NEVADA CAUCUS

                 In Nevada the Caucus took place with a major victory coming from Trump, and a however slight, but still important Clinton. The Nevada Caucus took place for Republicans on the 23rd on February. But the date for the Democrats was earlier. The date for the democratic caucus to be held place was on the 20th of February with as I stated previously was won by Hillary Clinton. 

                  The Republicans had 30 delegates at stake while the democrats had more with 35 delegates at stake.  With a huge lead and a total of 45.9% Trump took Nevada by almost 25 points. His prize was the majority of the delegates being 14. Rubio coming in second with 23.9 points in Nevada obtained a solid 9 delegates. The democratic race was way closer then the Republican race. Clinton had a total of 52.6%, being followed closely by Sander with 47.3%. Both obtaining over ten delegates each, Clinton pulled through with 20 delegates. That's five more then Bernie Sanders obtained which marks a win for the Clinton campaign. 

                   On the Republican side many of the candidates have since dropped out of the race since the start just over a month ago at Iowa. Nevada showed no surprise with the Republican candidate Jeb Bush dropping out of the race shortly following the finished polling in Nevada. With Bush gone, that leaves five candidates left on the Republican side to battle it out. There next stop will be a huge test on both Sanders and Kasich as the show potential to win, but are falling behind in the polls.

                  This applies to what im learning in AP Gov and Politics because the entire semester so far we have obviously been paying very close attention to the Presidential race. We hava also been learning about how political parties during campaigning works. Also how the media helps or hurts each or certain candidates in the race.

THE DEATH OF ANTONIN SCALIA 

                     The sudden unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is very big issue in this election. Not only has there never been a death of  Justice during an election year, but not a replacement either. With only 8 out of 9 Justices there is now a possibility that the Court could end in a lame duck tie. 

                     There was no sign of foul play in the 79 year old death. He was the longest standing judge in the Supreme Court being elected when President Reagan was in office. He was elected because of his extreme Republican beliefs, but his qualifications were impeccable going to Harvard University for law, University of Friouberg, and Georgetown University.

                     One of the big problems this causes is now the Court is split down the middle with 4 republican justices and 4 democratic justices. so close to the Presidential election, republicans are worried of him pushing an extreme liberal to be appointed Justice. But Republicans hold the majority in the Senate and House so they will have to meet on common ground or put it off til the next president is in office.
                      This is a very big topic in AP Government and Politics because of the upcoming election this leaves a big seat open in the Supreme Court. Also raises questions on how the senate moves about this appointment. With an empty seat conclusions to many bills won't be fully decided upon and if they hold the appointment off for another year that means many things will have a hold put on it.

New Hampshire Primary

NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY

        

                On February Ninth, the New Hampshire Primary took place. All though Sen. Cruz came out on top in Iowa, and Clinton came out barely in the lead also in Iowa, the story was quite different here. Both the front runners who won in Iowa didn't in New Hampshire.
                The winner on the Republican side was Donald Trump by a margin of almost twenty points over John Kasich. This state blew Sen. Cruz out of the water and with everybody trying to recover the delegates were split up the following ways: Trump 10, Kasich 4, Cruz 3, Bush 3, Rubio 3. Candidates Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Chris Christie, and Rand Paul dropped out the race immediately following the results or the following day.
                 With only two candidates on the Democratic side Bernie Sanders beat Hilary Clinton by 22.4 points with a huge 60.4 percentile in New Hampshire. Obviously Sanders won the state and the most delegates: Sanders 15, Clinton 9. A six delegate lead might not seem like a lot, but in a neck to neck race for the Democratic general election coming up quickly, only a couple of delegates could make a big difference.
                 This relates to AP Government and Politics because the Presidential race is a very hot topic in class for obvious reasons. Also the curriculum we are learning has to do a lot with how the political parties operates in and during election years. 

Iowa Caucus Presidential Race

              In Iowa, the Quinnipac poll shows that Trump is leading Texas Sen. Cruz 31-24. And that Sen. Sanders is following close behind Hillary Clinton 49-46. Even though these numbers are close together the poll also has favor in both Trump and Sen. Sanders. Because of both candidates being first time Caucus attenders they seem to be winning the majority of the votes from people who themselves have never been to Caucus before. The poll for the new comers show Trump beating Cruz 40-22, and Sanders beating Clinton 62-35, but will the new comers vote be enough?
              A good indicator on the new comers turn up can be seen in the record breaking Caucus for 2012 with 121,000 republicans. The biggest its been since 1968. And in 2008, the last competitive Democratic Caucus with 240,000 turn outs. This will also be a big battle for Clinton, because Sen. Sanders is already leading in New Hampshire, which is the next stop for the presidential candidates.
              After watching the Iowa Caucus all night the outcome stands as 28% Cruz, 24% Trump, and 23% Rubio for the Republican political party. The democratic vote stands 49.9% Clinton, 49.6% Sanders, and .5% O'Malley. The following results caused for democratic party member O'Malley, and Republican party member Huckabee to drop of out the race that night a couple hours after the polls opened. With Trump losing by 4% to Sen. Cruz, and holding a narrow lead over Sen. Rubio of only 1%, he looks toward New Hampshire where already is very popular among the Evangelicals. Even though Cruz won the Evangelical vote in Iowa the polls turn to Trump in New Hampshire.
              Following Sen. Rubio in the polls Dr. Ben Carson follows with 9%, Rand Paul 4.5%, Jeb Bush 2.8, Carly Fiorina 1.9%, John Kasich 1.9%, Mike Huckabee 1.8, Chris Christie 1.8, Rick Santorum 1%, Jim Gilmore 0%. On Wednesday, February 3rd Rick Santorum also dropped out of the race and almost immediately announced he was going to endorse Sen. Rubio. With this new surge for Sen. Rubio he looks like more of a force in this 2016 election.
              This blog reflects what we are learning in AP Gov and Politics, because our main focus in the class right now is on the Presidential election. We are also learning how the political parties, both Republican and Democrat, work, an which side we fall on either being Republican or Democrat.


My Citations for this blog is:
www.foxnews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2016/presidential-election-headquarters?intcmp=subnav
and CNN Live television, because I got some of my information throughout watching the Iowa Caucus