Super Tuesday: Trump, Clinton win big, but Sanders wins key states to stay in race

March 1, 2016
Issue 
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Far right Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic establishment favourite Hillary Clinton were the biggest winners from the "Super Tuesday" caucuses on March 1, but socialist candidate Bernie Sanders won some key states to stay in the race.

Voters took part in the caucuses in 11 states, on a day when a quarter of all delegates, who will vote on who will be the candidate for each party in November presidential race, were decided.

With most votes counted, TeleSUR English said the Wall Street-backed Clinton had "won more than 420 delegates of the 865 at stake, while Bernie Sanders has taken at least 230 delegates.

"Estimates suggest that the former first lady and secretary of state won 71 percent in Georgia and 64 percent in Virginia. Clinton is the projected winner in Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and America Samoa. Reports suggest that she has won big among Black voters overall.

"With 96 percent of precincts reporting in Massachusetts, Clinton is the projected winner with 50.3 percent. But it's still too close to call, as Bernie Sander has 48.5 percent.

"Democrat Bernie Sanders got a massive win in his home state of Vermont, an upwards of 90 percent of the overall vote. His second win of the night came from Oklahoma. The two other states he won this evening were Colorado and Oklahoma, beating out Hillary Clinton by less than 20 percent."

In the Republican race, featuring five candidates, "Trump has stormed ahead in the GOP race. The property tycoon is the projected winner in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and Massachusetts. With 28 percent reporting in the Alaska caucus, Trump is in the lead with nearly 40 percent, while Cruz is second at almost 35 percent.

"No Republican nominee has ever won all of the different states Donald Trump has."

US Uncut said of the Sanders campaign, which has generated huge enthusiasm with its call for a "political revolution" against Wall Street and touted badly needed pro-worker reforms: "At the end of the day, Bernie Sanders won big in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and his home state of Vermont. By winning these states, Sanders showed he's viable in four different geographic regions, which will all come into play in the remaining March primaries.

"As of this writing, Bernie won Colorado by 20 points, Minnesota by an 18-point margin, Oklahoma by 10 points, and Vermont by an overwhelming 72 points. His win in Vermont was so large that Hillary Clinton failed to get 15 percent of the vote, making her 'non-viable.' Sanders will walk away with 100% of the delegates in Vermont.

"Even in the states where Clinton won handily, like Texas, Virginia, and Georgia, Sanders still won handily with his core constituencies — voters aged 18 to 29, first-time primary voters, and independents.

"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.

"Bernie 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."

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