There isn’t a primary until next week, but this is probably the most important one. Next Tuesday, New Yorkers will be voting in their perspective local primaries, and much is on the line for both sides.
I. Bernie Sanders’ accomplishments need to be acknowledged.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Bernie Sanders has won seven of the last eight contests, and Donald Trump hasn’t won anything since March 22nd. Trump’s poll numbers are going down, but New York will likely boost him back up.
One thing that isn’t being talked about much by anyone is that Bernie Sanders is now only one point behind Hillary Clinton in the latest national polls.
Sanders started this campaign at 4 percent, with Clinton having a 55 point lead. To anyone, regardless of party affiliation, this needs to be acknowledged as true feat of political organization.
When Clinton lost to Barack Obama in 2008, the rumor of Clinton running in 2016 already began. After Obama named her Secretary of State in his cabinet, she added another title to her resume for president. After she resigned in 2013, she had years to prepare a national campaign to be president.
Sanders started this campaign from virtually rock bottom. Now he is in a deadlock contest with arguably the most powerful, cunning and well-funded female politician in U.S. history. All while openly attesting to being a Democratic Socialist, Sanders isn’t accepting money from large corporate donors and completely funding his campaign off of individual donations.
Clinton has a double-digit lead in New York, but her numbers are going down more often than up. If Sanders has any chance of becoming the Democratic nominee, this contest should prove his biggest challenge.
II. Donald Trump’s numbers are down, but New York will probably save him.
Ted Cruz will have to pull off a miracle to even come in second in the New York primary next Tuesday. Trump has a dominating 30-point lead, and will likely win the vast majority of delegates because of the winner-take-most rule of the state. Unless the entire Republican party rallies behind Cruz or Kasich, there’s not a lot to stop Trump’s momentum.
A contested convention is virtually the only thing at this point that will stop Trump. Elections are unpredictable, however, and there is still the potential scandal that either leaks or emerges that Trump simply cannot spin.
After his “New York values” comment, New York will not be kind to Cruz. There are no more state caucuses, which normally favor him, so he will have to rely on his state-wide organization. He needs to find a way to either swing independent voters, or take some from either Trump or Kasich. He continues to talk about how the party is rallying behind him, yet he has barely any congressional endorsements.
The stage is set for Trump to become the Republican nominee. The Democratic race, however, is still not decided.
Opinion editor Anthony Torres is a political science junior and may be reached at [email protected]
Everybody needs to wake up to the reality that while Trump may be a megalomaniac, Ted Cruz is actually legitimately an evil human being.
* Ted Cruz opposes abortion 100% of the time (according to a 2010 interview with the Houston Chronicle). Daughter is raped by terrorists? She must carry the baby to term. Wife’s life is jeopardized by a baby with massive hydrocephaly? Too bad, she has to carry to term.
* Ted Cruz believes in eliminating, in its entirety, the social welfare system. While reasonable people can disagree that some do and don’t deserve assistance, we’re talking about cutting health care for children removed from abused homes, eliminating disability insurance for veterans. He’s against it all.
* Ted Cruz wants to raise taxes on the middle and lower class by a colossal amount, to fund huge tax cuts for the rich. Reagan cut taxes on the rich by 70%, and since then every single increase in wealth has gone to the wealthy while wages for middle class people have stopped growing. So let’s double down on that, says Ted Cruz.
* Ted Cruz opposes any gun control, including preventing people with mental illnesses and criminal records getting guns.
* Ted Cruz believes that health insurance should not be required to cover mental health care (presumably so those that need health treatment have more money to buy guns)
* Ted Cruz believes in defying the Supreme Court when he doesn’t agree with a ruling they’ve made (so basically ignores the rule of law when it suits him)
* Ted Cruz advocates for committing war crimes (like area bombing which targets civillians and terrorists equally) in areas like Syria and Lebanon.
* Ted Cruz rejects the science behind global warming, effectively indicating that he is unable to reason correctly.
* Ted Cruz believes in banning gay marriage on a federal level
* Ted Cruz opposed a bill that allows student loan borrowers to borrow from the Treasury at the same interest rates big banks can.
I think what we lose sight of is that there’s something *worse* that Donald Trump becoming president. Ted Cruz becoming president.
Oh so what you’re saying is you have a problem with individual freedom, liberty, and free enterprise? You must be quite the Bernie supporter huh
I’ll never understand why anyone feels that rich elitists controlling the economy is “free enterprise.”
I’ll never understand why anyone feels that forcing a woman to have a metal probe inserted into her vagina is “individual freedom or liberty.”
Libertarianism is the communism of the 21st century: nice in theory, but just doesn’t reflect reality.
Still can’t decide if I like Woodstock crypto-Commie or crony cackling-Commie.