Trump, Clinton eye a super Tuesday

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump surged Sunday toward another round of pivotal presidential primaries as their party leaders faced new questions about internal divisions that could complicate their nominees’ general election chances.

With less than 48 hours before voting begins across five Northeastern states, GOP front-runner Donald Trump looked to Tuesday’s contests, where he’s poised to do well, and to a foreign policy speech later in the week. Republican challenger Ted Cruz, meanwhile, abandoned the Tuesday states and instead campaigned in Indiana, which votes May 3.

On the Democratic side, underdog Bernie Sanders rallied thousands of voters in Rhode Island, looking to the smallest state in the nation for momentum even as he appeared to soften his attacks on Clinton.

“If Secretary Clinton is the nominee – and we’re not giving this thing up, we’re going all the way to California – but if she is the nominee, I would hope that she puts together the strongest progressive agenda,” Sanders said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Clinton hoped Tuesday’s contests in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware would mark a turning point in her quest for the Democratic nomination. Victories in four or five states would all but cripple Sanders’ White House bid.

The former secretary of state went to two Philadelphia church services attended largely by blacks ahead of the primary in Pennsylvania, Tuesday’s top delegate prize. She declined to attack her Democratic rival by name in the morning appearance and a subsequent stop in Bridgeport, Conn., focusing on the GOP candidates.

Clinton, emerging stronger after a triumph in last week’s New York primary, stood to effectively lock up the nomination Tuesday. The five states together offer 384 delegates, a trove that would put her only about 200 delegates short of the majority needed to clinch the nomination.

With 172 delegates at stake Tuesday on the Republican side, Trump could take a significant step toward his party’s delegate majority with a dominant performance that many polls predict.