Dickerson: Stopping Donald Trump now is "a long shot"
Donald Trump took home the most wins on Super Tuesday, making it even harder for those in the Republican party looking to stop him from taking the party nomination.
John Dickerson, anchor of "Face the Nation" and CBS News political director, spoke with Scott Pelley about if it is even possible to stop him now.
There's a lot of talk about stopping Donald Trump, but how practical is that?
It's a long shot. There is definitely motivation. I asked someone involved in the anti-Trump effort to rank the Republican panic on a scale of one to ten, and he said 11. But harnessing that panic requires politicians and party regulars to organize themselves quickly, and there's no leader in this effort. It requires them to take a big risk. Normally they don't like to be on the wrong side of public opinion. And there's no guarantee [it will work] -- attacks from establishment could very well make Trump stronger.
What is one of the most plausible approaches to stopping Trump?
The shortest long shot would be to deny Trump the delegates needed for the nomination. By launching a withering set of ads immediately in delegate-rich states like Ohio and Florida, which vote on March 15, the hope would be to tear Trump down and give some other candidate a chance to win. Then there would be no clear winner, and the delegates could be persuaded to pick someone other than Trump in the possibly more controlled environment of the convention.
Looking at the Democrats, does Bernie Sanders have a shot against Hillary Clinton?
It's a very, very distant shot. He's winning states, but shes winning more than he is. She has a delegate lead, and unless something changes in the dynamic, she's on her way to the nomination.