00:00 Super Tuesday is the single biggest day of the presidential primary calendar.
00:06 More states vote on that single day than any other.
00:10 More delegates are at stake on that day than any other.
00:13 Iowa and New Hampshire lead off the process for Republicans.
00:17 South Carolina led off the process for Democrats.
00:19 But this is the day that can absolutely make or break a campaign, particularly competitive
00:24 years.
00:25 Super Tuesday originated decades ago as several states, a lot of them in the South, sort of
00:32 banded together to increase their influence in the nominating process in response to sort
00:37 of the early states having developed so much influence, Iowa and New Hampshire.
00:42 So this collective of states sort of got together, moved up kind of as the next phase, next major
00:48 phase of the primary process.
00:50 It has since evolved into a truly national map that we see today for both parties.
00:57 The Super Tuesday slate is as varied as California, a heavily Democratic state that still has
01:03 millions of Republicans.
01:04 So a very important state with a lot of delegates in both parties.
01:07 Massachusetts, several Southern states, one of the most conservative states in the country
01:12 in Alabama.
01:14 Those kinds of places give Super Tuesday that wide breadth.
01:19 Former President Trump and President Biden are big favorites all across the board on
01:24 this Super Tuesday.
01:25 But what to watch is where their weaknesses are and how much those are exposed.
01:31 And that matters because both of these men are not necessarily broadly popular as general
01:36 election candidates.
01:38 For President Trump, he's had wide margins of victory in all of the early states.
01:42 But Nikki Haley has outlasted everyone else.
01:45 It's a two-person race.
01:46 She still got 40% of the vote in South Carolina.
01:49 It doesn't mean the way delegates are distributed that Nikki Haley is any threat to keep her
01:53 from winning the nomination.
01:55 But as long as she's willing to stick around and get a third or 40% or even in a given
02:00 state 45% of the vote, then it is exposing some of his weaknesses as a general election
02:07 candidate.
02:08 President Biden is on his way to being re-nominated for a second term by the Democratic Party.
02:15 But there are still plenty of factions that are frustrated with Biden or not particularly
02:18 encouraged.
02:20 So the thing to watch in a lot of the Democratic primaries is just what the level of turnout
02:24 is.
02:25 But there are still some signs, you know, when it's just unbelievably low that can
02:32 sort of raise some questions.
02:34 And his campaign is certainly spending money and spending some time trying to hit, you
02:39 know, some sort of nebulous sweet spot to at least say, all right, we got enough of
02:44 a signal that our part, the core of our party is still behind this president for a second
02:49 term.
02:50 Super Tuesday in this election year especially will really be the gateway forward to the
02:57 general election campaign.
02:58 We may have some more fights continuing on the Republican side if Nikki Haley does continue
03:04 her campaign.
03:05 But this is the day when enough delegates are at stake, enough states vote that we kind
03:09 of have a bookend on the primary process and we'll be looking forward to a general election
03:15 campaign, almost certainly between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
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