Bernie Sanders Stuns Hillary Clinton and Wins Democrat Michigan Primary 50% – 48%

Hillary feels the Bern in Michigan …

In a stunning turn, or is the “bern” of events last night, self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sander defeated Hillary Clinton in the Michigan Democrat primary, 50% to 48%.As the Politico opines, the outcome in Michigan is significant for Sanders because it demonstrates an ability to compete in diverse primary states. Could Hillary Clinton really be in a dog fight the rest of the way with Sanders? Most likely Hillary will win, however, the longer this goes, the more contempt Sanders voters will have for the presumptive, establishment nominee and may not show up to vote in November.

This is truly an incredible defeat for Clinton and a motivating victory for Team Sanders as prior to the Michigan primaries, Clinton was leading in the polls by between 20 and 30 points. OUCH!!!

Hat Tip – Legal Insurrection

Bernie Sanders scored one of the biggest victories of his underdog campaign Tuesday by beating Hillary Clinton in Michigan, a delegate-rich state where she led by double digits in the closing days before voting.

The 2-point upset came after both candidates invested time and money in the state, and fuels the argument from Sanders’ camp that he should not be written off after Clinton’s earlier wins.

The outcome in Michigan is significant for Sanders because it demonstrates an ability to compete in diverse primary states — counteracting a knock frequently leveled at him by Clinton allies that he has only performed well in largely white states.

“What tonight means is the Bernie Sanders campaign, the people’s revolution that we are talking about, the political revolution we have been talking about, is strong in every part of the country,” Sanders told reporters in Miami before the race was called. He predicted success in upcoming states, including in the West.

How on Earth is Clinton struggling to put a socialist away in the primary? With her loss in Michigan, could Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania be in play as well? Check out the  Democratic Primary Exit Poll Analysis:

Failed 2012 Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney Attacks Trump … “Donald Trump is a Phony, a Fraud. His Promises are as Worthless as a Degree from Trump University. He’s Playing the American Public for Suckers”

SORRY, BUT I HARDLY THINK MITTENS ROMNEY HAS THE QUALIFICATIONS TO DECLARE WHO SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT BE PRESIDENT …

Let me first preface this by saying I am far from a Donald Trump supporter and no, I did not vote for him. That being said, who the hell is Mitt Romney to attack Donald Trump and interject himself into the 2016 GOP primaries? Romney represents what is wrong with the Republican party. Romney is a failed GOP presidential candidate who lost the 2012 presidential race and gave us 4 more years of Barack Obama. Sorry Mittens, your attack on Trump is as pathetic as your failed presidential run. In fact, by going after Trump you played right into his hands. As the WAPO reports, Mitt Romney did Donald Trump a BIG favor by attacking him. Yes he did. But this is yet just another perfect example of how the GOP establishment just doesn’t get it or how pissed off the American people are.

In his ripping of Trump, Romney said that if Trump’s economic plans “were ever implemented, the country would sink into prolonged recession.” Hmm really, he had nothing but praise for Trump here in 2012. What I also found rather smarmy and self-serving is that Mittens said he was not going to endorse any of the candidates and during his speech referenced voting for multiple candidates that would ultimately have the GOP primary end with no candidate having enough delegates and thus the nomination being brought to a brokered convention. So is this Romney and the GOP establishment’s end game?

TPM:

In what may be an unprecedented speech by a major American political figure, former presidential nominee Mitt Romney implored his fellow Republicans on Thursday not to nominate the frontrunner Donald Trump for president.

“If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished,” Romney said in a nationally televised speech at the University of Utah.

Romney’s speech comes as the Republican Party grapples with the distinct possibility that Trump will become the party’s nominee. While some Republicans have come around to Trump’s candidacy, a forceful Republican effort to take down Trump has failed to materialize.

Romney last-ditch bid to save his party from Trump started with tweets knocking Trump’s comments on the Ku Klux Klan and calling on him to release his tax returns.

His slashing speech Thursday was remarkable not simply for the unparalled specter of the party’s last nominee savaging its frontrunner but for the dire picture Romney painted of a Trump presidency and what it would do to the country.

Mitt Romney full speech

GOP and Democrat Primaries: Its Not About the Wins and Losses, Its About the Delegates

ITS ALL ABOUT THE DELEGATES …

Don’t let the pundits spin you with wins and losses, especially during the early primaries that are not winner take all. Below is a “Viewer’s Guide: After Super Tuesday, Cold Hard Delegate Math.”  The state primaries have some of the most convoluted mathematical calculations to determine the allocation of delegates, it makes ones head hurt. The delegate numbers will still change after the Super Tuesday ones are allocated to see whether candidates met certain thresholds. For example, Marco Rubio did not have a bad night because he only won one state last night in Minnesota, he had a bad night because he failed to meet the the delegate threshold in a couple of delegate rich states, like Texas. The Politico has 5 takes aways. Take them for what they are worth.

But with the Democrats its not just about the delegates, its about the “Super Delegates” that have unfairly stacked the deck against Bernie Sanders.

Presidential candidates will wake up Wednesday morning to the cold, hard truth of delegate math. It might give the front-runners some breathing room, but for the rest of the field, the truth may hurt.

What to watch for on the day after Super Tuesday doles out a quarter of all the delegates at stake in the GOP and Democratic nominating contests:

THE TALLY: With 12 states awarding delegates, see how the delegate totals stack up when the dust settles.

With some delegates still to be allocated, Donald Trump had won at least 192 Super Tuesday delegates and Ted Cruz at least 132. Marco Rubio had won at least 66 delegates, John Kasich 19 and Ben Carson three. There were 595 GOP delegates at stake in 11 states.

Overall, Trump led with 274 delegates, Cruz 149, Rubio 82. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.

On the Democratic side, Clinton was assured of winning at least 457 of the 865 delegates at stake on Super Tuesday. Sanders was sure to get at least 286. Including superdelegates, Clinton had at least 1,005 delegates. Sanders had at least 373. It takes 2,383 Democratic delegates to win.

Daily Commentary – Wednesday, March 2, 2016 – As I Record This We Don’t Know the Super Tuesday Primary Results Yet

• My question is, will Marco Rubio win any states at? Will Trump come out as the big winner?

UPDATE I: SUPER TUESDAY – Republican Primaries: Donald Trump Projected to Win in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts and Tennessee

UPDATE II: SUPER TUESDAY Republican Primary: FOX NEWS Projects Ted Cruz Will Win Texas GOP Primary

UPDATE III: Trump and Clinton Win 7 states, Cruz 3 and Sanders 4.

SUPER TUESDAY Republican Primary: FOX NEWS Projects Ted Cruz Will Win Texas GOP Primary

With 32% of the vote in … FOX News is calling Texas for Sen. Ted Cruz.

Ted Cruz had to win Texas and he did!

Though Mr. Cruz was viewed as the favorite on the Republican side, his campaign was concerned enough about the outcome to spend precious time campaigning here in recent days when it could have been chasing votes across the “Super Tuesday” map.

Still, the victory provided a needed lift to Mr. Cruz’s delegate count, and a powerful argument against the other Republicans chasing Mr. Trump: Mr. Cruz is the one who has actually beaten him — here and in Iowa. Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Cruz sought to turn up the pressure on Senator Marco Rubio, whose own home state, Florida, votes March 15.

“There is no doubt that any candidate who cannot win his home state has real problems,” Mr. Cruz said.

It would appear that Ted Cruz will win Texas and out-perform the RCP average polling.

UPDATE I: Ted Cruz is projected to pull out two big victories over Donald Trump

Ted Cruz picked up at least two big victories in the Super Tuesday contests, as he was projected to win the Texas and Oklahoma Republican primaries.

Cruz won the Republican presidential primary in his home state of Texas, multiple outlets and television networks projected. Shortly afterward, The Associated Press projected that Cruz would win Oklahoma’s primary.

The senator pulled out the victories over Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, delivering the mogul his most significant setbacks of an otherwise strong night.