After contests in four states, the presidential race went national on Super Tuesday with more than ten primaries and caucuses being held.
Following her big win in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton looked to ensure she was on her way to the Democratic presidential nod while Bernie Sanders hoped his strong showing in New Hampshire and the support of younger voters would keep him a factor in the race.
For the Republicans, following his wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, Donald Trump looked to further establish himself as the frontrunner for the nomination. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz tried to slow Trump’s momentum. John Kasich looked to survive on Tuesday as he hopes to gain traction in friendlier territory like his home base of Ohio and neighboring Michigan. After disappointing showings in the last three contests, Ben Carson hoped to recover some of the momentum he had last fall even as his team admitted it had no path to the Republican nomination.
Here’s a look at some of the winners and losers on Super Tuesday.
Winners
Hillary Clinton. Sure, she’s a flawed candidate who had some stumbles out of the gate. But, with African Americans in her corner, Clinton built on her impressive win in South Carolina and blew out Sanders in contests across the South on Super Tuesday. After unimpressive wins in Iowa and Nevada and a loss in New Hampshire, Clinton put herself in a commanding position to win the Democratic nomination based on her showing on Tuesday. A good night for Clinton who spent the past few days focusing her attention on going after Donald Trump instead of looking to win over Sanders supporters. Look for more of that in the future as Clinton appears a near lock for the Democratic nod after Super Tuesday. Clinton’s win in Massachusetts is just icing on the cake.
Terry McAuliffe. The Virginia governor and former DNC boss has always been close to the Clintons and he delivered for them on Tuesday. The Old Dominion, which should be a swing state in November, was called for Hillary Clinton soon after the polls closed. That’s a testament to McAullife’s work on her behalf. If the Clintons are back in the White House after November, you better believe their old ally will remain influential even as his fellow Virginia Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are far more likely to end up as the running mate on the presidential ticket.
Tim Pawlenty and Norm Coleman. Marco Rubio had one win on Super Tuesday as he carried Minnesota. Granted, Minnesota isn’t exactly a state Republicans will be targeting in November but it is Rubio’s first win of the cycle. A large part of that comes from his support there which include Pawlenty and Coleman. Across the nation, elected Republicans backed Rubio. But unlike most of their colleagues, Pawlenty and Coleman actually delivered for Rubio.
Jeff Sessions. The Alabama Republican was the first senator to get behind Trump and it paid off on Super Tuesday. The Yellowhammer State was quickly called for Trump and Sessions paid no small part in that. Increasingly, Sessions is becoming one of the more prominent conservatives in the Capitol, especially on immigration. On Tuesday, he showed he could deliver votes back home in Alabama.
Donald Trump. The GOP frontrunner emerged on Super Tuesday as more of a favorite than ever. Trump rolled up quick wins in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts and Tennessee on Tuesday night. He also scored a big win in Virginia which should be up for grabs in November. Trump also benefited as both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are stuck on the treadmill. Both of them would love to claim it’s a one-on-one race against Trump but the reality is far different. To be sure, Rubio pressed Trump in Virginia, Cruz kept his home field advantage in Texas and won Oklahoma while Arkansas looked close. But Trump won more states and delegates and took a great stride to winning the Republican nod. As Trump declared victory on Tuesday night, he and his supporters--namely Chris Christie--made a different pitch: time to unite the GOP behind his candidacy. That’s the sign of a frontrunner, a title Trump kept on Tuesday night.
Losers
Lamar Alexander, Bill Frist and Bill Haslam. In the last week, these three Tennessee Republicans endorsed Marco Rubio. But on Tuesday, Rubio flopped badly in the Volunteer State. Not only did Rubio finish way behind Donald Trump in Tennessee, he lost out to Cruz in the battle for the silver. That doesn’t reflect will on Rubio’s big name supporters in Tennessee, especially as Alexander and Haslam continue their stints in office. Elected officials simply didn’t help Rubio in Tennessee as well as most other states across the nation on Super Tuesday.
Ben Carson. More primary contests, almost all turned out to be single digit showings. Carson has a strong following with religious and social conservatives but that doesn’t mean he’s their top choice for president. That was pretty clear from his showing in South Carolina and even more evident after he was pretty much a non-factor across the nation on Tuesday, even in Southern states where he should have played far better than he did. Even worse, Carson’s team has been in the headlines again for confessing they don’t see a path for their candidate to win the Republican nod. Despite that, Carson continues to make noise about staying in the race.
Ted Cruz. Sure, he defended Texas and won Oklahoma. But this was supposed to have been Cruz’s night. Just like what happened in South Carolina, Donald Trump ran over Cruz in evangelical and social conservative strongholds in the South. Cruz couldn’t come close to Trump in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee even if he edged out Marco Rubio in those states. Calling for Trump opponents to rally behind him, Cruz went after the Republican frontrunner in his speech on Tuesday night. Cruz will have a tough time in some of the large states looming ahead like Florida, Illinois and Michigan. But the Texan has a few chances in the days to come: Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Idaho for example. But he has to pull off some wins, something he mostly did not do on Tuesday as he only claimed his own Lone Star State home ground and neighboring Oklahoma.
Marco Rubio. After going on the attack against Donald Trump, Rubio abruptly shifted his tone on Monday and Tuesday--and there was a reason for that. In going after Trump, Rubio probably boosted Ted Cruz--especially in Oklahoma where the Texas senator won--more than he helped himself. Cruz beat out Rubio for second in some key states. Even worse, Rubio missed the 20 percent threshold in some states, shutting him out of the delegate count in some delegate-rich contests. Granted, Rubio broke his losing streak and took Minnesota. But, even as late as Tuesday, Rubio’s team was raising expectations, claiming they would win four states. Not even close. Now the pressure's on for Rubio to pull off some of the winner-take-all states coming up, including his home base of Florida.
Bernie Sanders. Yes, he won his home state of Vermont and picked up Oklahoma and Colorado to boot and did well in Minnesota. But Sanders moved from a contender to a protest candidate on Super Tuesday. He simply didn’t win over enough seniors and African Americans to keep it closer against Hillary Clinton. Sanders can round up some delegates and pick up an additional state on occasion but he’s no longer a serious threat to stop Clinton from getting the nomination. As Clinton tries to sew up the nomination, Sanders can still make a lot noise. But losing in his own backyard like Sanders did in Massachusetts on Tuesday night bodes ill for his campaign.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
