Tomorrow, March 1st, marks the biggest day of the primary season. Thirteen states and one territory will cast their votes, taking us one step closer to the final party nominations. Participating states: Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Wyoming, and Vermont. The Dems will also hold their caucuses in American Samoa.
With so many southern states included in what is also known as the “SEC Primary,” Senator Ted Cruz has his eye on the evangelical and conservative populations. He has referred to the SEC (southeastern conference) Primary as his “firewall.” Senator Cruz, however, is trailing behind Donald Trump in every Super Tuesday state except his home state of Texas, which he calls the “crown jewel” of the event.
Tempers are high amongst the five remaining Republicans left in the race. Marco Rubio slammed frontrunner Donald Trump last Friday on NBC, saying: “We’re on the verge of having someone take over the conservative movement and the Republican Party who is a con artist. His target audience is working Americans who are really struggling over the last few years in the economy. He’s spent a career sticking it to working Americans.”
Trump is also receiving criticism from former Mexican President Vicente Fox, who said on Fox Business Network, “I would invite this guy to withdraw from the race and go back to his business.” As the discussion turned to talk of Trump’s purported wall between the US and Mexico, Mr. Fox burst into profanity: “I am not gonna pay for that f***ing wall, I am not!”
New Gingrich and others view Donald Trump in a different light. Responding to Mr. Fox’s profanity-laced interview, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County said, “If he’s gonna use that word, he should use it against all the dope peddlers and illegals coming into our country…At least he said one thing, they’re not going to pay for the wall, but he didn’t say there shouldn’t be a wall. If they don’t want to pay for it, then take away a little foreign aid that we pay Mexico.”
Newt Gingrich told Breitbart News that Chris Christie’s endorsement of Trump is a great sign. “I think he represents a different era…the system has become so incompetent and outrageously bureaucratic. The centers of power are so, so in New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, that the whole rest of the country is in rebellion. And people are looking for somebody who can kick down the doors.”
After Super Tuesday, Trump’s next endeavor will be to defeat Marco Rubio in Florida on March 15th. He is currently leading in the Sunshine State with 44% to Rubio’s 25%.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is expected to earn strong support from black voters across the southern states and is currently leading in almost all Super Tuesday states. Bernie Sanders remains in the lead in Vermont, his home state, and is virtually tied with Hillary in Oklahoma and Massachusetts.
Depending on the number of delegates they secure, Super Tuesday promises to be a pivotal event for the frontrunners on both sides of the fence. GOP candidates have the opportunity to win approximately half of the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination and the Dems have the chance to steal 880 – about one third of the amount needed to claim the nomination.