Super Tuesday takeaways: Trump, Clinton tighten their grip

WASHINGTON – After the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in a dozen states, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have tightened their grasp on their party’s presidential nominations.

The Democratic establishment is pleased. The Republican establishment is in panic mode.

Republican governors and senators across the country worry that Trump is close to an insurmountable delegate lead, with little sign that Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz is emerging as the clear Trump alternative.

Here are the top takeaways from Super Tuesday:

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TRUMP SURGES

The billionaire businessman won seven of the 11 states in which Republicans voted. The strong performance adds to his delegate lead, and the unfortunate reality for Republican leaders is that his grasp on the party’s presidential nomination is growing stronger by the day.

The establishment’s last opportunity to stop the former reality television star is likely a series of winner-take-all states on March 15. But given Trump’s dominance so far, there’s little reason to believe he will struggle, especially as his Republican rivals continue to divide the rest of the electorate.

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CLINTON BUILDS DELEGATE LEAD

Strong in the South, Hillary Clinton used the Super Tuesday contests to build an advantage over Bernie Sanders that will be difficult to overcome.

When added to her massive lead among the party’s superdelegates, party insiders who can vote for whoever they like, Clinton is now in as strong a position to win the Democratic nomination as she’s ever been.

Her sweeping victories in large states like Texas, Virginia and Georgia give her an edge that is reminiscent of Barack Obama’s delegate lead over Clinton in the 2008 primaries. Obama used a South Carolina victory to build momentum in Super Tuesday and never relinquished his advantage.

Clinton is poised to do the same. With large states like Florida, Illinois and Ohio coming up, she is poised to collect victories that could elevate her to presumptive nominee status.

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DESPERATELY SEEKING ANTI-TRUMP

It was a bad night for the Republican establishment, which is desperately seeking one candidate to emerge as the leading Trump alternative.

No one was happier than Trump to see both Cruz and Rubio score wins Tuesday night.

With Rubio’s sights set on Florida’s March 15 election, it seems certain that both candidates will stay in the race. It didn’t matter that Cruz dramatically underperformed his original Super Tuesday expectations, or that Rubio’s win in Minnesota was his first in 15 contests.

Cruz declared Tuesday night that only he can defeat Trump. Rubio declared that his Trump attacks have only begun.

Meanwhile, Trump started talking about unifying the Republicans in the general election.

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SANDERS STRUGGLES TO BREAK THROUGH

Sanders picked up at least four wins on Super Tuesday, but his inability to broaden his base was on display.

Sanders continued to have difficulty drawing minorities. The performance raised new questions about whether he can put together a diverse coalition to capture the Democratic nomination. Most of Sanders’ wins have come in states with large populations of white voters.

Sanders is vowing to take his campaign to the Democratic National Convention in July. But his limited appeal with the diverse set of voters who twice elected Obama will make it difficult to seize the nomination.

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Follow Steve Peoples on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sppeoples

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