Presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz ended Tuesday’s [April 4, 2016] primary contests in Wisconsin with compelling victories, determined to prove that this race is far from over.
While the wins don’t leave us with a definitive glance at the future of the campaign runs for either senator, they undeniably managed to highlight the shortcoming of their favored opponents, advancing this race to one riddled with the unexpected.
For Ted Cruz, the results are pretty cut and dry. His impressive defeat of Donald J. Trump by a margin of 13 points comes as the senator’s greatest triumph yet, knocking Trump off a once clear path towards the GOP nomination.
With Cruz outperforming Trump in almost every category as indicated by exit polls, the anti-Trump side of the GOP is hopeful that Senator Cruz’s momentum is just the beginning of the decline of the billionaire businessman, who, until recently, had an apparent command of the Republican race.
“Tonight is a turning point,” Cruz told supporters during a victory speech in Milwaukee. “It is a rallying cry. It is a call from the hard-working men and women of Wisconsin to the people of America. We have a choice–a real choice.”
To fully take advantage of an opportunity to edge out Trump once and for all, Cruz will have to employ strategies that will entice the support of the Republican party’s more moderate voters as the race heads up Northeast, with contests in New York taking place on April 19. Currently, his chances of tapping into the moderate voters of the party are hindered by the efforts of Governor John Kasich.
With exit polls showing Kasich and Cruz splitting the remaining moderates who did not vote for Trump, and Kasich only winning over 14 percent of the state vote despite his substantial campaigning in America’s Dairyland, all signs point to the GOP nomination for Ted Cruz if Kasich plans to bow out anytime soon.
For Bernie Sanders, an impressive sweeping of Wisconsin in every county besides Milwaukee demonstrates a definite showing of impetus, but doesn’t provide a path quite as stark as Senator Cruz’s.
Despite a noteworthy performance, beating Hillary Clinton with 57 percent of the vote, Senator Sanders still trails the former Secretary of State in delegate counts, and significantly so in superdelegate (officials who can vote for any candidate) counts.
Nonetheless, a positive showing yesterday paired with a promising finish in Wyoming on Saturday [April 9, 2016] will be Sanders’s golden opportunity to prove that his campaign is steadily gaining its momentum, and has a shot at surpassing Clinton.
“Now this campaign has won seven out of the eight caucuses and primaries. With your help on Saturday we’re going to win here in Wyoming. And then we are headed to New York,” Sanders said during a victory speech at the University of Wyoming. “I believe we’ve got an excellent chance to win New York and a lot of delegates in that state. …I think that a lot of these super delegates are going to be looking around and will be saying which candidate has the momentum.”
