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Clinton, Trump enjoy super Tuesday; Rubio quits race

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won in Illinois, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, while Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won in Florida, North Carolina and Illinois.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich won the Republican primary in Ohio.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a Republican primary night celebration rally at Florida International University in Miami, Fla. tonight.

CLEVELAND >> Hillary Clinton triumphed Tuesday in the Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Illinois presidential primaries, putting her in a commanding position to become the first woman in U.S. history to win a major-party nomination. Donald Trump strengthened his hand in the Republican race with a big win in Florida but fell in Ohio to that state’s governor, John Kasich.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio ended his once-promising campaign after his devastating home-state loss, so the GOP primary is now down to three candidates: Trump, Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Trump also picked up wins in North Carolina and Illinois. The billionaire businessman told a victory rally, “This was an amazing night.”

Trump is the only Republican candidate with a realistic path to the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the July convention. But his loss in Ohio kept hope alive for mainstream Republicans dismayed by his candidacy and suggesting the real estate mogul can still be stopped in a convention fight.

“The campaign goes on,” Kasich declared at a victory rally. Now thrust into the center of a campaign that has been bitingly personal, Kasich vowed to “not take the low road to the highest office in the land.”

Both the Republican and Democratic races in Missouri’s presidential primaries were too close to call Wednesday morning.

A confident Clinton pivoted quickly to November during her victory rally, assailing Trump’s hardline immigration positions and support for torture. “Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it,” she declared.

Underscoring Republican concerns about Trump, Rubio focused heavily on an implicit critique of Trump in a speech announcing he was dropping out of the race. The senator urged Americans to “not give in to the fear, do not give in to the frustration.”

A favorite of Republican leaders, Rubio is the latest candidate to fall victim to an unpredictable election cycle and Trump’s unmatched ability to tap into the public’s anger with Washington and frustration with sweeping economic changes.

Clinton’s victories in Ohio, Florida and Illinois were blows to rival Bernie Sanders and bolstered her argument that she’s the best Democratic candidate to take on the eventual Republican nominee in the general election. Her win in Ohio was a particular relief for her campaign, which grew anxious after Sanders pulled off a surprising win last week in Michigan, another important Midwestern state.

Clinton kept up her large margins with black voters, a crucial group for Democrats in the general election. Democratic voters were more likely to describe Sanders as honest, but more likely to describe Clinton’s policies as realistic, according to exit polls.

Campaigning Tuesday in North Carolina, Clinton said “the numbers are adding up in my favor.” She signaled an eagerness to move on to a possible general election showdown with Trump, saying he’s laid out a “really dangerous path” for the country.

In Missouri, the margins between Trump and Cruz and between Clinton and Sanders, were less than one-half of 1 percentage point, meaning the losing candidate can request a recount. The Associated Press did not call either race.

Trump entered Tuesday’s primaries embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of his contentious campaign. The GOP front-runner has encouraged supporters to confront protesters at his events and is now facing accusations of encouraging violence after skirmishes at a rally last week in Chicago.

The atmosphere at his events has deepened the concern over his candidacy in some Republican circles. Rubio and Kasich have suggested they might not be able to support Trump if he’s the nominee, an extraordinary stance for intraparty rivals.

His closest competition so far has come from Cruz, who has kept relatively close to the businessman in the delegate count and has been urging other candidates to drop out so he can take Trump on one-on-one.

After another good night for Trump, some Republicans were struggling to come to grips with the prospect of him becoming the nominee and desperate to find long-shot ways to stop him.

A group of conservatives planned to meet Thursday to discuss options including a contested convention or by rallying around a third-party candidate. While such no candidate has been identified, meeting participants planned to discuss ballot access issues, including using an existing third party as a vehicle or securing signatures for an independent bid.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., did not rule out the idea of being drafted by the party at the convention.

“People say, ‘What about the contested convention?’” Ryan said in an interview with CNBC. “I say, well, there are a lot of people running for president. We’ll see. Who knows?”

Despite concerns from party leaders, Republican voters continue to back Trump’s most controversial proposals, with two-thirds of those who participated in GOP primaries Tuesday saying they support temporarily banning Muslims from the United States.

The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

Trump’s Florida victory brought his delegate total to 621. Cruz has 396 and Kasich 138. Rubio left the race with 168 delegates.

Clinton has at least 1,561 delegates, including the superdelegates who are elected officials and party leaders free to support the candidate of their choice. Sanders has at least 800. It takes 2,383 to win the Democratic nomination.

41 responses to “Clinton, Trump enjoy super Tuesday; Rubio quits race”

  1. choyd says:

    So now we have a petulant elitist manchild vs a theocrat “burn it all down so I can rebuild it in my narcissistic image” on one side and a pathological pay to play liar vs a populist class warfare demagogue.

    And that seals the deal, I’m voting Johnson. These choices are beyond terrible.

    • FARKWARD says:

      VOTE: “KERMIT” He’s an honest Puppet…

    • Allaha says:

      Where is leftist professor Klastri to join in – is he still holding his afternoon nap?

    • klastri says:

      Wasting your vote may not be the best strategy, but if you live in Hawai’i, your vote for Johnson won’t matter in a practical sense. Mrs. Clinton will will in a landslide, and will do so nationally. The best thing – and it’s great! – is that if Trump is the Republican nominee, the Senate will probably switch back to Democratic control. YEA!

      • sarge22 says:

        Keep dreaming. Trump will destroy Hillary and expose all her lies. The media has covered for her but it’s going to be tough when Trump gets rolling. He has known her for a long time and all the skeletons in her closet will be exposed.

        • scuddrunner says:

          sarge22
          Check this guy out this is interesting!!!

          Edward “Ed” Mezvinsky, born January 17, 1937.

          Then you’ll probably say, “Who is
          Ed Mezvinsky?”

          Well, he is a former Democrat congressman who represented Iowa’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms, from 1973 to 1977.

          He sat on the House Judiciary Committee that decided the fate of Richard Nixon.

          He was outspoken saying that Nixon was a crook and a disgrace to politics and the nation and should be impeached.
          He and the Clintons were friends and very politically intertwined for many years.

          Ed Mezvinsky had an affair with NBC News reporter Marjorie Sue Margolies and later married her after his wife divorced him.

          In 1993, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, then a freshman Democrat in Congress, cast the deciding vote that got President Bill Clinton’s controversial tax package through the House of Representatives.

          In March 2001, Mezvinsky was indicted and later pleaded guilty to 31 of 69 counts of bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud.

          Ed Mezvinsky embezzled more than $10 million dollars from people via both a Ponzi scheme and the notorious Nigerian e-mail scams.

          He was found guilty and sentenced to 80 months in federal prison.

          After serving less than five years in federal prison, he was released in April 2008 and remains on federal probation.

          To this day, he still owes $9.4 million in restitution to his victims.

          About now you are saying, “So what!” Well, this is Marc and Chelsea Mezvinsky. That’s right; Ed Mezvinsky is Chelsea Clinton’s father-in law.

          Now Marc and Chelsea are in their early thirties and purchased a 10.5 million dollar NYC apartment (after being married in George Soros’ mansion). Has anyone heard mention of any of this in any of the media?
          If this guy was Jenna or Barbara Bush’s, or better yet, Sarah Palin’s daughter’s father-in- law, the news would be an everyday headline and every detail would be reported over and over.

          And yet say there are no double standards in political reporting. And people are already talking about Hillarious as our next President!

          And then there is possibly Chelsea for president in our future!

          The cycle never ends!

          Lying and corruption seem to make Democrat candidates more popular.

          When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people,
          there is liberty. ~~ Thomas Jefferson

          America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we
          destroyed ourselves.”
          ~ ~Abraham Lincoln

        • st1d says:

          so, both chelsea’s father and father in law were convicted of fraud and did time inside?

        • thevisitor967 says:

          And you don’t think trump has lied and committed frauds? Lol

      • choyd says:

        Every vote for third party, especially libertarian gets it to 5% to which it can receive public funding in the next election. America needs a strong third party and every election we refuse to vote for them because of an alleged view that it’s wasting a vote ensures we get stuck with our duopoly.

  2. ryan02 says:

    Rubio couldn’t win his home state, and Kasich is struggling to win his. The writing is one the wall – republicans want either crazy Trump, or the almost-equally-as-crazy Cruz. Of course, the REST of the country don’t want them, but apparently the republicans do. This is a sure win for the dems in November. The GOP brought out the crazies in their race to the bottom.

    • magicman1433 says:

      Agree. The Republicans don’t seem to get it…their best shot at beating the Democrats in November just left the race…

      • RichardCory says:

        That’s what happens when you let your party get hijacked by nutcases from top to bottom.

        • klastri says:

          It’s going to end up a Democratic landslide. Hopefully, the Senate will switch to Democratic control as well. Go Trump!

        • Jonathan_Patrick says:

          Wait a minute, Hillary is Democratic and Donald is Republican. Those that are adamantly against Obama will vote for Trump. Those that support Democrats, no matter what, will vote for Clinton. Independents, like myself, will vote for the most qualified candidate that will not mess up this nation. Guess who I am voting for: klastri !!!!

  3. Jonathan_Patrick says:

    Trump, slump, chump, crump, clump, dump, … Five words that I can think of that rhymes with Trump.

    Clinton, Vinton, Minton, … two words that I can think of that rhymes with Clinton, however those are proper nouns.

    Donald Duck u will lose in November. Not that Hillary is the greatest invention since sliced bread however the USA would be fascinated more with a woman POTUS than a card game. Also more of Bubba would not help, however it would give Hillary a chance to “discuss” options, if the nuclear threat came along.

    • NanakuliBoss says:

      Pump a blump rump in pahrump is trump or hump a lump down at the dump.

    • Cellodad says:

      Sorry, you omitted rump.

      • Jonathan_Patrick says:

        I was a Civil Engineering major, not an English major, and furthermore, I got messed up when “somebody started talking to me like this”.

    • justmyview371 says:

      Rubio was trying to get the other candidates to support him in Florida against Trump. That didn’t work. He was told to get out before he lost in Florida.

    • justmyview371 says:

      Hillary continues to tell lies and make mistakes. There is one option in a real nuclear threat. Enter the codes in the football before the enemy. I don’t know how Democrats could support her. Vote for Sanders if he pledges to get a hair cut or style. e would look good with Donald Trump’s hair.

      • Boots says:

        And what lies are those? Can you be specific? As for mistakes, well yes she probably has but considering her lead, they are obviously not major. I hope Bernie doesn’t drop out before Hawaii. I would like to vote for him. Of course if Bernie does drop out, the democratic caucus would probably have less life than a morgue which would make life easy for me. But I hope he doesn’t. It was fun when Obama ran the first time. Total chaos there for awhile.

        • scuddrunner says:

          Boots,
          “You mean Hillary lying about Benghazi?”
          “You mean the massive voter fraud?”
          “You mean the military not getting their votes counted?”
          “Using a secret private server with classified material to Hide Activities?”
          “The NSA monitoring our phone calls, emails and everything Else?”
          “Using the Clinton Foundation as a cover for tax evasion?”
          “Taking bribes from foreign countries?”
          “Flying drones being operated in our own country without the Benefit of the law?”
          “Giving 123 Technologies $300 Million, and right afterward it declared Bankruptcy and was sold to the Chinese?”
          “Arming the Muslim Brotherhood and hiring them in the White House?”
          “Whitewater, Watergate committee, Vince Foster, commodity Deals?”
          “The IRS targeting conservatives?”
          “Turning Libya into chaos?”
          “Trashing Mubarak, one of our few Muslim friends?”
          “Turning our backs on Israel?”
          “The joke Iran Nuke deal? ”
          “Leaving Iraq in chaos? ”
          “The DOJ spying on the press?”
          “You mean HHS Secretary Sibelius shaking down health insurance Executives?”
          “The NSA monitoring citizens’ ?”
          Hillary and the IRS, Clapper and Holder all lying to Congress?”
          “Threats to all of Bill’s former mistresses to keep them quiet”
          “When she stole the White House furniture, silverware and China when Bill left Office?”
          Pick one.

        • lee1957 says:

          You meant that as a rhetorical question, right?

    • Allaha says:

      Trump jump on the toes of the establishment. you get the blue collar vote – brings jobs back, jump on the toes of China and Mexico.

  4. st1d says:

    hiliar:
    i try to tell the truth.
    as secretary of state, i never lost an american in libya. forget about benghazi.
    i will close the coal mines and end the coal miners jobs.
    no one is too big to jail.

    hiliar is endorsed by will quigg, the grand dragon of the ku klux klan. brown shirts and hoods, a winning combination for gruber voters.

  5. FARKWARD says:

    RUBIO..; “Cry, baby, cry, Put your finger in your eye, and tell your mother it wasn’t I.”

  6. MoiLee says:

    Yessssss ! Donald Trump!! Yayyyy!Good Job on the WINS!Especially with Illinois!! Brah! Even after the failed organized protest in Chicago.Who would have thought! BTW?? Isn’t this the president state?? lol.
    Finally a Non-Politician, I love it even more!!
    Keep it Going Donald and lets “Make America Great Again”. You can do this! IMUA!

  7. MakaniKai says:

    The U.S.A. in 2016 is as racially/ethnically diverse as it has ever been. Please riddle me this, why o why are we revisiting a whittled down candidate field of senior citizen Caucasians?!!!

    The fix has been in to get Hillary in office and because of her gender? We will have a woman prez one day just not this hag with blood on her hands for decades.

    And please don’t ask me to cite examples – the history is out there – unlike her emails.

    With the talent in this country we deserve so much better. But alas down the rabbit hole we fall.

  8. Wazdat says:

    Its so laughable how the media portrays Mr. Trump. Just look at the picture THIS paper use’s of Trump compared to Hilary.

    TRUMP will win in November and Hilary may be in JAIL. hahaha

  9. aomohoa says:

    Is there a race that is orange? Trump always looks orange.

  10. bumba says:

    Star Advertiser, you’re really starting to look like the National Enquirer, lol.

  11. marilynblee says:

    Some of these comments are neither civil nor in good taste. Where is your editor?

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