It was the last nail in the coffin for the weakened Bush campaign, so it was a surprise to many that Bush voters appear to have switched their allegiance so readily to Donald Trump.
It's only just heating up in South Carolina for the Democrats, with the primary coming up on February 27 and with the last two candidates standing -- Sanders and Clinton -- going head to head in a Town Hall debate today. Ever cognizant of the "black vote," many of the questions centered around civil rights issues and how to deal with the disparity of wealth and opportunity for African-Americans. Hillary spoke about the "need to be honest" about the racial barriers that exist today. Sanders offered a more practical solution, promising to break up the commercial prison business, which would prevent making prisoners into commodities, reforming the criminal justice system, and increasing funding for historically black colleges and universities.
In some remarkably reflective moments for a political debate, Sanders fielded a question on his religious beliefs in great depth. "This is what I believe - every great religion in the world, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, essentially comes down to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you... The truth is at some level, when you hurt, when your children hurt, I hurt. I hurt. And when my kids hurt, you hurt... And I think most people around the world, whatever their religion, their color, share that belief that we are in it together as human beings! And it becomes more and more practical. If we destroy the planet because we don't deal with climate change, trust me, we are all in it together. So we have got to work together and that is what my spirituality is about."
The pressure is building on the 74-year-old senator, who is often portrayed as the last hope for a return to true democracy by his supporters in a David-and-Goliath like struggle.
"If I let those people down who have faith in me -- that's a scary thing when so many people have faith in you and believe you can do something," Sanders says. "It scares me very much. If I ever let those people down, it would be a terrible, terrible thing."
