After a poor showing in a string of contests thus far, Senator Marco Rubio won the Republican primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday in the run-up to what could be a do-or-die battle to win his home State of Florida on March 15.
Democrat challenger Bernie Sanders, continuing with his spirited battle against front-runner Hillary Clinton, won the Maine caucuses ahead of a no-holds-barred debate with her on Sunday night in Michigan.
For Rubio, who has been outsmarting Donald Trump in debates but doing poorly on the ground, the Puerto Rico victory winning all 23 delegates has come amid growing demands that he should step down and rally behind Ted Cruz who has emerged as the only worthwhile challenger to Trump.
Florida, a winner-takes-all State with 99 delegates on offer, will determine whether Rubio continues in the race or quits. With polls indicating a substantial lead for Trump, pro-establishment PACs backing Rubio have launched a multimillion dollar blitz against the real estate tycoon.
A little rattled by the ferocity of the blitz, Trump took to Twitter on Monday, complaining: “We cannot let the failing Republican establishment, who could not stop Obama (twice), ruin the movement with millions of $’s in false ads!”
On the Democratic side, Sanders continues with his never-say-die battle with Clinton, although the former Secretary of State has established a big lead in the delegate count that has been bolstered further by the endorsement of a large percentage of super-delegates. Clinton now has 1,129 delegates against Sanders’ 498. One needs 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
The Democratic debate on Sunday, hosted by CNN, saw the two contenders lock horns over gun control, auto bailout and Wall Street connections.
In an issue of utmost relevance to the people of Michigan, the home of US auto industry, Clinton accused Sanders of voting against the funding that saved the auto majors faced with a collapse in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. “If everybody had voted the way he did, I believe the auto industry would have collapsed, taking 4 million jobs with it,” she said
Sanders sought to turn the attack against Clinton saying it was her “friends on Wall Street” who destroyed the American economy and what he had opposed at the time was a bailout of the big banks. He also slammed Clinton for her support of major trade deals like NAFTA which, he charged, had led to a big loss of American jobs. “Your story is voting for every disastrous trade amendment and voting for corporate America,” Sanders said.