Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders have little time to rest on their laurels after their thumping victories in the Granite State on Tuesday night.
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Although both candidates have run as political outsiders, Trump is the only nonpolitician who has consistently resonated with Republican voters. There are eight “superdelegates”, party officials that are free to support any candidate they please – even if that support does not align with the wishes of voters.
The people of this tiny, more than 90 percent white New England state provided their usual wintry crucible for presidential candidates to interact on a small stage before plunging into the big states and clustered primaries that can eat wannabes (or at least their bank accounts) alive. The New Hampshire primary helps prove the point.
He is likely to continue winning until the four candidates running to be the establishment alternative – Bush, Rubio, Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – agree on which one should proceed as his primary challenger. With nearly all votes tabulated Trump, who finished second in Iowa, had 35.4% to 15.7% for second place finisher, Ohio Gov. John Kasich. But Sanders is expected to face uphill contests against Clinton in contests later this month in Nevada and SC.
Kasich and Bush gained two points each, but they’re still under 10 percent despite doing relatively well in New Hampshire.
“The question is, what do your rivals do – in particular, what does Trump do?”
There hasn’t been a contested national convention since 1976, yet Republican National Committee officials have already had preliminary discussions about the possibility of no candidate securing a majority of delegates in the state-by-state primary contests.
Rubio acknowledged the damage Saturday’s debate may have done in his speech Tuesday night. Ted Cruz has made just two of 23 votes this year, while Florida Sen.
As I noted in a previous post, I expect Trump to focus his attacks on Cruz, and Jeb to aim his jabs more often at Rubio.
Most of the field’s support remained roughly unchanged from a survey taken by the news organization after the Iowa caucus.
But despite the demographic similarities between SC and Iowa that favor Mr. Cruz, Mr. Trump will find it easier to turn out supporters in the state’s primary compared with the Iowa caucuses, where his ground game failed him.
Among Democrats, Sanders, who narrowly lost to Clinton in Iowa, appeals to liberal Democrats who believe President Barack Obama hasn’t done enough to address the nation’s wealth disparity. However, Clinton has an imposing lead over Sanders thanks to her 45-to-1 superdelegate advantage. They’re living their lives … and they get political news in bits and pieces. What’s more, for the first time in Morning Consult’s polling of the race, Sanders boasts a higher favorability rating among Democrats, enjoying the approval of 78 percent of his party’s voters, compared to 75 percent for Clinton.
Today he’s in Rubio and Bush’s home state of Florida.
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But Mr. Weaver’s right that the February 20 primary will be pivotal for both Floridians.
