The Gloves Are Off!

The South Carolina Republican Primary and the Nevada Caucus. Congratulations to Donald J. Trump and Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton on winning.

Donald Trump took the victory in the most bitterly fought primary. It became a huge defeat for not only Ted Cruz, but Marco Rubio, Ben Carson and Jeb Bush. John Kasich still has some breath of life left in him. Rubio and Cruz will continue to fight to the bitter end.

Donald Trump has won the South Carolina primary, according to projections from the AP, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News. It's the second victory in a row for the billionaire, who looks to have about 34% of the vote. This in spite of exit polls that showed that some four in 10 voters made up their minds at the last minute and many broke for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who are still locked in a battle for second and third place at around 21% of the vote. Jeb Bush is running a distant fourth place, and faces some hard decisions as his fundraising dries up.

Hillary Clinton managed to beat Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucus. It was considered one of the toughest fights for the former secretary of state. Agitators in the junk food media were hoping that Sanders was going to upset Clinton in the race.

Clinton avoided a "dramatic setback" with the win. And the Hill states it will "calm some nerves" after Sanders nearly beat both expectations and Clinton in the state. Sanders managed to turn a double-digit deficit in earlier polls into a narrow loss. The results of the caucus were called about two hours after it started.

The win gives Clinton some momentum with the South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday coming up. She also now has evidence that 2016 will play out differently than her 2008 contest against Obama and that she is more electable than Sanders. But it wasn't all good news for Clinton. She underperformed among Latino voters and isn't getting "fervent support" from young people. New Republic notes this "enthusiasm gap" could hurt her in the general election.