With the Indiana polls opening today, it’s a good time to see how each campaign is fairing with both conventions looming in the summer.
Clinton and Sanders chugging along
With Clinton’s nomination all but secure, her camp is looking past Indiana and setting its sights on the general election.
This may be a ploy to soften the blow of a loss in Indiana, but it’s smart for her to move on even if Sanders refuses to. With most Democrats asking him to step down before the convention, Sanders has opted to reduce his campaign size instead of suspending it completely.
An open primary and over $1.8 million in advertising may help Sanders pull an upset in Indiana but it will only serve to fuel a campaign with little hope for the nomination.
Cruz reintroduces a familiar face
As Trump looks to secure his nomination, Cruz has been desperately trying to block him and push for a contested convention.
Cruz announced last Wednesday that Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who backed out of the race in Feb., would be his running mate in hopes of widening his demographics among women and taking on conservatives running away from Trump after his recent comments about women.
What lies ahead for both parties
With both conventions coming up fast, only one candidate among the Democratic Party seems to have a clear path to victory.
Sanders will no doubt try to continue his campaign, but with his victory waning the effort may only add more ego to him and his followers rather than the rest of the nation.
While Trump has a rough April, including a campaign manager fiasco and a memorable slip of the tongue, the mogul’s campaign seemed quiet over the last few weeks.
But good news: he’s back.
Leading up to the Indiana primary, Trump has been as vocal as ever, accusing Cruz’s father of helping Lee Harvey Oswald in assassinating JFK, talking about Middle Eastern allies‘ poor combat skills and poking fun at the Cruz-Fiorina union.
With a much-needed victory in Indiana, it looks like Trump’s campaign is letting their No. 1 asset go to work. As both November and the conventions coming up fast, the race to become the president of the United States is just beginning.
Opinion editor Frank Campos is a media production senior and may be reached at [email protected].