The second bruising battle of the US primaries has given a little more clarity to the nomination race. To find out how and what could be next for
ADVERTISEMENTThe second bruising battle of the US primaries has given a little more clarity to the nomination race.
To find out how and what could be next for the candidates, we spoke to our US correspondent Stefan Grobe.
Nial O’Reilly, euronews
“Stefan, the results in Iowa put great pressure on some candidates more than others for a good showing in New Hampshire. Trump and Sanders won as predicted but who will be most satisfied with the way things turned out?”
Stefan Grobe, euronews, New Hampshire
“Well Nial there’s a saying in American politics that ‘Iowa makes corn and New Hampshire makes presidents.’ I wouldn’t go that far tonight. But if you are Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump you probably had the night of your lifetime. On the other hand, it was a terrible night for the Democratic and the Republican establishment.”
Nial O’Reilly
“New Hampshire is a key early battleground, but is it too soon to talk about a defining moment for either the Republicans or the Democrats?”
Stefan Grobe
“It is definitely a defining moment for both parties. The empires have been challenged and now the empires have to strike back.
“And that’s why we’re going to see a tough fight in the weeks and months ahead, Now Hillary Clinton is tough, she has been around the block for quite a while. So Bernie Sanders needs to show whether he has the staying power – he certainly has the money – and whether he has the capacity of taking the New Hampshire enthusiasm into more diverse states like Nevada and South Carolina which are the next states on the primary list.
“On the Republican side the question is can the establishment stop Donald Trump? Right now we have a couple of candidates who have underperformed so far, and neither Governor Bush, nor Governor Kasich, nor Governor Christie have shown that they are up to the job of stopping Donald Trump.”
Nial O’Reilly
“Some observers say this campaign has lacked detailed policy debate, that it’s all slogans and soundbites. What’s the voting public’s attitude to this acrimonious election?”
Stefan Grobe
“The candidates are aggressive because they are talking to a very very aggressive electorate, there’s a lot of anger out there.
“The Republicans are angry at the establishment. If you ask Republican voters they tell you that the economy is a mess, healthcare is a disaster, America has lost influence internationally and can’t even beat ISIL.
“The Democrats are angry. If you ask Democratic voters they tell you that they believe that the economy is rigged in favour of the wealthy, that the middle class has been creamed. In short they believe Obama has not done enough to take the country forward and that’s why because of this anger on both sides you see the big success of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.”
ADVERTISEMENTNial O’Reilly
“Stefan, there’ll be many more nights of high drama, thank you for keeping us posted. We’ll see you at the next primary.”