Super Tuesday - the big battle for the White House

(Baonghean) - On March 1 (US time), the race to elect two candidates representing the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States heated up with the important event of "Super Tuesday". "Super Tuesday" has always been considered a "big battle" of decisive nature for any candidate of both parties. What will be the situation and prospects of the candidates on this "Super Tuesday"?

Why “Super Tuesday”?

Simply explained, “Super Tuesday” is chosen as the first Tuesday in February or March of the presidential election years in the United States. This is one of the important times, when up to 12 states and 1 overseas territory simultaneously conduct primary elections, to elect the two most worthy representatives for each Democratic and Republican party. Those 12 states include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and the overseas territory of Samoa.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party (right) and billionaire Donald Trump of the Republican Party (left) are the leading candidates in the Super Tuesday election. Source: ABCNews

Importantly, the simultaneous primaries on “Super Tuesday” will determine a large number of votes for candidates, creating a significant advantage for the upcoming fierce race. Specifically for the Democratic Party, “Super Tuesday” will determine 865 out of a total of 4,763 delegate votes; while a candidate needs at least 2,382 votes to win the position of the party's representative to run for President.

As for the Republicans, “Super Tuesday” will determine 595 delegates out of a total of 2,472 votes. If a candidate wins this number of votes, he or she will have half the chance of winning, because each Republican candidate only needs to win 1,237 delegates to be elected as the party’s presidential candidate.

Thus, “Super Tuesday” will be a basic sketch of the influence and ability to attract candidates on a national scale, not just in individual localities. Accordingly, the election will take place earliest in the state of Virginia at 7:00 p.m. local time (7:00 a.m. on March 2, Vietnam time) and the last state to vote on “Super Tuesday” is Alaska at 1:00 a.m. on March 2, local time (1:00 p.m. on March 2, Vietnam time).

Revealing the "twin horses"

Before Super Tuesday, the results of the primaries in the previous states as well as most polls focused on the two most promising candidates: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party and billionaire Donald Trump of the Republican Party. While Hillary Clinton maintained her form right from her victory in the first election in Iowa, Donald Trump, after his first defeat in Iowa, has risen dramatically.

Candidate Hillary Clinton, right, backstage at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Sunday, February 28. Source: The New York Times

Specifically, although Mrs. Hillary has not yet broken through in terms of votes compared to potential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, she has won 3 victories after the race in 4 states. Meanwhile, according to the latest public opinion polls, the gap in her support rate compared to Mr. Sanders is approximately 20%. According to AP statistics, Mrs. Hillary currently has at least 536 delegates, far ahead of Mr. Sanders with 83 votes.

Meanwhile, after his initial defeat in Iowa, Republican billionaire Donald Trump regained his form, winning consecutively in the following three states: New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. His winning streak even surprised many leaders in the Republican Party.

Along with that, this candidate has also maintained the support rate in recent public opinion polls, creating a safe distance compared to the remaining candidates such as Florida Senator Marco Rubio or Texas Senator Ted Cruz. According to AP, the number of delegates that Mr. Donald Trump has at the moment is 81 votes, far ahead of Mr. Ted Cruz with 17 votes, Mr. Marco Rubio also with 17 votes.

More suspense

With what is happening, public opinion is focusing on the possibility that the two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, will be the final representatives for the Democratic and Republican parties in the decisive presidential election this coming November.

But nothing can be said for sure! Because although former Secretary of State Hillary has many advantages, Senator Bernie Sanders still has a chance to turn the tide. Because among the 12 states holding elections on "Super Tuesday", there are many states such as Oklahoma or Minnesota with many white voters - the force that supports Mr. Sanders. Or Texas is also predicted to be a fierce battlefield with no clear winner to win over Latino voters - the force that used to account for 32% of the total number of voters in 2008.

Candidate Donald Trump breathes a sigh of relief after escaping a mob at Radford University in Virginia. Source: The New York Times

As for billionaire Donald Trump, his recent victories are explained by the fact that people are placing immediate expectations on a financially powerful figure. However, Republican voters will also be startled and want to consider carefully: Does this billionaire have a credible economic and political policy after a series of shocking statements?

In fact, recently, voters and the Republican Party itself are in a state of “confusion” when no candidate meets the criteria for the final ticket, including billionaire Donald Trump. A Republican congressman recently said that he would rather vote for Mrs. Hillary than billionaire Trump. Because the world of experts believes that if other Republican candidates do not want to end the race early in division and helplessness, “Super Tuesday” will be an opportunity for them to correct their strategy.

In this scenario, if the election results on “Super Tuesday” are as predicted, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump winning overwhelmingly, the race for the “hot seat” will most likely become a “two-horse race”. But of course, no matter what the result is, the road to the White House is still very bumpy with many more primary election rounds in a series of important states such as Florida, Illinois (March 15), New York (April 19) or a series of states such as California, New Jersey, New Mexico, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota (June 7)… Therefore, the race will be fierce until the last minute on November 8 this year./.

Phuong Hoa