Now that the day of multiple contests is in the book, we have a clearer picture of how this year's Presidential campaign is going to shake out. In short, unless you are a fan of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, things aren't looking so good.
The Democrats are first, and the result shows how far Bernie Sanders campaign has come. Unfortunately, it also shows that time has run out for Sanders to find a viable path to the nomination. A year ago it would have been unimaginable Sanders would have beaten Clinton in one state, let alone winning five separate contests (counting his previous victory in New Hampshire). It's a real achievement his campaign has made it this far and racked up as many delegates as it had.
However, it's a far cry from where his supporters (the author of this post included) hoped to be after Super Tuesday. The fact is that Sanders four victories in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont weren't even enough to match his delegate shortfall in Alabama, let alone the six other states Clinton won. Outside her close victory in Massachusetts, the other contests were blow outs. This was because of the enthusiastic support of African-American voters for Clinton. The extent to which she won the African-American support in the Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia was staggering. After New Hampshire, it was clear Sanders had some work to do in this department, and it's now clear his campaign has failed miserably. This aspect of his campaign is worth investigating more, which I intend to do in a subsequent post.
On the other side, it was a big night for Donald Trump. By winning seven states he furthered secured his spot as the front-runner for the Republican nomination and has sent his detractors into a fully justified state of panic. Even though he didn't sweep (Ted Cruz won Alaska, Oklahoma, and Texas, and Rubio won Minnesota), he won the most delegates by far. From here on out, it's highly unlikely the "anybody but Trump" faction of the Republicans will be able to stop him, at least not until the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The only way I could see it happening is if Rubio dropped out and swung his support to Cruz, a possibility that's not very likely. While the Democratic race is all but over, the circus on the right keeps going along.
Where do things go from here? This weekend will see contests for both parties in Maine, Louisiana, Kansas, as well as a Republican caucus in Kentucky, a Republican primary in Puerto Rico, and a Democratic Caucus in Nebraska. Next Tuesday will see both parties go to the polls in Michigan and Mississippi, as well as a Republican caucus in Hawaii and a Republican primary in Idaho. A week from now, we'll have a clearer picture of the Republican situation, while on the Democratic side it's likely Clinton will move closer to that magic number 2,383.
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