For the Record: Well, that was entirely expected

It feels like it's been going on for years, even though only a few of the original participants remain. At this point, the 2016 election is basically The Who's farewell tour. And look, we even have a parting on the left AND a parting on the right. It's your post-Acela Tuesday edition of For the Record ... won't you come and join the party?

Well, that was entirely expected

On Monday, we predicted that Donald Trump would sweep all five Acela Tuesday states, while Hillary Clinton would take everywhere but Rhode Island. (Of course, everyone else guessed that too, but still ... nailed it!)

Trump's victories ranged from a nail-biting 29-point victory over John Kasich in Connecticut to a comfortable 40-point win over Kasich in Delaware. "As far as I'm concerned, it's over," said during his victory speech at Trump Tower. "This is a far bigger win than we even expected — all five." (OK, maybe not everyone was guessing he'd sweep.) Ted Cruz managed only one second-place finish in Pennsylvania, but dismissed the results because they happened on Trump's "home terrain."

Clinton picked up wins in all four closed-primary states yesterday, losing only in open-primary Rhode Island. "I applaud Sen. Sanders" for pushing the party to focus on money in politics and income inequality, Clinton said at a Philadelphia rally. Among her supporters and Sanders' supporters, "there is much more that unites us than divides us." Translation: Come on over, Bernie Bros.

After yesterday, Clinton is about 250 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, while Trump is around 290ish — numbers that neither one will be able to hit until June 7, though. Want to skip forward six weeks anyway? Paste BN's Susan Page has four ways to look at the seemingly inevitable Clinton-Trump showdown.

Desperate nation makes last-ditch effort to draft more candidates

So here we are, post-Acela Tuesday. Eight days ago, our major-party choices were "Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and ... don't worry, there's probably someone else we're not thinking of." Now we're at "Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and ... wait, really? That's it?" With an apparent unwillingness either to pick their least-hated candidate or explore candidates that are actually running from parties that actually exist, the country has gone into fantasy draft mode to keep ourselves in denial until Election Day. Among the most recent imaginary third-party tickets:

• Mark Zuckerberg-Sheryl Sandberg, says Politico founder Jim VandeHei in a Wall Street Journal op-ed (paywall). As much as we'd all love to have Facebook execs more in charge of our lives, Zuckerberg is still four years too young to be president
• Gen. James Mattis, say Republicans who would have preferred to see Eisenhower run again, except that he 1) has already served two terms, and 2) is dead. "I don't understand it," said Mattis on the efforts to see him run. "It's like America has lost faith in rational thought."
• Bernie Sanders, says Donald Trump, because he thinks he has been "treated terribly by the Democrats" and this in no way has anything to do with Trump trying to split the left-of-center vote
• Joe Biden-Paul Ryan, 2012's rival VP candidates, says a former adviser to President Reagan
• Jesse Ventura, says former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura

Along those lines, Paul Ryan has put out yet another campaign-type video even while insisting that he has no plans to run for president. It even has a catchy music bed that sounds an awful lot like a slow-jam outtake from The Heavy's "How You Like Me Now?" To which we say: Bravo on the subliminal messaging, Team Ryan.

Indiana, you  must choose — but choose  wisely

Six days from now, both the Republican and Democratic races shift to Indiana (as if they hadn't already). The Hoosier State's primary next Tuesday is the latest line-in-the-sand contest for the #NeverTrump movement, which so far has a prevention rate comparable to the rhythm method.

So why is Indiana such a big deal for the GOP? It's the second-largest contest remaining on the calendar (57 delegates, trailing only California's 172), its demographics are favorable for Cruz (or at least as favorable as any of the remaining contests) ... and it's next, so why not make it into a huge deal? Now all we need is someone in an official capacity to make it sound like an apocalyptic battle for the ages ...

"We are at the pivot point of American politics," said John Hammond, Indiana's Republican National Committeeman. "The stakes couldn’t be higher, and it appears and the campaigns have put all their chips on the line in Indiana."

Yep, that will do. Programming note: Join us next Wednesday for a huge writeup on why Republican contests in California and/or New Jersey are the most pivotal contests in the history of democracy.

More from the campaign trail

• "No party preference" Californians accidentally register for hard-right American Independent Party (Los Angeles Times)
• At this point might be easier just to list off the political operatives that Trump HASN'T hired yet (Bloomberg)
• Bernie-supporting senator hosts a sing-along that implies Hillary is beholden to Wall Street. Wait, sorry ... HILLARY-supporting senator hosts a sing-along that implies Hillary is beholden to Wall Street (The News Journal)
• Chris Christie's wife seems to roll her eyes during Trump's victory speech. Donald, seriously — stop having the Christies stand behind you at speeches (Paste BN OnPolitics)
• The latest state to be relevant in the GOP race: Oregon, which hasn't gone Republican in 32 years (Statesman Journal)

'Everyone I know personally is voting for Bernie Sanders; therefore ...'

Still looking for Bernie's path to victory? College Humor does the math (with incidental profanity, so be sure to crank up the speakers at work).