Robbins: It's over; Trump is going to be the Republican nominee...

CNN
Mel Robbins

Updated 12:40 PM ET, Wed February 24, 2016

It's over. Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.
He just added Nevada to the growing list of caucus primary wins, and while he needs more delegates to clinch it, who the heck can stop him now?


He is leading in national polls and in many state polls; he's succeeded in upending rivals such as Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson; and there's no one in sight who can stop him. The only question is when will the GOP embrace him? The answer: no time soon.
The establishment doesn't like him because it can't control him. Yet he's the only conservative candidate who stands a chance against Hillary Clinton. The polls may reflect Marco Rubio doing well as a conservative uniter, but no one will hammer Clinton's biggest weakness better than Trump, and that's Clinton fatigue.


Sorry, Bernie fans, the Democratic nomination is hers to lose.

Read More Bush has limped away from the race in a manner that validates almost every insult Trump had flung at him (these are just from the past two weeks):

"Total disaster," "had to bring in mommy to take a slap at me," "zero communication skills," "weak candidate," "spent a fortune of special interest money on a Super Bowl ad," "desperate," "failed campaign," "Not a leader!" "by far the weakest of the lot," "Jeb failed as Jeb," "gave up and enlisted Mommy and his brother," "Weak," "no chance."

At least Jeb had the guts to face the truth and withdraw. John Kasich is a nice guy, and he gives good hugs, but under what scenario does he actually win? Carson is just as surprised as you and me that he's still on stage, which means he doesn't belong there.

 

Staying in the race is delusional at this point. It's time they pack their bags and turn their loss into a win on the speaking and publishing circuit.

That leaves Rubio and Cruz. Neither one of them can beat Clinton, or Trump for that matter. Yes, Cruz captured Iowa, but he is too scary for moderate Republicans and independents. And the GOP "establishment" can hope that with Jeb gone, Rubio will scoop up enough non-Trump votes to cruise to a victory, but that's not happening either. After Cruz and Trump grab their share of the undecided, there won't be enough left to give Rubio the bump he needs to pass Trump.

Last summer, I gave you five reasons why so many Americans loved Trump and why he would go the distance. Notice, four of the five points cemented his path to the Republican nomination. At the time, the seasoned political commentators and pundits just rolled their eyes at me. Now they're predicting a win.

1. He's real.

2. He doesn't care what you think.

3. Many Americans hate Washington.

4. It's early (null).

5. You want to see him debate.

(As I mentioned in that piece, in full disclosure, I know Trump. I've delivered keynotes for his company, spoken at the same leadership events, chatted in green rooms and interviewed him on camera.)

Also notice Trump's campaign hasn't changed one bit in eight months, either. If anything, Trump has just doubled down on the tone, the temper and the tactics.

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