Fed Up Voters Send a Message with Trump, Sanders Victories

Business mogul Donald Trump made more gains in Tuesday's primaries in his quest to win the Republican presidential nomination.     

"Well, thank you everyone, this was an amazing evening!" Trump said in his victory speech Tuesday.

The Republican frontrunner swept to victories in Michigan,  Mississippi, and Hawaii - all in a week that saw his rivals and outside groups going after him with attack ads.

"I don't think I've ever had so many horrible, horrible things said about me in one week!" Trump told supporters, drawing laughter from the audience.

As in other primaries so far, Republican voter turnout continues to be extremely high.

"No matter where you go, it's records," Trump said. "I think it is actually the single biggest story in politics today is what's happening at the booth."

And what's happening at the booth is that voters are telling pollsters they are anxious about the economy, immigration, and are downright angry at the way Washington is working.

On these issues, exit polls show a majority of voters want an outsider like Trump to fix the mess in the nation's capital.

Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz continues to position himself as the chief alternative to Trump.

"I understand the people who are supporting Donald Trump. You're angry," he told supporters.

"Now if you're fed up with the corruption of Washington, the answer is not supporting someone who has been funding and profiting off that Washington corruption for decades," he said.

Cruz kept Trump from winning a sweep of the Tuesday primaries with a win in Idaho, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich had a strong showing in Michigan. Cruz edged him out in a very close race for second.

Meanwhile, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has won only two contests so far and was pegged by some in the Republican establishment as the party's best alternative to Trump, had a terrible night Tuesday, placing a distant third or fourth.
 
As of Wednesday, the Republican race stands as follows: Trump now has 446 delegates, Cruz has 347, Rubio 151, and Kasich 54.

On the Democratic side, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pulled off a surprising upset victory in Michigan, despite polls showing frontrunner Hillary Clinton with a sizable lead before the vote. That gives the 74-year-old the boost he needs to fight another day.

"Let's show the world that democracy is alive and well with a huge voter turnout," Sanders told a crowd of cheering supporters.

Clinton, however, demolished Sanders with a landslide win in Mississippi with huge help from black voters.

"America belongs to all of us. Not just those who are already successful. I want to be the president not just for those that are already successful. They don't need me. I want to be the president for the struggling and the striving," she said.

As it stands now, Clinton has 1,221 delegates and Sanders 571.

But the big test for Republicans comes next week in the winner-takes-all contests in Florida, Ohio, and Missouri, along with the big states of Illinois and North Carolina.

The March 15 primaries could go a long way in deciding the winner in the race for the Republican nomination.

If Kasich takes his winner-take-all home state of Ohio, or Rubio wins his winner-take-all home state of Florid, it could mean the Republican race will keep on going even longer.