2016 US Presidential Primaries: Clinton and Trump Win Big on Super Tuesday

 

 

Trump and Clinton Win Big on Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday (March 1st), - the biggest day of the 2016 US primary season - with 13 states and one territory participating: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming and American Samoa eventually came and left, but not without putting former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and business mogul cum former reality TV host Donald Trump (both frontrunners of their respective parties) in the driver's seat towards clinching the nomination with a series of victories.

 

Clinton and Trump each won seven of 11 state races, distancing themselves from party rivals as they look ahead to the November 8 presidential election with a field of 35 states yet to hold their primaries.

Ted Cruz, a Republican senator, won his home state of Texas, Alaska and Oklahoma as he sought to emerge as Trump's main rival whilst Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida who has lately been involved in a verbal spat with Trump won in Minnesota.

In the field of two, Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s main rival and only challenger won Oklahoma, his home state of Vermont, Colorado and Minnesota.

Cruz desperately needed the win in his home state of Texas to stay relevant and to keep campaigning as the only Republican who has been able to defeat Trump in any primary contest.

Still, Trump's wins in the South were a blow to Cruz, who once saw the region as his opportunity to stake a claim to the nomination.

Instead, he has watched Trump display surprising strength with the region's evangelical Christians and social conservatives.

For Marco Rubio, who is also seeking to emerge as the main alternative to Trump, especially, given the recent verbal spat between them, his performance on the night was inadequate and the recent rallying of Republican officeholders behind him has failed to give his flagging campaign the much needed boost as he only score a win in Minnesota.

His last stand and long-shot hope of wrapping the nomination is now very much dependent on the March 15^th primary in his home state of Florida where polls show him trailing Trump.

Hillary Clinton’s win in the South echoes her strength among African American voters and minority groups who are an important part of the Democratic base and overwhelmingly support her.

Clinton, once seen as the anointed Democratic nominee was bogged down somewhat by controversy over her use of her personal email account while she was the US Secretary of State, and has had to contended with an unexpectedly strong challenge from Sanders, the Vermont Senator and self-described democratic socialist who has been able to grab the support of a lot of youthful voters but has failed to garner votes from minority populations.

But, recent wins in Nevada, South Carolina and Super Tuesday has bolstered her campaign and encouraged her to set her eyes on Trump who seems to be on his way to win the GOP nomination;

"It's clear tonight that the stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower," said Clinton who is focused on making history as America's first female president.

 

With an eye on a looming November 8 match-up with Clinton, Trump also disparaged her as part of a political establishment that has failed Americans.

"She's been there for so long," Trump told a news conference at his swanky Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. "If she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years."

With the mathematical path to the nomination getting a tad murkier for the other primary candidates, Clinton and Trump are looking to March 5^th when the next slew of caucuses and primary events are scheduled to take place in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Nebraska.

 

Abena Alice with news wires