New York

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump came out as big winners from Tuesday’s New York primary.

Clinton showed that she could beat Bernie Sanders where it really counted. She holds a commanding 1930 to 1189 lead in the delegate count. Democrats award delegates on a proportional basis so there is no way he could catch up even if he won all the remaining primaries. I find her approach quite interesting. Usually at this point the winner tries to bring the party together to prepare for the fall. Shouting and screaming throughout the last debate is not a good way to bring about party unity. Normally she would be in serious trouble but it looks like the Republicans are about to commit hari-kari.

The victory was even more important for Trump. It marked the first time he won the majority of votes in any state. New York is certainly not Ted Cruz territory. He badly hurt himself with his “New York values” quip. People get a little testy when you denigrate their state.

It still seems unlikely that he will get the 1,237 votes he needs to clinch the nomination. However, I do think he will come close enough that the party will not be able to deny him the nomination.

Nothing like the Trump phenomena has ever happened in our history. There are two occasions in my lifetime where an insurgency gained control of the party, Goldwater supporters in 1964 and McGovern supporters in 1972. Neither group tried to bring the party together. Goldwaterites  openly booed Nelson Rockefeller. McGovernites gleefully threw the party bosses out. Given his boorish and bombastic nature, I imagine Trump will follow suit.