THE HILL
Tuesday was the biggest day yet in the fight for the presidential nomination of each major party — at least in terms of total votes cast.
Fifteen states held Republican or Democratic contests on Tuesday, while there was also a Democratic caucus in American Samoa.
Excitement about the overall outcome was in short supply given that President Biden faced only token opposition and former President Trump was in no danger from his sole remaining rival, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Biden and Trump duly won sweeping victories.
The more interesting elements of Super Tuesday lay beneath the surface of the presidential race — and in some of the other primaries for Senate and House races.
Here are the winners and losers.
Winners
Former President Trump
The GOP race is over, even if Trump has not yet officially clinched the nomination.
With the sole exception of Vermont, Trump won thumping victories everywhere.
In Virginia, where the Haley campaign had held out some thin hope of an upset, Trump won by around 30 points.
He is set for even bigger victories in the two most populous states of the day, California and Texas.
Trump’s emphatic victory in this year’s primary process is a remarkable comeback for a candidate whose political career seemed to be over in the wake of the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.
But that shadow still looms over Trump, not least in the shape of some of the 91 criminal charges he faces.
There were also some warning signs for Trump in his weakness in more moderate and affluent areas — the northern suburbs of Virginia, for example.
For all that, the bottom line is that the GOP is Trump’s party now.
President Biden
Yes, Biden is an incumbent president with only nominal opposition.
But there is nothing else he can do in that scenario but win by huge margins — which he did everywhere, barring tiny American Samoa. The territory’s caucus was won by a near-unknown, Jason Palmer, who pulled in a grand total of 51 votes.
In actual states, no named candidate other than Biden looks likely to reach double digits.
The president, who believes himself to be often underestimated, is on a glide path to the nomination.
For Biden, like Trump, there are warning signs, though — specifically, continued dissent over his support for Israel in its assault on Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian Democrats
The most striking result from a Democratic contest — excluding American Samoa — came in Minnesota. And it was bad news for Biden.
