Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump emerged successful out of Nevada and South Carolina respectively, which may be an indicative of what Super Tuesday on March 1 will look like. While Clinton’s battle was hard-fought, Trump seems to be continuing his reign of terror and surpassing Ted Cruz and Rubio.
Trump is not leading as much as he used to be – he beat Rubio out by 10 points, with Cruz only behind Rubio by 0.2 percent. The businessman thinks he will face Clinton in the elections and continues to degrade both Cruz and Rubio as eligible candidates. His latest string of outrageous comments includes accusing Rubio of not being fit for presidency. Trump also knocked out Jeb Bush from the race, though it seemed to be a long time coming.
Rubio beat out Cruz for the first time in this race – indicative of how the two campaigns are moving. This victory should come as no surprise since Rubio had immense amounts of support, including from the governor of South Carolina herself. The former Florida senator was looking for third place and to keep himself in the race and has surpassed even his own expectations. It will be interesting to see what happens with him in Nevada against Cruz and how the Cruz campaign reacts to this loss.
Cruz, who suffered a blow in South Carolina, is holding tightly to the idea that he is the only one who has ever defeated Trump in the polls. His loss, though narrow, may be a comment on how he misjudged his evangelical Christian swing in these states. Cruz has a difficult task at hand as he must fight a war on two fronts – both Rubio, who is quickly catching up and Trump, who is still sitting on top. We’re looking now at how Cruz will change his campaign to better suit it for Nevada.
Clinton, the last woman standing, has had a difficult time dealing with the various incidents with her email and whether or not she has breached national security. She’s in a tight spot, since she was the secretary of state, whereas all of her competitors are just senators – sans Trump – meaning they have less history.
Her goal now is to make herself more trustworthy. She is a strong candidate but her coldness is off-putting to voters. She already lost to a grassroots campaign back in 2008 when she faced Barack Obama, so even though she seems to have momentum now, it’s really going to be a close call.
Bernie Sanders, the millennial candidate, refuses to go down without a fight. He’s managed to keep the gap close between him and Clinton and recent pictures of him being arrested as a college student at a protest has resonated with the youth. At the same time, it is clear that Sanders is frustrated since he cannot seem to overcome Clinton’s lead. He seemed to be making his next big moves in Super Tuesday and not worrying about South Carolina, since it seems that Clinton has a lot of pull there. It will be more interesting to see who wins out Super Tuesday rather than who pulls ahead in South Carolina.
These smaller caucuses may be indicative of momentum, but Super Tuesday will really tell who has the best chance at receiving the nominations from their respective parties.
The editorial board can be reached at eic@ubspectrum.com.
