Don’t look now, but on Tuesday, March 8, Republicans and Democrats will finally get a say in national politics and we will choose our favored candidates for President of the United States of America. The 2016 Primary has eventually reached our borders, but don’t be surprised if the candidates don’t show up here.
It’s the same ol’ song and dance we see every four years, the winners have already been decided, largely, by a fistful of other states. Mississippi’s vote is too late, too inconsequential, and largely ceremonial.
On the Republican side, the candidates are New York Real Estate mogul, businessman, and reality TV star Donald Trump; the Junior Senator from Texas, Tea Party favorite, and Establishment Trouble Maker Ted Cruz; and the Junior Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio.
Oh sure, the national media claims John Kasich and Ben Carson are still in the race, but on Mississippi’s ballot you also find Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Chris Christi. Former Mississippi Senator Trent Lott has endorsed Kasich, but honestly none of these candidates have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the nomination.
Despite all the hoopla and hullabaloo about the Republican nomination, at this point it really boils down to two candidates: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Trump has already won ten different states and he is favored to win the nomination. Cruz has won four states but trails in the delegate count.
Although it is technically possible for Cruz to come from behind and beat Trump, both candidates do not have the support of the Republican Establishment and a victory by Cruz would be considered a long shot. CNN projects that Donald Trump is now 84% likely to win the Republican Nomination.
On the Democrat side, it boils down to only two candidates: Former First Lady, former New York Junior Senator, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Junior Senator from Vermont, former Mayor of Burlington, and former Congressman Bernie Sanders.
There are a couple of other guys on the Democrat ballot, Roque De La Fuente and Martin O’Malley, but these guys are merely a footnote in this contest.
Hillary Clinton is the controversial wife of former President Bill Clinton. She is currently under investigation by Congress and the Justice Department for mishandling classified documents on a personal email server at her home; she is also under investigation for mishandling a terrorist attack against Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Both of these issues are unresolved and could become a factor for her in the general election.
Sanders is a self proclaimed “Democratic Socialist” and he has largely identified himself as a Socialist during his days in Congress. Sanders has rejected funding by Political Action Committees, corporations, and lobbyists, and instead he has raised serious cash by individual donors. Although he is popular in the North, his candidacy has largely been rejected in the South.
A Public Policy Poll conducted in Mississippi from February 14-16, 2016 shows Clinton is favored here over Sanders, 60% to 26% with 14% of Democratic voters unsure who they will vote for.
Clinton has won ten states, while Sanders has won five. CNN projects Hillary Clinton is 95% likely to win the Democrat nomination.
Mississippi’s Presidential Primary is an open primary, which means you do not have to belong to or be registered with a political party in order to vote. This is important, because many states in the USA don’t allow open primaries. If you want to vote for or against a candidate and not be tied to a political party, you can do that on Tuesday, March 8 at your local voting booth from 7 am to 7 pm. 
