But why did Sanders win MI and IN, while losing other Midwestern states like Missouri (narrowly), IL and Ohio? Every time the race seems headed to the finish, voters decide to extend it, as they did in MI in March.
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Heading into Tuesday’s contest, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Sanders 1,645 to 1,318 in the delegate race, according to an Associated Press tally. While John Kasich remains officially in the race and some anti-Trump activists have vowed to fight on, only the most extraordinary reversal of fortune could stop Trump from a first-ballot nomination.
“There is nothing that I have said about Secretary Clinton that the Republicans are not more than aware of”. It was an important victory for the Vermont senator, especially given the former secretary of state’s near-sweep of last week’s Northeastern states and her win in NY before that.
Exit polls showed about 7 in 10 Indiana Democrats said they’d be excited or at least optimistic about either a Clinton or Sanders presidency. Clinton picked up at least 37.
Indiana’s primary was favorable to Sanders in a number of ways. He unapologetically insulted and offended women, Mexican-Americans and the leaders of his own party.
Trump took to Twitter Tuesday, shortly after his big win which gives him a big boost toward reaching the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination. Democrats anxious the lengthy race would damage the eventual nominee then, too. Sanders continue to decrease with each passing contest.
On the Democratic side, Sanders notched a 5-point win over Clinton.
Every poll leading up to Indiana’s primary showed Clinton leading Sanders. A Trump win, however, would make Cruz’s path extremely hard: As Vox notes, a Cruz loss today would mean there is “very little reason to believe he can win California”, the biggest state left in the primary process.
Earlier in the nominating process, Clinton’s campaign was largely in denial about Trump becoming the nominee. They may like Sanders personally, or just want to see the race play out more.
Among those Republican voters who back Trump, 64 percent say they are unrepresented by the government vs. 55 percent among those who favored another GOP candidate.
Kasich pledged to stay in the race, with his campaign manager saying the governor would continue to “offer the voters a clear choice for our country”.
“Psychologically, people are drawn to a victor and want to be with them”, said Sal Russo, a Sacramento-based Republican strategist.
Upstart Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders beat out Hillary Clinton in the in primary Tuesday, promising “more victories in the weeks to come”. But Clinton already has turned her attention to the general election. “That is important because it tells me that the ideas that we are fighting for are the ideas for the future of America and the future of the Democratic Party”, Sanders told his supporters in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday night.
Kasich’s campaign said the OH governor will stay in the race as Trumps’ sole Republican contender.
And Indiana was a state Sanders should have won.
It also explains the ambivalence and low favorability ratings for the two frontrunners, Clinton and Donald Trump, who both score quite low in these top leadership attributes but do better in qualities like “intense” and “competitive”. She did not appear on the campaign trail Tuesday night, choosing instead to watch election returns from her home in NY.
“I’m really focused on moving into the general election”, Clinton told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Tuesday.
Nearly 9 out of 10 voters in the poll called the economy extremely or very important to their vote for president, outranking any other issue tested in the poll. Meanwhile, Sanders has 47.6 percent of the votes or 38,023.
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“Thank you Indiana”, Trump wrote. Clinton holds a commanding lead, with 91 percent of the delegates she needs to win the nomination.
