The March 15 2016 Presidential primaries which have been dubbed Super Tuesday 3 brought big wins for Democrat Front-Runner Hillary Clinton and Republican Front-Runner Donald Trump. Mrs. Clinton handsomely won Florida (64.4%), North Carolina (54.6%) and Ohio (56.5%). Her victories in Illinois and Missouri were much narrower. In fact, in Missouri the divide between the votes for Hillary and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was only .2. Trump had a great night winning Florida with 45.7% of the vote. Trump’s Florida win was the catalyst for Florida Senator Marco Rubio to suspend his campaign. Trump also had victories in Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri where he narrowly defeated Texas Senator Ted Cruz with a .2 variance. However, Trump lost Ohio to Ohio Governor John Kasich who walked away with his home state with 46.8% of the vote vs. Trump at 35.6%.
Hillary Clinton who now holds 1606 delegates out of the 2,383 required for the nomination has solidified her position as the presumptive nominee. Bernie Sanders who only has 825 delegates does not have a path to the nomination. Now of course, the wild card is that Hillary could still be indicted for “email gate”, but that indictment is looking increasingly less likely. While Sanders does not appear to have a mathematical chance of becoming the nominee, he will probably stay in the race until the convention because democrats award delegates proportionately until the convention. However, even if Sanders has not left the race yet, Clinton has now turned her full focus on defeating Trump even mentioning him in her recent victory speeches.
While the Democrat race may be settled, the Republican race is more nebulous than ever. Donald Trump with 673 delegates vs. Cruz at 411 and Kasich at 143, has the greatest mathematical possibility of generating the 1237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. However, the power of the “anyone but Trump” movement has become so strong that there is a growing rumor of a brokered convention. And of course, John Kasich remaining in the race when he clearly does not have any possibility of winning the nomination is a potential spoiler. Apparently even former Speaker of the House John Boehner has inserted himself into the situation. Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, who cast his vote yesterday for fellow Buckeye Kasich, proposed nominating his successor current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for the GOP presidential ticket if none of the three nominees secure enough delegates for the nomination. Ryan’s spokesperson stated that “He (Ryan) will not accept a nomination and believes that our nominee should be someone who ran this year.”
The Republican Convention will take place from July 18-July 21 and the Democratic Convention will take place from July 25-July 28. A lot can happen between now and then. Stay tuned.
Written by Leonora Cravotta. Leonora Cravotta is the lead writer/editor for Buglecall.org and the Co-Host for the Scott Adams Show.
