February 5 was the single-most important day in the United States Presidential Election primary process. On 'Super Tuesday', 24 of the country's 50 states held primary or caucus events for at least one party, and 19 states voted for both parties.
With delegate-rich states like California, New York and New Jersey weighing in on the candidates for Republicans and Democrats, Tuesday's results provide a treasure cove of data for election analysts.
The picture for both parties has become clearer.
For the Republican Party, US Senator from Arizona John McCain had claimed seven states at press time. Significantly, he's swept the heavily populated tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, helped by the endorsements of former New York governor George Pataki and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. Though he lost many states to evangelical Mike Huckabee, he won highly conservative Oklahoma outright, proving he can cull votes from the far right.
Huckabee enjoyed success in the traditionally conservative Deep South, but fared poorly elsewhere. It was former governor Mitt Romney who finds himself on the outside looking in, winning only his home state of Massachusetts and a few other less significant states like Utah and Montana, which may spell doom for the business tycoon and self-proclaimed 'true conservative'.
Meanwhile, in the Democratic Party, US Senator from New York Hillary Clinton and US Senator from Illinois Barack Obama staged an epic battle at the booths, each snagging ten states at time of press. The night proved both candidates capable of trading blows, and neither campaign looks susceptible to folding any time soon. We may not know the Democratic candidate for President until the Democratic National Convention in late August.
Among Obama's spoils were his home state of Illinois, anti-war Minnesota and minority-heavy Georgia. Perhaps most importantly, Obama took Connecticut, a huge win for the Midwestern Senator, considering it sits in Hillary's backyard, right next to New York, and is part of the New England region's Democratic establishment.
Hillary claimed her home states of Arkansas and New York, along with crucial pickups in Massachusetts and New Jersey. Most significantly, she jumped out to an early, almost insurmountable lead in California, the largest state in terms of delegates, though a winner had yet to be officially projected by any of the major news agencies.
Rediff.com travelled to New Jersey to tap into the pulse of the Indian-American community there, and to determine which candidates they supported, and why.
Read on for snippets from those conversations.
Reportage: Matthew Schneeberger | Photographs: Paresh Gandhi
Also read: US Primaries: Hillary surges ahead of Obama
Advertisement
