To begin, in the Democratic Party, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to hold a considerable lead in delegates over Senator Bernie Sanders, despite her losses to Sanders in a number of states. On Tuesday, Clinton won the majority of primaries which took place. Sanders slipped by with wins in a few liberal states; he won in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont on Tuesday, Kansas and Nebraska on Saturday, and Maine today). Sanders, however, is struggling to keep up with Clinton's high delegate count, especially that which includes her plurality of Democratic superdelegates (unpledged delegates who can support any candidate they want). At this time, Clinton has received the votes of 1,129 delegates, while Sanders possesses those of only 498. Evidently, Clinton has been dominating the race thus far; therefore, if Sanders is to have a real chance of beating the powerhouse candidate that is Hillary Clinton, he is going to have to seriously consider a new strategy in order to widen his appeal to more moderate voters.
Moreover, the states that Sanders has won so far have been those which are more liberal; he has had a great deal of trouble, though, receiving votes in more moderate states, in particular those in the South. In a number of Southern states, such as South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, Clinton has won 70 percent or more of the vote. These strong wins indicate the fact that Sanders does not carry a wide appeal among African-American voters, which, as history proves, is a key factor in winning Southern states. While Sanders appeals to a great number of young voters, Clinton's base is much more diverse. Furthermore, Sanders' narrow appeal and far-left stances will eventually bring about his downfall as a serious presidential candidate. Many of his positions are highly idealistic and focused on changing the way the government is run, as opposed to Clinton, who is much more pragmatic and centered on receiving support from the Democratic establishment. The primaries will continue for Clinton and Sanders in Michigan and Mississippi in Tuesday, and the two candidates will be debating tonight in Flint, Michigan.
In the Republican field, Donald Trump has continued to dominate throughout the nation. On Super Tuesday, Trump was victorious in all but four states, typically winning in between 35 and 45 percent of the vote in those states which he won. His significant lead over the other Republican candidates in most states has recently sparked a serious dilemma within the Republican Party. For some time, many Republicans have assumed that Trump's lead in the polls would not persist into primary season, yet he continues to lead over the other candidates and has even gained more support in some states. The Republican Party now understands that its future may be in considerable jeopardy if Donald Trump continues to lead by such a substantial margin. While there are still three other candidates in the race, none of them have proved to be serious threats to Trump's campaign. Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have been battling for second place for weeks now, but neither of them have exhibited any significant shift in popularity until this week, when Cruz pulled ahead to win five states, leaving Rubio in the dust (he only won Minnesota). The fourth candidate in the running, John Kasich, has not exhibited any rise in support, and he has not yet won any states in this presidential election.
It seems as though the only way that another candidate will be able to beat Trump is if the race is narrowed down to two candidates. If all four Republican candidates remain in the race, it is not likely that Cruz will take a solid position in second place. In this week's primaries, though, Cruz has proved to be a concrete choice for those who do not favor Trump as the GOP nominee. He has accumulated the votes of 300 delegates, and Trump, while still ahead, has only 84 more. Although Cruz is known to be one of the most disliked members of the Senate, most elected members of the Republican Party have said that they would favor him over Trump, who, if nominated, could completely tear apart the Republican Party as it is currently operated. In addition, Marco Rubio, after a disappointing debate performance on Thursday, is beginning to fall behind his competitor, Ted Cruz. The two were very close for several weeks, but it now seems that Rubio's wide support among establishment Republicans may not give him the wins he desperately needs to receive the nomination.
To sum, this week's primaries have shown that what was once seen as a joke has evolved into the true possibility of Donald Trump being the Republican nominee, with his overwhelming number of victories being undeniable evidence of his viability as a candidate. Many of the opportunities that the Republican Party has had to stop his momentum have passed, and its only hope may now lie in the hands of one of its other potential nominees. Next on the Republican election trail are Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, and Mississippi on Tuesday, March 8th.
No comments:
Post a Comment