MARCH 2, 2016
Photo: AP
Super Tuesday proved to be just that for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as the respective Republican and Democratic front-runners each took 7 of 11 states in yesterday’s delegate-filled primaries and caucuses. Their victories (and subsequent delegate hauls) helped to put even more distance between them and their nearest challengers. While neither candidate has yet to garner enough delegates to make it mathematically impossible to be caught, they’re quickly nearing that point, and each party may have a nominee by March 15.
Meanwhile, Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Bernie Sanders each cemented their status as their parties’ main challengers, both winning victories in a number of states. For Marco Rubio, who made news last week by standing up to Trump at Thursday’s debate, Tuesday proved to be a tough evening.
And we may have seen the last of our retired neurosurgeon.
Lots to get to. Let’s check out the results:
REPUBLICANS
DONALD TRUMP (won 7 states — AL, AR, GA, MA, TN, VT, VA) While there was some speculation as recently as last week that Trump could win all 11 primaries on Super Tuesday, he did manage to take 7 states, significantly increasing his delegate lead over the field. He showed impressive geographical diversity, winning both in New England (Vermont & Massachusetts) as well as the Deep South (Georgia & Alabama). There’s no underestimating how important momentum is in putting you over the top in close races. And last night’s results only increase Trump’s momentum.
I have to say something about Chris Christie’s looming presence behind Trump at the billionaire’s victory press conference held at his 54-room Florida estate Mar-a-Lago. After introducing Trump, the NJ Governor stood behind him throughout the entire event, looking at every moment like the consigliere in “The Godfather.” As Trump began to drone on, Christie’s eyes began to glaze over, and he started to look like the victim in a hostage video. Within minutes, internet pranksters weighed in, placing “Get me out of here!” thought bubbles above Christie’s staring head. I can’t recently remember a politician who has been so crassly opportunistic as Christie, hogging the spotlight with a candidate whom he had called “unfit to be president” just weeks ago, and last night’s internet mockery is a manifestation of just how quickly Christie has destroyed his political reputation.
TED CRUZ (won 3 states — AK, OK, TX) Cruz did what he absolutely needed to do last night by winning his home state of Texas. (Had he lost Texas, he would be toast.) He had also hoped to pick up an adjoining state, and he did that with Oklahoma. What was a more unexpected surprise was winning the caucuses in Alaska. Cruz picked up a nice chunk of delegates last night, but Trump won more, extending his already large lead. What remains to be seen is whether he can be considered by establishment Republicans as a palatable alternative to Trump.
MARCO RUBIO (won 1 state — MN) Last week was Rubio’s big week — he got under Trump’s skin at Thursday’s debate, racked up more endorsements than anyone and effectively used mockery as a weapon against Trump. He was poised last night to show the party just who the alternative to Trump should be. And he didn’t. The good news is that he actually won his first state with the Minnesota caucuses, thus avoiding going zero for 15 and the inevitable calls to get out of the race. But Rubio needed to do much better to stay viable, and his path to the nomination has now narrowed considerably.
JOHN KASICH (won zero states) Though the Ohio governor came close to beating Trump in Vermont, he washed out pretty much everywhere else. Kasich has said he is holding out to compete in his home state Ohio’s March 15 winner-take-all primary. But if he gets crushed in next week’s primary in nearby Michigan, he may drop out before Ohio to risk the embarrassment of losing his home state.
BEN CARSON (won zero states) After last night’s drubbing, Carson announced this afternoon that he is skipping Thursday night’s GOP debate and will make a big announcement at the conservative conference CPAC on Friday, where he’s likely to announce he’s suspending his campaign. So long, Doctor — it’s been fun.
DEMOCRATS
HILLARY CLINTON (won 7 states — AL, AR, GA, MA, TN, VT, VA) Like Trump, Clinton’s geographical range — winning from New England to the Deep South — was impressive in its breadth, indicating widespread national support. Clinton won the states she was expected to win but got a surprise bonus by taking Massachusetts, which was thought to be solidly in the Sanders column. She extended her already wide delegate lead over Sanders, and with the help of Democratic superdelegates, she may soon be able to put the nomination mathematically out of reach for the Vermont Senator.
BERNIE SANDERS (won 4 states — CO, MN, OK, VT) Sanders won the states that he had been expected to win, but losing neighboring Massachusetts must have hurt. Sanders’ problem is that he has demonstrated little appeal to African-American voters (the states he won last night were largely white) and with Michigan and its large contingent of minority voters set to vote next Tuesday, the path ahead doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier for him soon.
THE DELEGATE COUNT
Delegates are what this race is all about, so let’s look at the current totals, as of Wednesday afternoon:
REPUBLICANS (1,237 needed to win)
Donald Trump 316
Ted Cruz 226
Marco Rubio 106
John Kasich 25
Ben Carson 8
DEMOCRATS (2,383 needed to win)
Hillary Clinton 577 (plus 457 superdelegates) = 1,034
Bernie Sanders 386 (plus 22 superdelegates) = 408
The next event on the campaign calendar will be Thursday’s four-person GOP debate from Detroit on Fox News Channel. Be there or be square.
