With the internship season rolling around, resume-fudging is at its peak. You never know what special skill will get you that gig with Google. But if you’re looking for accomplishments to put on your résumé, look no further than the Republican primaries. You (and I) both earned as many delegates as Marco Rubio did on Tuesday. Zero. Millions of dollars and more endorsements than Peyton Manning (shout out to Papa John’s) got Rubio as much as us: nothing. Add that to your LinkedIn profile.
Rubio’s plan was always to stick through his home state primary in Florida next week, but he may have to consider dropping out just to consolidate support. I’ve already said that Rubio and John Kasich have been splitting support, and this continues to be the case. In Michigan, Kasich missed out on second by fewer than 10,000 votes. Take Rubio out of the equation and he surely finishes in the top two behind Donald Trump.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders pulled off one of the most shocking victories in recent electoral history. His win in Michigan came after polls put him twenty points down. Sanders has struggled with the African-American vote, but Michigan proved to be different. Sure, he only brought in around 30 percent of the demographic, but this is his best rate yet. Compare this to Mississippi, where he brought in just 11 percent of the African-American vote, and the campaign can be quite proud of its grassroots efforts. I also think Sanders benefitted from potential Clinton-supporting independents voting on the Republican side in an attempt to block Donald Trump.
The math is still bleak for Sanders. Because the Democrats assign delegates proportionally, it’s difficult to make up ground, and he is already pretty far behind Clinton. The Democrats also have a group of “superdelegates,” usually party elites, who can vote for whomever they want. As you could imagine, Clinton is cleaning this vote up.
But it’s becoming more obvious on both sides that this race is far from over. Sanders will take Clinton as far as he (and his funding) can, moving the party to the left in this probably futile process. It could take until May or even June for Clinton to finally pass the delegate threshold.
On the Republican side, we may not have a candidate until the convention in July. With a few winner-take-all states coming, these will prove the best chance for Trump to break open his lead or relinquish it. Florida for instance gives 99 delegates to its winner, and this alone is around 8 percent of the delegates needed for nomination. Especially if there is no further consolidation, we may be in line for a brokered convention.
Finally, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he wouldn’t seek a third-party candidacy. If you were worried about a Trump presidency, this would have been the clearest path. Bloomberg would split Democrats and maybe a few Republicans, while allowing Trump to win with a plurality. Smart call, Mr. Mayor.
The Arena: Rubiover
