Susan Page

USA TODAY

The confident predictions about Donald Trump's candidacy over the past eight months have been disproven again and again — starting with the judgment that he wouldn't run, that his outrageous statements would undermine his appeal, that voters would show up for the entertainment value of his rallies but not cast a ballot for him when it mattered.

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

Now his third-in-a-row victory in the Nevada caucuses Tuesday marks new breakthroughs for the candidate who undeniably has earned the status of likely Republican presidential nominee. With almost all of the vote counted, he was backed by 45.9% — breaking the supposed "ceiling" on his support that the political pros predicted he faced. Indeed, his support was a stitch higher than the combined vote for his two strongest remaining rivals.

Trump rolls on to Super Tuesday as rivals pursue

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio edged Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for second place, a result likely to give neither a significant boost of momentum but ensure that both stay in the race — the best possible outcome for the billionaire businessman who attacks Cruz as a liar and dismisses Rubio as a lightweight.

Next up: The Super Tuesday contests in a dozen states next week, including a swath of states across the South, the geographic base of the GOP. An uncharacteristically subdued Cruz warned supporters that it would be "the most important night of this campaign."

Top takeaways from the Nevada Republican caucuses

Consider this: According to surveys of voters in Nevada on Tuesday, Trump carried evangelical Christians over Cruz, the core of the Texas senator's base. He won Hispanics over his two Latino rivals. He won among every ideological group, every education group, every racial group and both genders. He won among both Republicans and independents.

The theme that threads through his supporters is concern and worse about the state of the nation. Almost every caucusgoer — 94% — expressed a negative view about the government. Six in 10 described themselves as "angry." An equal number said they wanted the next president to come from "outside politics."

Enter Donald Trump.

"So we won the evangelicals," he declared at a victory rally at a Las Vegas hotel. "We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated. We're the smartest people; we're the most loyal people. And you know what I'm happy about? Because I've been saying it for a long time: 46% were the Hispanics; 46% — number one with Hispanics."

Looking at the primaries and caucuses ahead, he predicted: "It's going to be an amazing two months. We might not even need the two months, folks, to be honest."

Already Trump has won decisive victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and now Nevada — and over a record-sized field, vanquishing governors, senators and a GOP dynasty. He's expanded the Republican electorate, helping to draw record turnouts. He's forged the broadest-based coalition of any of his opponents.

That will be tested Tuesday, with contests from Massachusetts and Vermont to Georgia and Texas. At that point, nearly a third of Republican convention delegates will have been chosen. Two weeks later, with March 15 primaries in Florida, Ohio and elsewhere, nearly two-thirds will be chosen.

Then we'll know how the latest set of questions — could a single rival defeat Trump in a head-to-head showdown? What are the chances of a contested convention for the first time in four decades? — will get answered.