This past Tuesday, March 3rd, was Super Tuesday, the largest primary election in the country. Coming into March, it was a crowded democratic field. By Wednesday morning, it became a two-person race. The week began with South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar ending their bids for the Presidency and endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden. Super Tuesday showed Biden’s strength in the south, the northwest, and the delegate-rich state of Texas. Senator Bernie Sanders did not win as many states as Biden but did win the delegate powerhouse California in addition to his home state of Vermont, as well as Colorado and Utah. The disappointing performance of Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg resulted in his exit on Wednesday. The billionaire was in the race for 100 days and spent hundreds of millions of his own dollars to catapult him to the top tier of candidates. But, he did not make a splash on Tuesday. Senator Elizabeth Warren suffered a devastating defeat and even lost her home state of Massachusetts. She too has withdrawn from the race. In light of Tuesday’s turning point and the compressed Democratic field, The Forum reached out to students and faculty for their thoughts looking ahead to the remaining primaries and ultimate race to the White House.
Ms. Gallagher, Washington Supreme Court reporter for C-span during the summer and history teacher during the school year, emphasizes that Tuesday was a great night for Joe Biden and one that he desperately needed. She adds that the former Vice President’s gains would not have been possible had it not been for Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar’s decision to step aside. She refutes the notion that Mike Bloomberg’s exit was premature and says, “Money will only get you so far. If people don’t know who you are or what you stand for, you can’t buy your way onto the ballot.” Ms. Gallagher voices that although Super Tuesday is important, there is still plenty of uncertainty and that a contested convention should not be ruled out. However, she believes it is safe to say that now, the Democratic Primary is a two-person race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Ms. Gallagher urges people who are able to vote to register and for those who are registered to make sure they vote. She also encourages people to have an ideologically balanced news consumption in order to stay informed, especially during election season. “My door is always open for anybody who wants to talk about politics or ask questions about the voting process,” she says, “The more we engage with each other about current events and national policy, the better off we’ll be as a community.” 
Global Studies teacher Mr. Patel shares Ms. Gallagher’s enthusiasm about voting and stresses that it is “an exciting time where the electorate gets to be heard. The buzz around Super Tuesday hopefully encourages others to civically engage in the election process as well.”
Henry Coleman, a Junior, is eligible to vote in Illinois’ upcoming primary on March 17th. Mr. Coleman shares several thoughts. First, he says “I think it’s important to vote, it is a means of expressing your voice. It doesn’t even take that much time. Exercise your civic duty!” Coleman shares that he will be voting for Joe Biden but he was surprised Bloomberg performed so poorly. Finally, Coleman says, “It’s a good thing that the party is unifying around one candidate, bad for Bernie but good for me.” Coleman does not elaborate on why it was good for him.
Eve Drumm, a ninth-grader, voices that be it Biden or be it Sanders, the most important thing is beating Trump. Ms. Drumm, who is currently dissatisfied with this President, says, “he does not have the experience nor the knowledge to be President, he does not know how to run the country, and his policies are the complete opposite of everything [she] stands for.” Drumm considers herself more personally aligned to Sanders’ policies but she believes Biden has the best chance of beating Donald Trump, which remains her priority.
Sophomore Will Benford considers himself a conservative. When asked about the current field of Democratic candidates, he is quick to say “Both of the leading candidates will have trouble running against Trump regardless of which one gets the nomination. Biden has shown weaknesses in his debates and sometimes what he says doesn’t actually make sense and a lot of Bernie’s policies are very extreme.” He adds, “The candidates most suited to beat Trump have all dropped out.” Mr. Benford plans to support Donald Trump this November. When asked why, he cites the President’s conservative bonafides and characterizes his policies as beneficial to our country.
Senior Jack Hallinan, President of the Young Republicans Club, issues the following statement on behalf of himself and the club:
“In the past, it has been the position of the Young Republicans Club to not support a candidate for President, and we intend to maintain this position in the 2020 election cycle. With this being said, as the President of the club, I intend to support the re-election of President Trump. With respect to the results of Super Tuesday, we are happy to see divide within the Democratic Party, and we hope that the primary will be drawn out for as long as possible. We were also happy to see Americans nationwide reject Sanders’ socialist proposals.”
Mr. Hallinan may get his wish. This primary is far from over, and possibly further from over than one would expect. The remaining candidates are Vice President Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Representative Tulsi Gabbard. Biden leads with 596 delegates and Sanders remains not far behind with 531. Gabbard, who has one delegate from American Samoa, has not signaled any intention to exit the race. Six more states will cast their ballots on Tuesday, March 10th. There is a long road ahead as over the next several months, Democrats in all fifty states and US territories will pick their choice to face off against President Donald Trump in the fall.