Super Tuesday: Biden, Trump set to move closer to Nov clash

Washington, March 5

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are poised to move much closer to winning their partys nominations during the biggest day of the primary campaign on Tuesday, setting up a historic rematch that many voters would rather not endure.

Super Tuesday elections are being held in 16 states and one territory — from Alaska and California to Vermont and Virginia. Hundreds of delegates are at stake, the biggest haul for either party on any single day.

The entire focus is on Biden and Trump. And in a dramatic departure from past Super Tuesdays, both the Democratic and Republican contests are effectively sealed this year.

The two men have easily repelled challengers in the opening rounds of the campaign and are in full command of their bids — despite polls making it clear that voters don’t want this year’s general election to be identical to the 2020 race.

A new AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll finds a majority of Americans don’t think either Biden or Trump has the necessary mental acuity for the job.

Neither Trump nor Biden will be able to formally clinch their party’s nominations on Super Tuesday. The earliest either can become his party’s presumptive nominee is March 12 for Trump and March 19 for Biden.

Trump has already vanquished more than a dozen major Republican challengers and now has only one left: Nikki Haley, the former president’s onetime UN ambassador who was also twice elected governor of her home state of South Carolina.

Still, Haley winning any of Super Tuesday’s contests would take an upset. And a Trump sweep would only intensify pressure on her to leave the race. Biden has his own problems of low approval ratings and polls suggesting that many Americans, even a majority of Democrats, don’t want to see the 81-year-old running again. The President’s easy Michigan primary win last week was spoiled slightly by an “uncommitted” campaign organized by activists who disapprove of Biden’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. — AP

In full command

• In a dramatic departure from past Super Tuesdays, both Democratic and Republican contests are effectively sealed this year
• The two men have easily repelled challengers in the opening rounds of the campaign and are in full command of their bids