Hillary Clinton dominated Super Tuesday and leads polls for the upcoming large states on the Democratic side, and with Bernie Sanders fading out of sight, many pollsters are looking forward to what appears to be a general election between Clinton and Donald Trump.
So far, it looks like a favorable matchup for Clinton and Democrats.
A new CNN/ORC Poll showed that Clinton comes out on top of Trump among general election voters, winning 52 percent to 44 percent. Bernie Sanders also tops Donald Trump by a slightly larger margin, but Clinton would have trouble if Trump were to somehow lose the nomination. She trails in matchups against Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio by slight margins.
Clinton would have some advantage, including Trump’s high unfavorable numbers and a growing number of GOP insiders who appear to be working against Trump’s nomination.
Former Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman says she’d consider voting for Hillary Clinton if Trump is nominee: https://t.co/2tI9bHhuq2
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) March 2, 2016
It appears that Hillary is well on her way to the Democratic nomination. After a surge in the polls for Bernie Sanders following his win in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton regained control of the Democratic race with wins in Nevada and South Carolina leading up to her Super Tuesday blowout. She won seven states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Alabama — while Sanders won in Vermont, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and Colorado. Sanders won in states with smaller populations, and won by smaller margins than Clinton did.
With her lead in the polls, Hillary Clinton has already shifted her attention away from Bernie Sanders and to Donald Trump. She chided Trump and other Republicans for their bickering and an overall lower tone of rhetoric, including Trump calling Marco Rubio Florida’s “little senator.”
“The rhetoric has never been lower,” Clinton told supporters in Miami (via NBC News ).
“It might be unusual for a presidential candidate to say this,” she added, “But I believe that what America needs today is more love and kindness.”
But even though Hillary Clinton leads in the polls, there could be a path for Donald Trump to win in November. As the Atlantic noted, Trump has shown an incredible ability to defy predictions so far, as most political pundits gave him small to no chance of winning the nomination.
The report noted that Donald Trump has decades of experience in self-promotion, and has a great ability to pander to his audience.
. @realDonaldTrump Takes Swipe at @HillaryClinton on #SuperTuesday https://t.co/ZTuZVsKCtB
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) March 2, 2016
“In all 15 states that have voted in the GOP primary, Trump’s supporters have named the same quality as most important in a president: Somebody who ‘tells it like it is. ‘ Does it matter that Politifact determined that 76 percent of Trump’s statements were errors, inaccuracies, or absurd lies? No way. Somebody who “tells it like it is” doesn’t have to “get the facts right.” Trump doesn’t need to be accurate, because he’s authentic. And yes, there is a difference. The difference between accuracy and authenticity is the difference between a British passport and a British accent. People with the former tend to have the latter, but the first is concrete and falsifiable, and the second is easily faked.”
But even as polls begin to focus on her seemingly inevitable matchup against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton still has more work to do on the Democratic side. Bernie Sanders has vowed to remain in the race, and is looking to take on Clinton in the large upcoming states, including Michigan and Florida — states where Clinton is expected to win big.
