The Campaign Trail 2016: Trump and Clinton win big on Super Tuesday

The last big super Tuesday of the 2016 presidential primaries occurred on Tuesday and for the Democrats, former New York Senator Hillary Clinton is battling it out with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders until the bitter end. Sanders was hoping for a big win today to close the large gap between him and Clinton and Clinton was hoping for major victories so she could get the required amount of delegates to claim the nomination.

The biggest state of the day was California, with its coveted 475 delegates up for grabs. Clinton won the state getting 55.8 percent of the vote and so far has collected 257 of the delegates. Sanders received 43.2 percent of the vote and so far has collected 188 of the delegates. Montana had 21 delegates up for grabs and Sanders won the state with 51.1 percent of the vote and collected 11 delegates. Clinton collected 44.6 percent of the vote and received ten delegates.

New Jersey had the second highest amount of delegates to award, 126 delegates to be exact, and Clinton won the state by a landslide collecting 63.3 percent of the vote and 73 delegates. Sanders received 36.7 percent of the vote and received 47 delegates. New Mexico, and its 34 delegates, had an almost tie with Clinton barely winning with 51.5 percent of the vote and collecting 17 delegates. Sanders received 48.5 percent of the vote and 14 delegates.

North Dakota was another win for Sanders in a landslide victory receiving 64.2 percent of the vote. Clinton received 25.6 percent of the vote. Sanders collected 13 of North Dakota's 18 delegates and Clinton received five delegates. The final contest of the day was in South Dakota, which was the closest contest of the day. Clinton received 51 percent of the vote and Sanders received 49 percent of the vote. South Dakota had 20 delegates to award and Clinton and Sanders split them evenly, each receiving ten delegates.

Overall, Tuesday was a loss for Sanders and a win for Clinton. Clinton didn't get enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination, however she added an additional 72 delegates to the gap between herself and Sanders leaving Sanders now 380 delegates behind (not including superdelegates).

As of the time of writing, Clinton has collected 2,184 delegates and 571 superdelegates, giving her a total of 2,755 delegates. Sanders has collected 1,804 delegates and 48 superdelegates giving him a total of 1,852 delegates. Superdelegates aren't bound to a candidate until actually voted at the Democratic National Convention. Between unpledged superdelegates and the remaining upcoming primary, there are 158 delegates that haven't gone to a candidate yet.

Without superdelegates, Clinton is 199 delegates away from the necessary 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders is 579 delegates away from the necessary delegate total to get the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders has vowed to stay in the Democratic presidential primaries to the end and has hopes to win a brokered convention.

Next up for the Democrats is the final primary contest before their national convention. On June 14^th Washington D.C. will cast their primary votes and disperse their 46 delegates.

For the Republican party, there were five nominating contests on Tuesday. Prior to Tuesday's primaries, billionaire Donald Trump had already passed the required 1,237 delegate count required for the Republican party presidential nomination. He is the only candidate still running in the Republican primaries. However, Tuesday may have actually been the most important day of primaries for Trump.

During the 2016 primaries, Republicans have been showing their disdain for the New York billionaire. Respected Republicans, such as George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and John McCain, have refused to endorse and vote for Trump. As the primary season goes on more and more Republicans have jumped on the “Not Trump” bandwagon, some of the most recent being Republican Nebraska State Senator Laura Ebke, who switched her party registration from Republican to Libertarian over Trump, and Republican Iowa State Senator David Johnson, who switched his party registration from Republican to no party because of Trump.

Tuesday was the first day of contests since Trump has secured the nomination and a high percentage of votes for him, especially since he is running unopposed, would help his troubled image. Trump didn't get the percentages he would have wanted to on Tuesday, but at least for him he didn't lose any of the states. Trump received the highest percentage of votes in New Jersey, a winner take all state, with 51 delegates up for grabs. Trump received 80.6 percent of the vote and walked away with all 51 delegates. California was Trump's next best state, with 172 delegates on the line and proportional delegate disbursement. California hasn't finished tallying up all the votes and so far Trump has 75.4 percent of the vote and collected 166 of the delegates. He is likely to collect them all.

In Montana, a winner take all state with 27 delegates, Trump received 73.7 percent of the vote and all 27 of the delegates. New Mexico, a proportional disbursement state with 24 delegates, Trump received 70.7 percent of the vote and all 24 of the delegates. And in the final contest of Tuesday in South Dakota, a winner take all state with 29 delegates, Trump only received 67.1 percent of the vote and collected all 29 delegates.

Tuesday was the the final day of the Republican presidential primaries and this was probably not the percentages Trump wanted to finish with. Next up for the Republicans is the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 18^th through the 21^st at the Quicken Loans Arena. At the convention Trump is expected to be officially named the Republican presidential nominee.

The next edition of The Campaign Trail 2016 will be after the Democratic primary results in Washington D.C. on June 14^th.

The Campaign Trail 2016: Trump seals the deal

Washington State held their presidential primary on May 24^th, for both the Republican and Democratic parties. The Republican party is the only one that the day counted for though. For the Democrats, the primary is just a beauty pageant, this is because the Washington State Democrats pick their Democratic delegate dispersion through caucuses that they held on March 26^th. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won the Democratic caucuses. The Washington State Republicans pick their Republican delegate dispersion through a primary, that had 44 delegates up for grabs. Democrats can vote in the primary for Democratic candidates but all results are unbound since their delegates were bound by the previous caucuses.

Billionaire Donald Trump was unopposed in the Republican primary in Washington State since all of his rivals have suspended their campaigns. Trump collected 75.8 percent of the vote and has collected 40 of the 44 delegates so far. With the Washington State win, Trump was up to 1,229 delegates, just short of the 1,237 required total to clinch the Republican presidential nomination. Since the Washington State primary, through Republican superdelegates – yes the Republican party has superdelegates as well – Trump is now up to 1,239 delegates, over the requirement to win the nomination.

The final Republican presidential nomination contests are today in California (proportional), Montana (winner take all), New Jersey (winner take all), New Mexico (proportional), and South Dakota (winner take all). The Democrats have contests in the same states today as well as North Dakota. Despite winning the Republican presidential nomination already, Trump still needs to perform well in today's contests. Low percentage wins, or even worse loses to candidates that have suspended their campaigns, would give ammunition for his opponents the former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, the presidential and vice presidential team for the Libertarian party, and former New York Senator Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The next edition of The Campaign Trail 2016 will come out after today's results are completed.

The Campaign Trail 2016: The presumptive nominees start their general campaigns

Tuesday in Oregon presumptive Republican presidential nominee billionaire Donald Trump faced himself in the Republican primary and, although Oregon is still counting the ballots, is the presumed winner with 66.6 percent of the vote. The Beaver State had 28 delegates up for grabs, and awards their delegates proportionally, and while final disbursement isn't fully known yet Trump collected 17 delegates so far. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who previously suspended his presidential campaign, is continuing his streak of doing better not campaigning than when he was by collecting three delegates so far from Oregon. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who has also previously suspended his presidential campaign, has also collected three delegates so far.

The Sunday prior to Tuesday's primary, former Republican nominee hopeful Doctor Ben Carson, who is on Trump's vice presidential search committee, released Trump's vice presidential shortlist of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Cruz, Kasich, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Since his release of this list, Carson has now recanted the list.

Trump will next face himself in the Washington state Republican primary on May 24^th.

The Democrats faced off in Oregon on Tuesday as well. The Beaver State is still tabulating the Democratic votes. As of now Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is presumed to have won the Beaver State taking 56 percent of the vote; former New York Senator Hillary Clinton collected 44 percent of the vote. Oregon is awarding 61 delegates and the final disbursement is still being tabulated, however, Sanders has collected 34 delegates so far and Clinton has collected 25 delegates.

The Bluegrass State also held a primary on Tuesday and Clinton and Sanders essentially tied in the state; Clinton technically won collecting 46.8 percent of the vote and Sanders came in second with 46.3 percent of the vote. Kentucky had 55 delegates up for grabs which Clinton and Sanders will be splitting down the middle collecting 27 delegates each.

After Tuesday's primaries Sanders still trails Clinton by 274 delegates, not counting superdelegates. Sanders has to take California, by a massive margin, or he has no chance of overtaking Clinton.

The Democratic PAC Priorities USA Action has already started launching advertisements attacking the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump.

Clinton and Sanders will next face off in the Virgin Islands caucuses on June 4^th and the Puerto Rico primaries on June 5^th before the do or die day for Sanders on June 7^th when California, along with Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota, will all hold Democratic primaries and caucuses.

First up with their national convention, the Libertarian Party will select their presidential nominee and vice presidential nominee in Orlando, Florida, from May 27^th through May 30^th.

The next The Campaign Trail 2016 edition for the Republican party will be after the results from Washington state on May 24^th, the next edition for the Democratic party will be on June 5^th after the Puerto Rico results covering the 4^th and 5^th, and the Libertarian party special edition will come out the weekend of the 21^st prior to their convention.

The Campaign Trail 2016: Trump vs. Trump and Clinton vs. Sanders

After the tumultuous events in Indiana, Ohio Governor John Kasich, the only remaining opponent to billionaire Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primaries, suspended his campaign leaving Trump alone in the Republican race. Tuesday night in the Nebraska Republican primaries Trump expectedly won the state but with only 61.4 percent of the vote. The Cornhusker State is a winner take all state so Trump walked away with all 36 delegates. On the same night in West Virginia Trump won the primary with 77 percent of the vote. The Mountain State is a proportional state with 34 total delegates to award. The full breakdown isn't available yet but so far Trump has collected 30 of the delegates and Kasich has collected one, meaning that Kasich is probably doing better not being a candidate than when he was a candidate. Tuesday night leaves Trump 103 delegates away from claiming the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump will go on to challenge himself in the Oregon primaries on May 17^th.

Despite gaining endorsements from some notable Republicans, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the list of Republicans stating that they won't vote for Trump, under any circumstances, is growing to include such notable Republicans such as President George H.W. Bush, President George W. Bush, Arizona Senator John McCain, former New York Governor George Pataki, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan has started meeting with Trump to figure out ways to unite the fracturing Republican party, however it is clear that there are Republicans that will not be united behind Trump in 2016. Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, a Republican turned Libertarian who is the likely Libertarian presidential nominee, needs to get his name out more along with his platform to bring the Republicans that will not vote for Trump over to the Libertarian party for 2016 before Former New York Senator Hillary Clinton woos them into being a Democrat for 2016.

The Democrats also had a primary in West Virginia where 29 delegates were at state. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won the Mountain State with 51.4 percent of the vote. Clinton only received 35.8 percent of the vote. Sanders collected 18 delegates and Clinton collected 11 delegates. This brings Sanders' delegate total up to 1433, and he has 40 superdelegates pledged, and Clinton's total up to 1716, and she has 524 superdelegates pledged. Sanders needs to collect roughly 90 percent of all remaining delegates to win the Democratic nomination (roughly 86 percent if you count superdelegates) and Clinton needs to collect roughly 63 percent of all remaining delegates to win the Democratic nomination (roughly 14 percent if you count superdelegates).

Sanders and Clinton will face off next in Oregon and Kentucky on May 17^th.

Return after the results on May 17^th for the next installment of The Campaign Trail 2016.

The Campaign Trail 2016: And Then There Were Four (A.K.A. Four Little Politicians)

Since Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland held their primaries on April 26^th there has been a bustle of political activity.

In under a week, the alliance between Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich has already dissolved. The details on what broke up their happy marriage aren't fully known, but smart money says the irreconcilable differences came up when Kasich found out that when he was eliminated from mathematically getting the Republican nomination he was supposed to announce his vice president and at that time, Cruz failed to notify him of that fact. Since Kasich has still not announced his vice presidential pick yet, it is becoming clear that no one other than Carly Fiorina was willing to sign on to a campaign that can't become a Republican nominee.

The Hoosier State was a winner take all state for the Republicans and last night billionaire Donald Trump ran the table. Trump collected 53.3 percent of the vote, with Cruz taking second with 36.7 percent of the vote, and Kasich coming in last with 7.5 percent of the vote. Indiana is giving out 57 delegates which moves Trump up to 1,047 of the required 1,237 delegates for the Republican presidential nomination. The Republicans only have nine more primaries before the 2016 Republican presidential nominee campaign is over. The next Republican primary is in Nebraska on the 10^th. After the primaries on April 26^th, Trump was the only Republican candidate that could still win enough delegates to win the nomination outside of a brokered convention.

“I'm sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed,” said Cruz in Indianapolis, Indiana, as he ended his campaign to become the Republican nominee for president last night. “Together we left it all on the field in Indiana, the voters chose another path. And so, with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism, for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign. But hear me now, I am not suspending our fight for liberty.”

And with those words, there were two Republican candidates left in the race; Trump who can see the finish line, and Kasich, who fell off the track ages ago and hasn't yet recognized it.

Last night, Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee, tweeted, “.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton”

With Priebus' tweet last night it is obvious that the Republican party is going to accept Trump as their nominee and do not expect to have a brokered convention. As to why Kasich has still not dropped out is a mystery that only he knows.

So far there has been no news on whether Kasich is currently courting Fiorina to be his vice presidential nominee.

For the Libertarian party, last night's events can only be seen as good. After the news spread that Cruz had suspended his campaign and Trump had become the presumptive Republican nominee, Google searches for the Libertarian party surged.

Graph from Google Trends 5/3/16

Whether the searches were done by Cruz followers looking for another choice or Republicans looking for another choice is unknown. What is obvious from the data is that voters do want another choice and are looking at the Libertarian party for that choice. The Libertarian National Convention occurs in Orlando, Florida, later this month from the 27^th through the 30^th. This event can't come soon enough for the Libertarian Party. Trump has already started attacking Clinton, who he presumes will be the Democrat Presidential Nominee, and Clinton has already started attacking Trump. The Libertarians need to start working on aggressively going after disenfranchised Republicans as well as going after disenfranchised Democrats, of which there will be many when Senator Bernie Sanders inevitably suspends his campaign. If the Libertarians want a chance at winning this election they must bring in voters from both of the other national parties as well as getting their name in the public light.

On the Democrat side, Sanders won The Hoosier State last night with 52.7 percent of the vote. Clinton came in second with 47.3 percent of the vote. Despite Sanders winning Indiana, the night was a loss for the Senator from Vermont. Indiana is awarding a total of 83 delegates and so far Sanders has collected 43 of the delegates and Clinton has collected 37. This only narrows the wide gap between Clinton and Sanders by six delegates leaving a gap of 321 delegates between the two candidates (This is before superdelegates are considered.). Without superdelegates considered Sanders needs to collect 87.9 percent of all unawarded delegates, with superdelegates he needs to collect 84.5 percent of all unawarded delegates. Clinton on the other hand needs to collect 60.3 percent of all unawarded delegates without superdelegates and 15.6 percent with superdelegates. Based off of his past performance in the 2016 campaign, Sanders has no possible chance of getting the necessary delegates. With superdelegates Clinton will easily grab the Democratic presidential nomination. The Democrats only have 13 primaries and caucuses left with the next one on the 7^th in the territory of Guam.

For the next Campaign Trail 2016 Republican update, return after Nebraska's primary on the 10^th. For the next Campaign Trail 2016 Democratic update, return after Guam's primary on the 7^th. As always, news on the Libertarian party will be as it occurs and a Special Edition Libertarian pre-National Convention update will come out the weekend of the 21^st.

The Campaign Trail 2016: Meet your probable Republican and Democratic nominees

Tuesday five states held primaries and essentially all but two candidates have now lost any chance of securing their parties nominations.

Former Senator Hillary Clinton won in a close competition in Connecticut receiving 51.8 percent of the vote with Senator Bernie Sanders collecting 46.4 percent of the vote for his second place finish. So far Clinton has collected 27 of the 55 delegates that Connecticut is giving out. Sanders has collected 25. In Delaware Clinton won with a greater victory margin gaining 58.8 percent of the vote and she won 12 of the 21 delegates that Delaware gave out. Sanders collected 39.2 percent of the vote and nine delegates.

Clinton won again in Pennsylvania receiving 55.6 percent of the vote. Pennsylvania is giving out 189 delegates and so far Clinton has collected 95 for her victory. Sanders received 43.6 percent of the vote and has collected 67 delegates from Pennsylvania. Maryland brought a blow out win for Clinton with her taking 63 percent of the vote. Sanders only managed to get 33.2 percent of the vote. Maryland is giving out 95 delegates and so far has awarded Clinton with 59 and Sanders with 32 of them.

Rhode Island brought Sanders his only win for the night with 55 percent of the vote. Rhode Island was giving out 24 delegates and Sanders received 13 for his efforts. Clinton received 43.3 percent of the vote and received 11 delegates.

Last night effectively ended Sanders' campaign. Not counting pledged unbound superdelegates Sanders needs to collect 85 percent of all unawarded delegates to achieve the necessary 2383 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. With his current pledged superdelegates he needs to secure 82 percent of the unawarded delegates.

Clinton needs to collect 58.9 percent of all unawarded delegates, not counting superdelegates, to achieve the total required. However, with the pledged unbound superdelegates Clinton currently has, she only needs to collect 18.2 percent of all unawarded delegates to gain the Democratic nomination. She should be able to collect that and more meaning that the Democratic convention shouldn't ever become a brokered convention.

In a surprise move Sunday Jeff Roe, Cruz for President campaign manager, issued a release stating, “Having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket in November would be a sure disaster for Republicans. Not only would Trump get blown out by Clinton or Sanders, but having him as our nominee would set the party back a generation. To ensure that we nominate a Republican who can unify the Republican Party and win in November, our campaign will focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Gov. Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico, and we would hope that allies of both campaigns would follow our lead. In other states holding their elections for the remainder of the primary season, our campaign will continue to compete vigorously to win.”

Governor John Kasich's campaign issued a similar statement.

Monday billionaire Donald Trump's campaign responded with, “It is sad that two grown politicians have to collude against one person who has only been a politician for ten months in order to try and stop that person from getting the Republican nomination.”

Not that any of this mattered after Tuesday night's primaries.

Trump took wins in all five states Tuesday night. In Connecticut Trump had a resounding victory gaining 57.9 percent of the vote. Connecticut is a proportional state for awarding delegates but because of Trump's blow out victory he walked away with all 28 delegates up for grabs. Kasich received second place with 28.4 percent of the vote and Senator Ted Cruz came in third with 11.7 percent of the vote.

In Delaware Trump repeated with another resounding victory with 60.8 percent of the vote. Delaware was a winner take all state, so Trump walked away with all 16 delegates. Kasich came in second with 20.4 percent of the vote and Cruz came in third with 15.9 percent of the vote.

Maryland, another winner take all state, was another blow out victory for Trump with him gaining 54.4 percent of the vote. Trump obviously walked away with all 38 delegates that Maryland was giving out. Kasich came in second with 23 percent of the vote and Cruz came in third with 18.9 percent of the vote.

Pennsylvania was a repeat of all prior states and Trump walked away with all 17 of the winner take all delegates that Pennsylvania is giving out and 56.7 percent of the vote with his victory. Cruz received his only second place finish of the night in Pennsylvania with 21.6 percent of the vote and Kasich came in third with 19.4 percent of the vote.

Rhode Island was no different than the first three states. Trump had a blow out victory with 63.8 percent of the vote. Rhode Island had 19 delegates to award and is a proportional state. So far Trump has collected ten of the delegates for his victory. Kasich came in second with 24.4 percent of the vote. Kasich didn't go home empty handed for the night receiving five delegates so far from Rhode Island. Cruz came in third with 10.4 percent of the vote. He also didn't go home empty handed collecting three delegates so far from Rhode Island.

Last night was a major milestone for Trump. He is now the only Republican candidate that can win the Republican nomination outside of a brokered convention. To achieve the 1237 delegates required for nomination, Trump needs to secure 45.9 percent of the unawarded delegates. Cruz now needs to secure 109.6 percent of the unawarded delegates to gain the nomination. Kasich, who wins the 'why are you still even trying' award, needs to secure 176 percent of the remaining delegates to get the nomination.

Upon hearing the news that he could no longer reach the required delegates to become the Republican nominee, Cruz promptly made an important announcement at 4 pm EST on Wednesday. The announcement he made probably caused a lot of jaws to drop.

“After a great deal of consideration and prayer, I have come to the conclusion that if I am nominated to be president of the United States that I will run on a ticket with my vice presidential nominee Carly Fiorina,” Cruz said at a rally in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Candidates usually announce their vice presidential pick after they are sure to win their party's nomination, not after receiving the news that they no longer can obtain enough delegates to win the nomination. But then again, nothing about this campaign season has been normal so far.

It is safe to assume that Trump and Clinton are vetting potential vice presidential picks and that announcements will come from both in the not too distant future.

The Libertarian party, who's convention is looming closer and closer, are hopefully looking carefully at the vice presidential candidates. The Libertarian party selects their vice presidential candidate by vote at the National Convention. Given that the Libertarians have a chance to win the 2016 presidential election, a vice president who has charisma and can debate whomever Trump and Clinton pick is a must since the Libertarians will have to pull every voter possible to win the presidency.

Return for the next installment of The Campaign Trail 2016 after the results from the Indiana primary on May 3^rd.

The Campaign Trail 2016: After New York only two still have a chance

In the days after the Wisconsin primary and Wyoming held their caucuses, a lot has been going on for all three parties with the New York primary and what has been going on outside of the actual primaries.

The Democrats, showing that they are no more congenial than the Republicans, had their Spring Slam in the borough of Brooklyn leading up to the primary in New York. The latest Democratic debate took place on Thursday night and both candidates took every opportunity they could to look as unpresidential as they could while slinging as many insults as possible at each other during the time allotted.

And it isn't just the candidates that are getting dirty in their tactics. So far this campaign season, Billionaire GOP front-runner Donald Trump has had the worst behaved supporters, now having several supporters having been arrested for alleged assault at rallies. But now Senator Bernie Sanders' supporters are stepping up to the plate trying to show that they can outdo the New York billionaire's supporters. One of Sanders' supporters created a superdelegate hit list website, which lists all of the superdelegate voters and how their superdelegates are currently pledged. Sanders' supporters have been allegedly harassing those who have currently pledged their superdelegates to Clinton. Sanders' supporters have allegedly gotten their hands on private cell phone numbers and have been allegedly harassing supporters using profane language and name calling.

What is sad about this, beyond the fact that this kind of behavior just isn't acceptable, is that it shows how little the supporters who are doing this actually know about the superdelegate system and how poorly informed they are about the electoral process. Historically superdelegates vote for whomever the front-runner is, who right now is former Senator Hillary Clinton. If Sanders actually manages to surpass Clinton in delegates it is likely that most of the superdelegates will switch their pledges to him. So, in actuality, right now what these alleged supporters are actually demanding is that the superdelegates back the current loser and go against the voice of the people.

The massive turnout on voting days, for both parties, this year is great as more people should be involved in the political process. It is excellent to see new voters getting excited about candidates. However, people who are getting involved in the political process should learn how the process actually works. And candidates, when they see misinformed voters, should do what they can to properly inform voters of the process as well as reeling in their supporters when they get out of line. Something that isn't being seen this campaign, by either the Republican or Democratic sides.

An NBC poll, taken between April 4^th through April 10^th shows that as of right now more registered Democratic voters preferred Clinton (49 percent) to Sanders (43 percent). These results show Clinton down two percent from the last poll and Sanders up one percent. If Sanders expects to win the Democratic nomination, he will have to have much higher percentages than this vote for him in all of the upcoming primary elections.

In New York tension was high prior to the primary as both Democratic candidates claimed the state as their home state. Sanders claims New York as his home state since he was born in the borough of Brooklyn and Clinton since she moved to Chappaqua in 1999 and served as a U.S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. Ultimately, Clinton beat Sanders getting 57.9 percent of the vote. Sanders only was able to get 42.1 percent of the vote.

New York was a big prize for the Democrats with 247 delegates being awarded. While the final delegate awards aren't completely finalized yet, so far Clinton has collected 139 of the total delegates and Sanders has collected 106. This loss is utterly devastating for Sanders' campaign and essentially ends his chances of getting the Democratic nomination. Clinton has only gained 33 more delegates than Sanders so far, which isn't a huge collection and doesn't seem like a campaign ending amount. However, this leaves only 1646 delegates remaining.

To get the necessary 2383 delegates for the Democratic nomination, without superdelegates Sanders will need to collect 75 percent of all the remaining unpledged delegates. A feat he is unlikely to do based on polling. Clinton isn't in too much of a greater position. She needs to collect 58 percent of the unpledged delegates to get the nomination without superdelegates, which while still achievable is a daunting task.

Clinton is all but assured now to go into the Democratic National Convention in July with the most of the delegates awarded by the voters. Superdelegates tend to back the leader, and with the superdelegates she will gain the nomination. At this point Sanders should suspend his campaign, prior to Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island voting on the 26^th. All Sanders and Clinton bickering back and forth at this point is doing is damaging both Sanders and Clinton giving the Republicans and the Libertarians an advantage. He should suspend his campaign and allow Clinton, who has the greatest chance at becoming the nominee at this point, the chance to start going after her opponents.

Leading up to New York, and as the Republican National Convention looms closer and closer, The Boston Globe jumped on the anyone but Trump for the GOP nominee bandwagon publishing a front page parody on April 10^th, displaying the date April 9, 2017 and highlighting mass deportations, trade wars, stocks plummeting, laws being changed to end the freedom of speech, US soldiers refusing unconstitutional orders, among other events.

Whether this is too little, too late, to stop the New York billionaire from gaining the Republican nomination is unknown. However, all voters, regardless of party or candidate they are supporting should look at the parody and remind themselves of how fragile our Constitution and Bill of Rights really are and how much we stand to lose if they are slowly taken down. All voters should also read The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, a series of essays about the, at the time, unratified Constitution.

In the same NBC News poll, the majority of registered Republicans preferred Trump as the nominee (46 percent) to Senator Ted Cruz (30 percent) and Governor John Kasich (16 percent); both Trump and Cruz have shown more support in this poll than the last one (Trump one percent and Cruz two percent) and Kasich has less support (down two percent).

Trump took his home state of New York yesterday by a huge margin with 60.5 percent of the vote. Kasich received one of his rare second place finishes with 25.1 percent of the vote and Cruz came in last with 14.5 percent of the vote. New York didn't offer the Republicans the hefty prize that the Democrats had, but did have 95 delegates up for grabs. New York awards their Republican delegates proprotionally. Not all the delegates have been awarded yet. So far Trump has collected the bulk with 89 delegates. Kasich has added three delegates to his total and Cruz hasn't received any.

At this point, both Cruz and Kasich should suspend their campaigns prior to the next primaries on the 26^th. Kasich needs to receive 149 percent of the remaining 734 unpledged delegates to reach the required delegate total of 1237, which is an impossibility. Cruz still has a theoretical chance of getting the nomination, but like Sanders, has no real chance at pulling it off. Cruz needs to win 92 percent of the unpledged delegates to reach the required total. Trump still has a possibility of gaining the required total since he only needs to collect 53 percent of the remaining unpledged delegates.

On the 26^th, Delaware and Maryland are both winner take all states and Connecticut and Rhode Island are proportional. Pennsylvania uses an odd calculation method that I am convinced most residents of Pennsylvania wouldn't be able to explain properly to anyone. After the 26^th, the Republicans only have nine more contests, four of which are winner take all states, four that are proportional, and one that is bound by voter preference. Trump is the only remaining candidate that has a realistic chance of getting the nomination without a brokered convention and the infighting among the Republican nominees is just harming their eventual nominee at this point giving the Democrats and the Libertarians a better chance of winning the general election.

As the Libertarian national convention in Orlando Florida looms closer and closer, the NBC News poll shows more potentially positive news for their party. According to the poll, if the general election in November were held today with Trump and Clinton as the candidates, 16 percent of voters would be willing to vote for a third party (The poll has Clinton winning with 38 percent of the vote, Trump with 36 percent of the vote, and eight percent of those polled not voting). With Cruz running against Clinton the results were even more in favor of a third party with 19 percent willing to vote for a third party (The poll has Clinton winning with 37 percent of the vote, Cruz with 32 percent of the vote, and ten percent of those polled not voting).

How can 16 to 19 percent of the vote be good news is a fair question. If Trump, Clinton, or Cruz were polling nationally at those percentages they would be written off as not electable (and rightfully so) and the Libertarian party can't be held at a different percentage standard to be electable since to win they would have to gain the majority vote.

Trump, Clinton, and Cruz have been dominating the news now for over six months. They are all household names. The Libertarian party, which is on all 50 state ballots in the November general election, is just starting to get their name noticed in the news now. They will have to increase the household knowledge of their party and their presidential nominee to win the general election. However, with interest in a party that isn't Republican or Democrat in the general election growing it is going to be harder and harder for the Commission on Presidential Debates to justify excluding the Libertarian candidate from the national debates this year.

The Libertarians are best off if Sanders, Cruz, and Kasich stay in the primaries and the Republicans and Democrats keep up their infighting, increasing the number of voters who are dissatisfied with both of those two parties.

Return for the next installment of The Campaign Trail 2016 after the results of April 26^th when Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island all vote.