“Super Tuesday” has come and gone.
As I watched the results on my phone while at work, my heart sank. Clinton was winning most of the states, and it didn’t look good for Sanders.
My outlook over the last three days has drastically changed, for a number of reasons.
Yes, Clinton won most of the delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, and it wasn’t close.
First, let’s look at the states that participated in Super Tuesday, 11 states total. Of these states, six have voted Republican in the last four presidential elections. Clinton won five of these, with Sanders winning one. Of the remaining five states, three have voted Democrat in the last four presidential elections.
Sanders won two of these, with Clinton winning one.
That leaves two states that have been split over the past four elections. Virginia and Colorado. Sanders won Colorado, while Clinton won Virginia. Let’s break down these numbers.Clinton won five of the six Republican states.
The fact that Sanders even won one of these was surprising.
None of these states will matter when the general election rolls around, because everyone already knows they will vote Republican. However, they could help Clinton grab the nomination.
When it comes to the states that traditionally vote Democrat, Sanders came out on top, winning two of the three. This is huge for Sanders, and could be indicative of what’s to come when more Democratic states start voting in the primaries.
However, considering it was only three states, the voting could go either way once these other states enter the fray.
I hope it’s the former.
Now, there is another reason Sanders can grab the nomination, and I feel like it is bigger than what I’ve already talked about.
As we all know, Clinton has been involved in a controversy over sending classified emails over a private server.
The biggest development so far? The person who set up the private server for Clinton, Bryan Pagliano, was just granted immunity by the Justice Department.
Huffington Post writer H.A. Goodman makes some good points in a recent article.
“First, this can’t be a right-wing conspiracy because it’s President Obama’s Justice Department granting immunity to one of Hillary Clinton’s closest associates. Second, immunity from what? The Justice Department won’t grant immunity to anyone unless there’s potential criminal activity involved with an FBI investigation,” he said.
That last line is what stands out to me the most. The FBI has clearly found a case here, or else there would be no reason to grant immunity to Pagliano. Come general election time, Clinton may not even be walking free.
So that is why Sanders can still win the Democratic nomination. There are also a couple reasons why he must win.
Donald Trump is a run-away train that can’t be stopped when it comes to securing the Republican nomination. If the Democratic Party wants any chance of defeating Trump, Sanders must receive the nomination.
In a recent CNN poll, Sanders was shown to be far more electable than Clinton. While both Sanders and Clinton beat Trump in head-to-head polls, Clinton loses to both Cruz and Rubio.
Take into account the fact that Trump’s head-to-head against Clinton would increase when he receives the nomination due to Rubio and Cruz supporters having to realign their votes, and Trump would have a good chance at beating Clinton.
Sanders, however, beats both Rubio and Cruz in head-to-head polls, making him far more electable than Clinton.
Take into account the fact that Clinton may have a pending investigation hanging over her head come general election time, and that increases Sanders’ electability.
If the Democratic Party wants to be sure it will win the general election, it must nominate Sanders. The pending election by the FBI on Clinton, combined head to head polls, support this.
image via www.dailydot.com
Originally published in the March 9, 2016 print edition of The Echo.
