Super Sweet Tuesday
March 17, 2016

March Madness is upon us and in the lead up to the nomination championship the Republican tournament has seen its sweet sixteen candidates reduced to a final four through blood, sweat and occasional tears; meanwhile the Democratic faceoff between Clinton and Sanders continues. This week’s Super Tuesday 3 saw Trump and Clinton claim sweet, sweet victory over their opponents, consolidating their leads to near-inevitable-nominee levels. Trump trumped four out of five contests and Clinton was in the zone, scoring all five states. Kasich was homecoming queen in Ohio but Rubio finished runner up in his home state of Florida, prompting him to tearfully bid the crown and his campaign farewell. Unfortunately Sanders was unable to pull off a single win, and the delegate gap between Clinton and Sanders, much like America’s inequality gap, keeps slowly widening. Bern.
So where did it all go so horribly wrong? In trying to out-Trump Trump, Rubio failed. In trying to become the Anti-Trump, Rubio failed. His reactionary strategies for immediate gains compromised his moral values and bright image, and voters saw right through him. But don’t cry for him America, if he has learned some valuable lessons from all of this, he could still have a bright future ahead of him as a potential 2020 candidate. Sanders’ unexpected win in Michigan was unfortunately not repeatable – the speculation bubble that he would have more appeal among white working class voters was spectacularly burst by Clinton as she crushed the vote in Ohio. Sanders remains outwardly positive but his campaign seems more geared than ever towards influencing the nominee rather than becoming the nominee.
So where does leave us? Clinton is calmly cruising towards the nomination but Sanders supporters might not back her as the nominee, and she is yet to figure out a failsafe strategy to convince them that she is capable of carrying out (a more practical version of) his revolution. And it seems the spectre of a contested Republican convention won’t go away no matter how many contests Trump wins. With a slightly narrower race, Cruz closing in on Trump’s delegate lead, Kasich still fighting fit and a panicky GOP establishment, it looks like a brokered convention is becoming a stronger possibility each week.
As the race gets tighter it seems more anti-Trump supporters are coming out of the woodwork; Jerry Springer has weighed in and said that his TV show really shouldn’t be a model for a presidential campaign. Despite imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, Jerry’s not down with The Donald; and it might take more than sensational slogans and physical confrontations to convince establishment Republicans to chant Trump’s name.
Feeling the madness but can’t afford the tix? Movie for your mood: Space Jam