Henry Olsen

Farmers may be only a small part of the population, but they wield outsized influence everywhere for cultural and economic reasons.

The Republican presidential race, such as it was, effectively ended Saturday night in South Carolina . Donald Trump's 20-point landslide in Nikki

GALLANT, AL - DECEMBER 12: Republican Senatorial candidate Roy Moore rides his horse after casting his vote at the polling location setup in the Fire Department on December 12, 2017 in Gallant, Alabama. Mr. Moore is facing off against Democrat Doug Jones in the special election for the U.S. Senate. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Roy Moore is questioned by the media in the Capitol (Credit Image: CQ-Roll Call/SIPA USA/PA Images)

But that requires ensuring that there are no fights, or alternative messages coming from the convention floor — something winners cannot fully control. Defeated candidates can still deploy their delegates to obstruct the winner's will by posing contentious amendments to the party platform or by using their nominating speeches to criticize the nominee. That can become news, and prospective nominees will cut deals to prevent that from happening.

In Ireland and Portugal, yet more evidence of a global trend. D onald Trump's electoral annihilation of Nikki Haley shows yet again that populism remains a potent force.

All eyes will be on House Speaker Mike Johnson when the House returns next week. He has a lot on his plate, including a controversial approach to approving more military aid for Ukraine. Whether that specific gambit succeeds or not, it’s become increasingly clear that he’s not the man to bring the Republican Party’s internal factions together.

It's not too much of a stretch to say that the political future of this movement will be at stake.

Save one, Trump is the strongest nonincumbent putative GOP nominee of the past 40 years.

There are lots of reasons to wonder whether Trump can beat Biden despite the incumbent's record-low job-approval ratings. Trump's performance in the most recent primaries isn't one of them.