The Trail 2016: And then there was one

by Ben Kamisar - 05/04/16 6:14 PM ET

Welcome to THE TRAIL 2016, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

Donald Trump has survived the war of attrition that has been the Republican presidential primary, the last man standing, now that John Kasich has ended his bid.

Like Cruz’s departure last night, Kasich’s came out of nowhere, especially for the reporters who trekked out to Washington-Dulles International Airport for what was supposed to be a morning gaggle with reporters.

But after Kasich didn’t show, the campaign ultimately canceled the gaggle and soon after confirmed that he’d end his bid despite a statement late Tuesday night promising to press on and a new Star Wars themed advertisement painting him as the GOP’s only hope.

The Ohio governor had been holding out hope for a contested convention, but that became an almost impossible outcome once Cruz dropped out and the Republican Party chair urged unity behind Trump.

Most Republicans and experts didn’t believe we’d get to this point, but here we are, with the brash real-estate magnate, reality star, and political neophyte holding the keys to the Republican Party.

Now that the likely has become the all-but-certain, check back to The Hill tonight and tomorrow with more on whether big-money donors will back Trump, how the “Never-Trump” movement is reconciling their major defeat, who Trump may choose as his running mate and on what’s next for Ted Cruz.

On the Democratic side, Devin Henry will take a look at Hillary Clinton’s trouble in West Virginia in both next week’s primary and the upcoming general election and her fight to win the hearts and minds in the Mountain State.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

COMING ATTRACTIONS: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Hillary Clinton’s campaign is already gearing up for the likely general election matchup, releasing an ad that creates a vision of what a Donald Trump presidency would look like based on his most controversial comments. A second ad reminds voters of the negative opinions other Republicans have of him.

STRIKING BACK: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Trump’s campaign has responded by warning Clinton herself hasn’t been adequately vetted.

CATCH PHRASE: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Hillary Clinton hit Donald Trump as a “loose cannon,” repeating the phrase over and over in a new interview where she slammed Trump but stopped short of calling him sexist and racist. She also admitted that she’s empathetic to Bernie Sanders staying in the race because of her own experience in 2008.

SURPRISE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Both Donald Trump and RNC chairman Reince Priebus admitted they were shocked when Ted Cruz dropped out last night.

UNDERSTATEMENT: The Hill’s Cristina Marcos reports: Pennsylvania Rep. Tom Marino, a Trump supporter, admitted that his candidate has “work to do” with female voters ahead of the general election.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: The Hill’s Cristina Marcos reports: House Administration Committee Chairwoman Candice Miller has endorsed Donald Trump, announcing that she’s “totally and completely looking forward to President Trump.” North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr also joined the fold. And Maine Sen. Susan Collins suggested she might be open to supporting him if he tones down the rhetoric.

ODDS AND ENDS:

UNLIKELY ALLIES?: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: When told about John Kasich’s decision to drop out of the race, Donald Trump said that he’d be interested in vetting Kasich to be his vice president.

CARSON JOINS THE SEARCH: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Ben Carson will help Donald Trump with his vice presidential selection search now that Trump is the last man standing. Trump said Wednesday that he’s leaning toward picking an elected official.

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT: The Hill’s Mario Trujillo reports: America Rising, the GOP opposition research group, is out with a new app to crowdsource opposition research.

FRIEND OR FOE: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio, a former top campaign aide to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign, reportedly almost endorsed Bernie Sanders over his former boss.

POLL POSITION

LUCKY NUMBER 13: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 13 points nationally in a new CNN/ORC poll.

CLINTON LEADS IN NJ: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Hillary Clinton is sporting a major lead in New Jersey’s Democratic primary. But the state’s voters are less than enthused about the prospect of home-state Sen. Corey Booker joining her on the ticket.

THE DAILY TRUMP

JFK DOUBLE DOWN: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Donald Trump once again floated unsubstantiated rumors linking Ted Cruz’s father to the John F. Kennedy assassination, defending the National Enquirer for its report making that allegation.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE: The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports: After comparing Donald Trump to Hitler and Mussolini in March, Mexican officials have decided to look at the massive economic potential of a Mexican-U.S. partnership.

SEE YOU NEXT DECADE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Don’t like the Donald? Well he has a message for you–talk to me after my two terms in office.

NO BACKTRACKING HERE: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Remember that call to ban Muslim immigration? Donald Trump does, and he’s still in favor of it.

WHAT’S TO COME: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Donald Trump believes Hillary Clinton should “suffer” for using a private email server while at the State Department. The comment came hours before a federal judge kept the door open for a possible Clinton deposition in one of the cases surrounding her emails.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’m anticipating he’ll ask me to be vice president.”

— Joe Biden, joking about hitching his wagon to Donald Trump’s in the hopes of staying in the White House.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

LOW HANGING FRUIT: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Let the general election attacks begin in the Senate, where Democratic candidates are looking to frame their Republican opponents in lock-step with Donald Trump.

READY FOR TRUMP: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports: Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s office confirmed that the vulnerable senator would back Donald Trump now that he appears to be the nominee.

AR-2700: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: A Republican House candidate from North Carolina is raffling off an AR-15 assault rifle to his campaign donors. You don’t have to donate the maximum $2,700, but the contest is only open to campaign donors.

MONEY WATCH

KEEPING THE PRESSURE ON: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: A top Koch-network group launched another ad in Wisconsin attacking Democrat Russ Feingold over an opioid prescription scandal at a Veterans Affairs medical center from back when he served in the Senate.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Donald Trump said he’d likely solicit donations for his general election campaign. While he’s ponied up millions of his own cash for the primary, supporters have also sent him millions. Trump has said he doesn’t solicit those donations, but that would likely change in the general election.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Hillary Clinton will speak at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Leadership Network’s annual gala this evening and will hold a campaign event in Los Angeles at 7:45 p.m. tomorrow.

Donald Trump heads to Charleston, W.Va., for a 7 p.m. rally tomorrow.

Bernie Sanders has a busy schedule tomorrow in West Virginia with a discussion on rural poverty at 11 a.m. near Kimball, a rally at 3 p.m. in Charleston, and a 7 p.m. rally in Morgantown.

Embattled Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson holds a rally with Speaker Paul Ryan at 3 p.m. in Burlington, Wis.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Imagine for a moment, billions of years from now when the Sun dims to a cinder. That’s the time scale of my “never” https://t.co/udis1ZJZkx

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 4, 2016