Is Trump The Nominee, Like For Sure?

Well, that's the ballgame, as they say. Immediately following his defeat in the Indiana primary, Texas senator Ted Cruz has dropped out of the presidential race, raising a stark question: is Donald Trump definitely the Republican nominee now? By which I mean, is there any chance left that he doesn't get it? Or is the entire nominating race now stitched up tightly for the billionaire businessman, and the Republican National Committee can start printing up all the "TRUMP" signs for the convention?

In case you haven't yet heard the news, Cruz called it quits on the 2016 race after suffering yet another devastating defeat in the Hoosier State on Tuesday; leading up to the primary, he'd positioned as his campaign's last stand. Now only two candidates are left standing: Trump, and Ohio governor John Kasich, who's only won one state in the entire country (his home state, naturally).

Furthermore, Indiana has pushed Trump past the 1,000 delegate mark, and with just nine states left on the schedule, he's got a clear, odds-on path to the 1,237 majority he needs to lock things up. While voters in the remaining states could theoretically turn against Trump in such staggering numbers as to deny him the majority, they'd have to vote en masse for Kasich — who, as has been proven in state after state after state, is simply not very appealing to the GOP electorate.

So, basically, yeah: Donald Trump actually pulled it off, guys. He's chased his last, ostensibly credible challenger from the race, his results (at least within the context of a GOP primary) are cresting at the perfect time to establish him as the presumptive nominee, and the anti-Trump movement is now well and truly in disarray. In other words, you've got about a month and a half to get accustomed to the words "Republican nominee Donald J. Trump," because that's what you're going to see come July.