Trump, Clinton Further Lead Post-Super Tuesday

By Lorin McLain

Candidates in the 2016 presidential election are either in overdrive to solidify their holds on a nomination, or making a last-ditch effort to keep their campaigns alive in the haze following Super Tuesday. The biggest day in the nominating cycle and 12-state grab only furthered the lead of Republican front-runner Donald Trump and leading Democrat Hillary Clinton. In the GOP arena, Trump took 12 states while his main rival Ted Cruz took three, including his home state of Texas. Marco Rubio won his first state, Minnesota, while Ohio Governor John Kasich came up with few delegates, followed by Doctor Ben Carson with even less.

The Democratic contest was a little closer with Clinton winning six states and Sanders taking four, including his home state of Vermont, but Sanders failed to make much traction in the delegate count. Analysts say the odds are quickly dissipating for those trailing the front-runners to gain serious ground. While Trump continues to steamroll through the majority of states in the GOP contest, Clinton is pulling away in her race by the sheer number of so-called delegates, or those holding a position in their elected or party office going to the convention.  With 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination, Clinton already has 1,063. She’s close to halfway there, while Sanders has 707 after Tuesday night. In the big-state contests coming up in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida in the next two weeks, she only needs to break even in her share of delegates to hold her formidable advantage.

In the Republican field, Trump has 505 of the 1,237 needed to grab the nomination, while Cruz has 435. Rubio has 196. What’s deeply troubling to Trump’s rivals and party establishment critics, his momentum is only increasing the odds of him taking winner-take-all states on March 15th. In contrast to Super Tuesday where candidates win a percentage of delegates in relation to their votes in a state, GOP winners of states in the March 15th primary walk away with all those state’s delegates. A RealClear Politics poll released the night of Super Tuesday showed Trump with a double-digit lead over all his rivals in Rubio’s home state of Florida, a winner-take-all state.

The odds of Trump continuing to dominate are even greater as more candidates stay in the race, diluting anti-Trump sentiment. The day after Super Tuesday, no one offered to concede. Doctor Ben Carson did say, after his last place showing, that he sees “no political path forward” and will not participate in today’s GOP debate, but failed to concede and drop out the race.

Arizona voters go to the polls to pick their candidates on March 22nd. By then, it could be a done deal.