Trump blasts delegate system while Clinton focuses on Pa.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Hillary Clinton, the nearly unstoppable Democrat, and Republican front-runner Donald Trump accelerated Wednesday toward Northeast primaries on an increasingly direct path to presidential nominations after trouncing party challengers in New York.

Clinton, now 81 percent of the way toward clinching the Democratic nomination that eluded her eight years ago, can lose every remaining contest and still prevail. Her sweeping victory in the New York primary called into question the durability of Bernie Sanders’ rival campaign and left him with severely limited options for overtaking her.

In North Philadelphia on Wednesday night, several black protesters were escorted out of a Clinton rally.

While Trump strengthened his hand, he is far from in the clear.

Trump is focused heavily on clinching the Republican nomination through voters’ balloting in state primaries, thus avoiding a contested national convention in Cleveland in July. The businessman’s win in his home state keeps him on a path to securing the 1,237 delegates he needs, though he’ll have to perform well in the round of primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware on Tuesday and in California’s huge contest June 7.

His chief rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has no mathematical path to getting the nomination through primary voting. But he sees a window to snatch the nomination from Trump at the convention, and his campaign is working feverishly to line up delegates who would support him if Trump fails to prevail on a first ballot.

The side-by-side GOP efforts at this late stage – with Trump amassing primary victories while Cruz digs for the support of delegates who could settle the nomination – are unprecedented in recent presidential campaigns and add to the deeply uncertain nature of the race.

Trump railed against the Republican nominating system, pointing to Louisiana, where he was outmaneuvered by Cruz in the fight for delegates, and Pennsylvania, where the statewide winner gets 17 delegates outright and the rest “are up for grabs.”

“They can take the delegates, they can put ‘em in airplanes and fly ‘em to resorts, they can have dinners with them, they can put them in hotels. Essentially what they’re saying is they can buy the election,” Trump said.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the only other Republican left in the race, picked up at least three New York delegates.

Sanders decamped to Vermont but planned to campaign in Pennsylvania today and Friday.