On the Democrat side, Bernie Sanders scored a victory over Hillary Clinton adding fuel to his fire while Trump easily outdistanced the field in the Republican primary. The results sow even more deeply the uncertainty about the parties’ trajectories. Ted Cruz did about as well as he expected to in a very secular New Hampshire.
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With Trump proving in New Hampshire that he can win over a broad coalition of Republicans and independent voters, and Cruz riding high among evangelicals and other social conservatives, the Trump-Cruz battle will be paramount, with mainstream candidates likely scrapping for bronze in SC.
Clinton’s campaign argues she will perform better as the race heads to more racially diverse states, including Nevada and SC.
“The goal was to be in the top tier of candidates moving forward and I think the effort put into New Hampshire put him in the top tier”, Negron said Wednesday from Tallahassee.
In his New Hampshire victory speech he said the harrowing words, “Remember, you started it”. Christie’s skewering of Rubio in the Saturday night debate brought a lot of attention his way. His $2.5 million in the bank at the beginning of the year was one-third as much as Bush had and one-quarter of Rubio’s resources. The sixth Democratic debate comes just three days after the Vermont senator’s landslide win in the New Hampshire primary, and the only question seems to be just how aggressive Clinton will be in going after him.
“Evangelicals are going to be the get for SC”, said Dr. Scott Huffman, a political science professor at Winthrop University.
Former first lady Barbara Bush recently campaigned with her son in New Hampshire ahead of the primary there.
In South Carolina, former Florida governor Jeb Bush is leaning heavily on his family name in hopes to convert his fourth-place finish in New Hampshire into momentum. “I thank god every day that George W. Bush was President, but Jeb has no foreign policy experience”.
It’s clear Sanders has emerged as the favorite of younger generations in the 2016 Democratic race, just as Obama did in his successful run against Clinton in 2008. On Wednesday, he met the Rev. Al Sharpton in Harlem, an overture to African-American voters.
Obama quoted former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who told his constituents, “Insist from us and from each other a modicum of civility as the condition for serving you”. He sees the potential to do well in that state, and he has a home-court advantage when OH votes March 15.
But both men are antithetical to the GOP establishment in policy disagreements and personal style. The data was measured between the February 1 Iowa caucuses and Monday, the eve of the New Hampshire primary. But he has heavy competition for like-minded voters, including from Bush and Rubio, and critics say his campaign is ill-equipped to thrive in states further down the electoral calendar. The contributions came mostly in small-dollar amounts, his campaign said, illustrating the resources he will have to fight Mrs Clinton to the bitter end.
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She also faces doubts about her trustworthiness: Exit polls here show that Sanders won about nine of 10 voters who said honesty was important to them. Candidate Bill Clinton masterfully framed his second-place finish in New Hampshire in 1992 as a big victory for the “Comeback Kid”.
