GOP face off in S. Carolina, Dems fight it out in Nevada
First key test for Clinton, Sanders in a racially diverse state
columbia — After a week of bitter attacks, Republicans face off on Saturday in South Carolina’s presidential primary, a contest that could determine Donald Trump’s strength as a front-runner and help clarify whether a more mainstream politician will ever emerge to challenge him.
Democrats were holding a caucus on Saturday in Nevada, the first test for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a more racially diverse state. While Clinton’s campaign once saw the Western battleground as an opportunity to start pulling away from Sanders, her team is nervously anticipating a close contest with the Vermont senator.
“We are here to win,” Sanders declared on Friday during a rally in sparsely populated Elko, Nevada.
Democrats and Republicans will swap locations in the coming days. The Republican Party holds its caucus in Nevada on Tuesday, while Democrats face off in South Carolina on February 27. For both parties, the 2016 election has revealed deep voter frustration with Washington and the influence of big money in the American political system. The public mood has upended the usual political order, leaving more traditional candidates scrambling to find their footing.
No candidate has shaken the political establishment more than Trump. He spent the week threatening one rival with a lawsuit, accusing former President George W. Bush of lying, and even tangling with Pope Francis on immigration — yet South Carolina is still seen as his state to lose in Saturday’s voting.
“We have a movement going on, folks,” Trump told a 5,000-person crowd in Myrtle Beach on Friday. “And we can’t blow the movement. We have to make sure we get a big mandate. We have to go out tomorrow we have to go out and vote.”
For Trump, a victory in South Carolina could foreshadow strong showings in the collection of Southern states that vote on March 1. Wins in those Super Tuesday contests could put the billionaire in a commanding position in the delegate count, which determines the nomination. —