Acela train slate.com |
It is Wednesday and that means Blogger Candidate Forum day. What a Wednesday it has been so far. It has been an eventful Wednesday on the campaign trail. Senator Ted Cruz revealed his running mate, Senator Bernie Sanders announced campaign staff lay offs, Donald Trump, well was Donald Trump. Before we get going on all the developments, let us take a look at the results of yesterday's primaries in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island-dubbed the "Acela Primaries" for the train service traveling between those states.
States holding primaries on April 26, 2016 bbc.com |
On the Democrat side of the aisle, Madame Secretary won four out of the five states in play. Sen. Sanders won the state of Rhode Island. Sec. Clinton finished the night with 216 added to her previous 1948, give her a total of 2,164 delegates. With 1,246 still available, Sec. Clinton needs 219 delegates to secure the nomination outright. The delegates were awarded on a proportional basis, thus, Sen Sanders did not walk away empty handed-winning 163 to give him 1,355 delegates. (http:www.ap.org)
Senator Sanders oregonlive.com |
It will be hundreds of staff members...We have a very large staff, which was designed to deal with 50 states in this country; 40 of the states are now behind us. So we have had a great staff, great people. (http://www.nytimes.com)
While the adviser was not quite sure exactly how many workers would be laid off but the Times reporting, "'hundreds' of campaign staffers." The focus would be shifted to winning California. (Ibid) This news comes on the heels of last week's thrashing in New York and last night's resounding defeat in four out of the five primaries. Much to the Clinton campaign's credit, Madame Secretary has not called for the Gentleman from Vermont to drop out of the race. Blogger also has to give respect to Sen. Sanders for staying in the race. Be that as it may, the news of lay offs does not bode well for the future. You can say that the Gentleman from Vermont still believes he can win the nomination but in order to do so, he must defeat Madame Secretary in the remaining primaries by at least 59 percent of the vote. Also, you can say that this is a prelude to suspending the campaign. Yours truly figured that after being soundly beaten in New York, the Sanders campaign would wait and see what happened this week before making any big decisions about the future. They got their answer.
Senator Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina nytimes.com |
Mary Pat Christie rolling her eyes at Donald Trump wlky.com |
The only thing she's got going is the woman's card. And the beautiful thing is women don't like her, OK?..."
This comment got an eye roll from New Jersey's First Lady, stealing the show from the presumptive Republican nominee. Ouch. To paraphrase the late Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, "Hillary Clinton is the only man for the job."
What a moment. Yours truly does not think it could have been any better scripted by the best screenwriter. That eye roll speaks volumes for all the women who are fed up with having their accomplishments de-valued by neanderthals who throw shade. Say what you want about Madame Secretary but you cannot take away the fact that whatever she-women across the United States and around the world-have accomplished or yet to accomplish is not because of our gender. We stand or fall on our own merits.
United States Presidential Elections 2016 timetoast.com |
Quixotic campaigns and misogynist comments aside, what happens next? The immediate future holds more primaries and the possibility of both Donald Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton clinching their respective nominations before they reach California. The distant future holds questions for Governor John Kasich, Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders. The overarching question is "Do you continue your campaigns all the way through California?" Blogger does not see Gov. Kasich realistically continuing his campaign. He might do well in Indiana but the foreseeable future does not look good for The Governor. Perhaps it is best that he stop and go back to Ohio. The Gentleman from Texas could poll strong numbers in the western and southwestern states; remaining a viable candidate. However, naming his running mate this early was not the wisest idea. However, the Gentleman from Vermont may have a bright future after all. Blogger recognizes that Senator Sanders's social democracy message has resonated with a lot of voters. What Blogger would like to see is Sen. Sanders work with Madame Secretary to find a way to put concepts such as financial industry reform, single-payer healthcare, criminal justice reform into practice. Yours truly thinks it can be done, if both Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton are willing to do so.
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