman, Reince Priebus, immediately called for the GOP to unite around Trump.  It's hard to know how effective that appeal will be.  Trump is despised by a large chunk of the party, and his seeming inability to inject some class into his campaign hasn't helped his cause.  Republicans running for the Senate and House might, in many cases, distance themselves from their party's presidential nominee, declaring themselves "independent Republicans," and saving their own careers.

There are rumors of a "Republicans for Hillary," which wouldn't surprise me.  There are also the usual rumors about a third party, but I don't see who its leader could be.

The election is six months from this week.  That is still an enormous amount of time, and a major event could disrupt our political process.   But, right now, it's Trump vs. Clinton.

May 3, 2016