Clinton And Trump Tighten Grip, As Sanders Continues To Appeal To The Youth

NEW DELHI: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both won the most states in the biggest day of the race for the US presidential nomination. Both triumphed in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Trump was defeated by Ted Cruz in Texas and Oklahoma. Democrat Bernie Sanders took four states, including his home state of Vermont.

As Super Tuesday placed Clinton and Trump in the lead, with the former Secretary of State in her victory speech already pitting herself against the real estate Mogul ("The stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower"), Sanders too had a lot to be optimistic about.

He won big in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Vermont, showing that he’s viable in four different geographical locations. In Vermont, Sanders won by an overwhelming 72 points -- a win so large that Hillary Clinton failed to get 15 percent of the vote. Sanders won Colorado by 20 points, Minnesota by an 18-point margin, and Oklahoma by 10 points.

More interestingly, even in states where Clinton won, Sanders polled well with his surprising core constituency -- the young -- voters aged 18 to 29. According to NBC News’ exit polls, Sanders won young voters by a 30-point margin in Texas, 39 points in Virginia, 13 points in Georgia, and even captured the youth vote in Clinton’s home state of Arkansas, where Bill Clinton served as governor, by 24 points. Among first-time primary voters, Sanders won by, again, 30 points in Texas and 8 points in Virginia. And Sanders captured independent voters by 16 points in both Texas and Virginia, 3 points in Georgia, 13 points in Tennessee, and 17 points in Arkansas.

Further, as noted by USUncut, Sanders is largely holding up to the bar set by nationally-respected pollster Nate Silver in states needed to win the Democratic nomination. While Sanders narrowly lost Massachusetts to Clinton by 2 points on Super Tuesday, he won Minnesota, Vermont, Colorado, and Oklahoma by larger-than-expected margins, and he faces a much more favorable electorate in states voting after March 15. If Sanders stays within 150 delegates by that benchmark, he can potentially narrow Clinton’s lead in the spring and overtake her in the summer as Sanders-favorable coastal states take to the polls.

In her victory speech, Clinton hit out at Trump, saying, “Trying to divide America between us and them is wrong, and we're not going to let it work. Whether we like it or not, we're all in this together my friends. We all have to do our part. Unfortunately, too many of those with the most wealth and the most power in this country today seem to have forgotten that basic truth about America.” “That is why I believe, deeply, that if we resist the forces trying to drive us apart, we can come together to make this country work for every one. The struggling, the striving and the successful. If we all do our part we can restore our common faith in our common future. That's the spirit powering this campaign. It comes from the young janitor in Arkansas who stopped buying junk food and put off getting a haircut so he could contribute to it. It comes from the disabled combat veteran from Nebraska who sent in $10. In 70 years of his life he never donated to a political campaign until now.”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump celebrated his performance. "Once we get all this finished, I'm going after one person - Hillary Clinton," he told reporters in Florida, where he has been campaigning ahead of the state's vote later this month.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz called on his rivals to drop out of the race, which he says would enable him to contend Mr Trump's lead more effectively.