Super Tuesday

Yesterday was a HUGE deal for the Republican (and Democrat) party. A lot of delegates were given, and Trump took a huge lead over Cruz and Rubio. Instead of talking about the candidates performances individually, I am going to take it by state.

Republican:

Alabama:
This was an absolute runaway for Donald Trump. The 36 delegates he won added to his large score, and he left Cruz and Rubio 22 points behind. Neither Cruz nor Rubio expected to win this, but I was expecting them to do better in this sate, considering it's conservative mindset. Rubio was expected to do better being the establishment candidate, and he was hoping for second place. Now part of the rules for Alabama's primary is that you have to get over 20% to get a good amount of delegates, and despite Cruz got roughly 2% more of the vote then Rubio, Cruz received much more delegates then Rubio. Rubio ended with 18.7%, which doesn't hit the 20% minimum, so he ended up with 1 delegate. Cruz on the other hand, just barely hitting the 20% got 13 delegates because he went 1% over the minimum. I think this proves the craziness of America's election process.

Alaska:
This was an interesting state to watch last night. After Sarah Palin's endorsement of Mr. Trump, I was expecting him to win Alaska. To my surprise Senator Ted Cruz won the state! Although, the win was by a small margin Cruz received 1 more delegate then Donald Trump. It was a very close race for this state, but somehow Cruz made away with the win.

Arkansas:
In the beginning of the vote tally I had a very wrong prediction. I would have said that if Cruz had a chance of winning 3 states, it would be Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. To my astonishment, Donald Trump over took Cruz! In my mind Arkansas conservative values would allow Cruz or possibly Rubio with the win, but Trump did very well in both the liberal and conservative states. Unlike most states, I can see the reasoning behind the delegates given to the candidates. Trump was 2% ahead of Cruz so he got 2 more delegates, Rubio was 5% behind Cruz so Cruz received 5 more delegates then Rubio. Finally, one state that makes sense!

Georgia:
Now this is one of the most interesting states in the whole Super Tuesday Primary. If anyone still think the giving of the delegates is fair, then Georgia will change their mind. Trump won by a significant margin, so he received the most delegates. That makes sense, but where it starts to be discombobulated is in the 2nd and 3rd positions. Rubio did better then Cruz in Georgia, yet because of Super Delegates, Cruz received more delegates then Rubio. Rubio received 1% more of the vote then Cruz, but Cruz was awarded 4 more delegates than Rubio. Now Super Delegates are in a convention, which has a long discussion in which some Super Delegates change their position. Thus, if some of Rubio's Super Delegates change over to Cruz, then Rubio could have received more votes yet still lost in the number of delegates.

Vermont and Massachusetts: 
Even though Donald Trump had a big win in both of these states, what is interesting is the 2nd place candidate. Governor Kasich received a few delegates from these liberal states, and this will prevent him from dropping out of the race.

I am not going to go into the rest, but the basic idea that I am trying to convey is that the delegate system doesn't work! Georgia especially shows this fact. Even though Arkansas had a "system" that was working (which I thought was worth pointing out), none of the others had any rhyme or reason what so ever.

This was a big night for Trump, and Cruz got a few surprises too. Rubio did well in Minnesota, but is that all he can do. In Trump and Cruz's victory speeches they said Marco Rubio, couldn't win any. Were they wrong? Does Rubio still have a chance? Is Cruz's call to unite, the only way to beat Trump? If so, should people unite around Cruz or Rubio? Or is everyone just neglecting Kasich, when he really does have a shot at winning?

One thing I do know for sure, Super Tuesday was a nail in the coffin for Carson. He says he will not drop out, because to most the number of votes and the number of won states don't matter. The thing that will force Carson to leave is lack of funds. After last night, he won't be receiving much. So, after Carson leaves, who will benefit from his followers? Will the unite around Cruz, or will they go for the establishment Republican?

One thing I do want to put out there. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and do this for a while. Trump.Donald.org