Tossing the mainstream political establishment into chaos, New Hampshire’s landslides for GOP real estate mogul Donald Trump and Democratic Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders served notice that voters looked for something different in 2016. Since Bernie announced April 30, 2015 and Trump June 16, 2015, the party establishment and mainstream media gave both candidates zero chance of prevailing in the 2016. Both candidates offered something different: Trump as a political outsider and Sanders as a revolutionary “Democratic socialist.” Trumps 35.3% victory over Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 15.8%, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the winner of the Iowa Caucues, at 11.7%, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 11.0% and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) at 10.6%, was earth shaking. Talking about Kasich’s second place finish at 15.6% hardly gives any grounds for celebration.
Gov. Chris Christie, who finished behind Rubio with 7.4% of the vote, suspended his campaign today. Firebrand former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina finished with 4.3% also threw in the towel. Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson finished with only 2.3% should also quit soon. Only finishing s.3.6% above Christie, Jeb touted his 4th place finish as proof his campaign finally gained traction. Despite spending $80 million to prove his campaign’s viability, Bush showed little results at 11%, after relentlessly attacking Trump at every campaign stop. When South Carolina votes Feb. 20, it will most likely be Bush’s last rodeo. While GOP voters have moved on from Bush, largely putting stock in Trump, Kasich, Cruz and Rubio, Rubio limped out of New Hampshire, badly bloodied in ABC’s Feb. 6 debate. Christie landed a TKO, calling into question Rubio’s readiness for president.
Rubio wobbled from Christie questioning his maturing and experience for president. When Rubio kept repeating the same talking points, it was like he suffered a concussion from Christie’s blows. Voters saw first hand a kind of dazed incoherency that can’t be overlooked going forward. Fiorina flamed out of the presidential sweepstakes at CNN’s Sept. 16 debate, making outrageous claims about Planned Parenthood murdering fetuses to sell body parts. When fact-checked, Fiornia’s hyperbole went over-the-top, never recovering. After performing well in all the GOP debates, Christie’s lack of traction puzzled the media. Still embroiled in the 2013 Bridgegate scandal, it was too soon for Christie to pursue a presidential bid. Before the South Carolina primary, it’s natural to speculate about what happens to the dropout’s votes with Trump, Kasich, Cruz, Rubio and Carson left in the race.
Voter psychology is fairly simple: Most voters want to cast their votes for a winner. If voters listened to the media and pundits, they would have ignored Trump and cast votes to Cruz after Iowa. With the Cruz controversy surrounding the Iowa vote, New Hampshire voted heavily for Trump and Sanders. Beating former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 60%-38%, 74-year-old Bernie Sanders proved his campaign was for real. Clinton spent lavishly in New Hampshire, brought out the big guns like her husband, former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Allbright, and still lost by a whopping margin. Clinton campaign insiders can’t be too confident heading into South Carolina with voters saying they don’t trust or find Hillary honest by a whopping 90%. When she admitted Feb. 4 to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a town hall that she took $675,000 from Goldman Sachs voters gasped.
Once Hillary retired from secretary of state Feb. 1, 2013 she’s made millions in speaking fees, leaving her net worth $111 million with her husband Bill. Hillary accused Bernie of smearing her Feb. 5 in an ABC News debate, pointing out she’s taken $15 million from a Wall Street Super PAC. Sanders hasn’t scratched the surface of the millions the Clintons have taken from the Saudis and other Gulf States for their foundation and Bill’s presidential library. If voters, as Bernie found out, are fed up with career politicians taking millions from corporations, at home and abroad, then Hillary’s in trouble going forward. She can’t hide from the today’s money-ball politics. Losing to Bernie by such a huge margin confirms voters’ disgust with politicians taking cash from foreign and domestic sources. Like Bernie, Trump rails about his GOP rivals taking millions from lavish Super PACS.
New Hampshire voters rebelled against Hillary sending Bill out as an attack dog against Bernie. Whatever her chances going forward, her New Hampshire strategy backfired, forcing Hillary to retool. Whether she admits it or not, Bill hasn’t helped her fortunes so far. “Tonight, we have sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California,” said Sanders, continuing to attack the dirty money in today’s politics. “People have every right to be angry,” said Hillary conceding defeat. “But I know how to do it,” said Hillary, slapping Sanders for his pie-in-the-sky “revolution.” Bernie’s idealism has reached young voters, spurring interest in his plans for universal health care and free college tuition. Hillary finds it difficult to change her stripes at this stage of the campaign. With the “trust and honesty” issue looming, Hillary faces stiff headwinds.
