Unruh holds viewing and panel on Super Tuesday

Students gathered Tuesday evening at Tommy’s Place to watch the results from Super Tuesday and participate in a discussion hosted by the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and the Political Student Assembly.

The event was the last one scheduled in the Unruh Institute’s Election 2016 series, which consisted of viewings and discussions of Republican and Democratic primary debates.

Dan Schnur, director of the Unruh Institute, and Anshu Siripurapu, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Trojan, moderated a panel featuring Tony Strickland, former California State Senator (R-37); John A. Pérez, speaker emeritus of the California State Assembly; Mary Perez, a member of the USC College Republicans and Nick Germain, president of the USC College Democrats.

The panelists discussed the results of Super Tuesday, where a dozen states and one territory cast their votes for their preferred presidential candidates.

At the start of the panel, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had already won the primaries in Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and Georgia by a large margin. Clinton’s fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders had won his home state of Vermont. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had won four primaries in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

Similar to most news broadcasts, Donald Trump’s candidacy dominated the first 10 minutes of the conversation.

“I think the key is to look at the hard votes for the Republican candidates,” Strickland said. “So far, up until this day, when you look at South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire and Iowa, [the candidates] have had record turnouts.”

For Strickland, Trump’s success was unpredictable.

“If I was a Democrat, I’d be very concerned … I do think Donald Trump has brought in new people into the voting process. A lot of people early on said, ‘these people will come to rallies but they won’t turn out to vote,’” Strickland said. “I think a lot of people in the Republican party underestimated the strength of his brand.”

Mary Perez agreed with Senator Strickland.

“Trump has brought in [new] voters, and you just see this excitement in a huge demographic of voters to get involved with the political process, which is something that I, as a millennial, have not seen before,” Mary Perez said.

While on the topic of Trump, Schnur asked John Pérez his thoughts on the candidate.

“I’m scared that Donald Trump is a potential president,” said John Pérez. “It has been very interesting to watch the ability of the Trump campaign to not only inspire people to go to rallies but to actually turn out and vote.”

John Pérez contrasted Trump and Sanders, both of whom are considered outsider candidates.

“This is in sharp contrast between the experience on the Trump side, and the experience on the Democratic side with Sanders,” said John Pérez. “Both are having huge turnouts at rallies, but on the Republican side, you see that converting into actual election day participation. It is less clear how the Sanders campaign is getting folks who participate in rallies to actually participate in [the] election.”

Germain evaluated Sanders’ chances in the primary elections.

“I think [Sanders] has to do two things tonight: He has to win four or five states that are favorable to him … and avoid South Carolina-like margins in the South, and [according to] early reports, it seems he is getting completely blown out in Alabama and Georgia,” Germain said.

The panelists agreed that, so far, the 2016 election has been unlike any other. Depending on the state of the primaries after spring break, the Unruh Institute may hold additional events.