Another Super Tuesday but not for John Kasich or Marco Rubio. On the Democratic side, with two states up for grabs, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders each walked away with one. In Mississippi, as other states in the Deep South, it wasn’t even close for the two candidates. But in Michigan, Bernie edged out a win, showing his hard work and time spent there paid off. However, looking at the delegate math, it’s not looking like Democratic voters are “feeling the Bern” as a whole.
It’s a very interesting dynamic, however. Bernie Sanders' campaign has really resonated with voters; his supporters are very loyal, dedicated and energized. Hillary obviously has supporters but not to the degree of passion as Sanders.
Earlier this week, Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton agreed to a forum on Fox News. They have appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and CNN but hadn’t agreed to any kind of program with Fox until now. The Republicans have held debates and forums on Fox News, Fox Business, ABC News, CBS News, MSNBC and CNN.
The format was a town hall where they each got a half hour to be questioned by host and anchor Brett Baier as well as take pre-selected questions from the audience. At one point, Baier brought up that in many primary states, when voters were asked who they thought was more trustworthy and honest, Sanders was chosen as the winner and by a large margin. Some of the examples Baier gave included, “Nevada, 82-12; New Hampshire; 92-6; Iowa, 83-10.” Granted, Hillary is winning, whether it’s because democratic voters are more familiar with her, she’s got the female and African-American voting blocs locked, she’s more moderate or another reason. But Sanders has touched on something. Whether his supporters will sit out in the general or vote for Hillary will probably not make much difference this election cycle but should be watched, as these voters feel as disillusioned and angry, similar to the Trump supporters on the right, and wondering if a smart, younger candidate will try to assume that message going forward Normally, likability wins (pick up at 11:18.)
It is also interesting that Clinton and Sanders won’t bash each other. Even when there was a perfect time to do so in responding to the poll, Sanders just said he was grateful that voters thought of him that way but didn’t take the bait to attack his opponent. Because he has resonated so much with voters, I have to wonder that if he was a little tough and drew a stronger depiction between him and Hillary if that would help.
Sanders does give off a more honest vibe, he seems to be speaking straight from the heart and doesn’t always have such pre-prepared answers. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, does have some awkward moments where it seems like she’s being very careful of what she says and doesn’t look the audience or her interviewer in the eye the entire time she’s answering. In the town hall, Brett Baier asked Clinton on the current status of her email investigation. There were some tense moments back and forth as Baier asked her rapid fire questions to get her on the record as far as what she knew and didn’t know and the current status. Hillary seemed a little taken aback but appeared to answer the questions calmly and matter-of-factly.
I look for Bernie’s movement to go somewhere, even if it didn’t quite make it this election cycle.
On the Republican side, Trump continues winning with Michigan, Hawaii and Mississippi. The one upset was Idaho, in which Trump was projected to win, Ted Cruz actually won by a large margin. For the night, Trump gained 73 delegates, Cruz 59, Kasich 17 and Rubio only one. In a normal election, this would signal to Kasich and Rubio that it’s just not happening for them. However, with big egos in the election, combined with a possible contested, brokered convention or the RNC intervening, who knows what will happen.
Side note: Watch Trump’s hilarious response (at 18:55) to Mitt Romney’s speech last week, in which he accused Trump of failed business ventures.
