The Voters Voice

It’s that most wonderful time of the year! With Politicians campaigning, and voters complaining that the line is too long… Ok, enough of that. Happy Super Tuesday, everyone! Today’s the day when 24 states (and American Samoa) hold their US Presidential Primaries. It’ll take 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic Nomination, 1,191 for the Republican, and Super Tuesday is when most of those delegates are handed out. For the candidates, it’s a critically important day - not just because of the delegates, but because the last two Presidential Elections had their candidates decided on Super Tuesday.Most of the states involved are holding both Democratic and Republican primaries, though some states are only holding primaries for one party. On the Republican side, you have Montana and West Virginia, while the Democrats are battling it out in Idaho, New Mexico, and Kansas.And it’s going to be quite the battle on the Democratic side of things.While the latest Gallup poll is showing John McCain with a huge lead amongst the republicans (we’ll get to that in a bit), the Democratic Race is much, much more contested. The latest Gallup Poll (see above), and pretty much every other poll out there, shows a tight race between candidates Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. Realistically, either candidate could win the the race at this point, and we won’t know until the polls close tonight.When those polls close, the winner of the Democratic Nomination will be all but set in stone, and America could well be on it’s way to the first Black or Female President in U.S. History. The Republican side of things is a bit less contested, though as we’ve seen in the past, it could still go either way. The latest Gallup Poll (see below) shows third time Presidential Candidate John McCain in the lead, 19 Percentage Points ahead of Mitt Romney. Many opinion polls are showing that this patter will continue: McCain in the lead, and Romney a distant second. Opinion Polls aren’t perfect, though, and they very well could be proven wrong.From Romney onwards, it race is much less clear. Since Florida, both Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson have dropped out, both having suffered defeating losses. Thompson was never really able to get off of the ground, and Giuliani - long the forerunner in the race - suffered a run of defeat late in the race ultimately leading to a loss in Florida, where he bowed out of the race.That leaves Mike Huckabee, the surprising winner of the Iowa Caucus. A former Baptist Minister, may believe that his only hope of winning lies in the “Bible Belt” states of the South and Mid-West. I think that belies how likable the man is, and we very well could see him bounce back today. His chances of capturing a strong majority of the vote, however, still look slim.So, that’s Super Tuesday. While Ohio doesn’t have a primary today, that’s not until March, it’ll be interesting to see how this turns out. Still, don’t let that lack of participation on Ohio’s part fool you: Ohio is probably the most balanced state in the Union, providing an excellent cross-section of the U.S. population and opinion in one state. As such, Ohio is often seen as the ultimate Decider - whoever wins here, has a much, much stronger chance of winning the nomination and, ultimately, The White House.