High Stakes for Another Super Tuesday

Another Super Tuesday in the presidential primary season as five states will head to the polls today with hundreds of delegates up for grabs in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri.

The stakes on the GOP side are especially large as in all but North Carolina it’s a winner-take-all election which will likely move Donald Trump closer to collecting the delegates he needs to secure the nomination prior to the Republican convention this summer. Trump is ahead in all but Ohio where he trails favorite-son and Governor John Kasich but should he somehow win that and the other four states there is probably nothing that can stand in his way.

Much has been made over protests at Trump rallies over the last week, some of which turned violent. The billionaire businessman has at times added fuel to the fire with a rhetoric that seems to encourage supporters to not ignore protesters but rather take care of them and if that means getting physical then so be it.What I find interesting is that the protests are only galvanizing the pro-Trump movement even more into an “us against them” mentality which as this race goes on can be dangerous.

I say this as fears mount that increased violence is down the road especially if we get into an expected general election where Trump faces Hillary Clinton. While Trump’s appeal is that he’s a stark alternative to traditional politicians he needs to start showing leadership traits by condemning all violence and calming the water not stirring them.

On the Democratic side Clinton is expected to win big today in Florida and North Carolina but could be locked in close races in the other three states. She goes into today with a big lead in the delegate race against Bernie Sanders who has gained in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri by appealing to blue-collar workers and young people.

Clinton is expected to add to her lead today but her supporters are a bit frustrated over how long it’s taking to lock up the party’s nomination, something many expected would have been just about completed by now. Sanders shows no signs of exiting the race anytime soon although it’s hard to find any scenario in which he actually wins the race.