Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had a very big night in Michigan. He pulled off an unexpected win there in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, dealing a serious blow to Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump, meanwhile, demonstrated that his support among Republicans is still strong. Our Grace Rauh has the story.
The polls got it very, very wrong. They showed Hillary Clinton with a commanding lead in Michigan. Instead, Democratic primary voters sent Bernie Sanders home with a much-needed victory. His strong showing was so unexpected, it even appeared to take Sanders by surprise. He threw together a last-minute press conference to respond as the results were still coming in.
"I just want to take this opportunity to thank the people of Michigan who kind of repudiated the polls that had us 20, 25 points down just a few days ago," Sanders said.
The victory puts the wind back in Sanders' sails, and just in time. He was quickly running out of opportunities to prove he had a path to the nomination.
"The people's revolution that we are talking about, the political revolution that we are talking about is strong in every part of the country and frankly we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen," Sanders said.
Clinton won decisively in Mississippi on Tuesday and she kept up her attacks on Republicans in a speech to supporters.
"Running for president shouldn't be about delivering insults," Clinton said. "It should be about delivering results for the American people."
As for Trump, he won in Michigan and Mississippi despite a chorus of critics upset by his refusal to immediately denounce the Ku Klux Klan, his support of torture and his inflammatory language.
"I can be more presidential if I want to be," Trump said. "I can be more presidential than anybody. You know, when I have 16 people coming at me from 16 different angles, you don't want to be so presidential. You have to win. You have to beat them back, right?"
The results of Tuesday's contests do little to settle things in the Republican field. There may be a growing effort to keep Trump from becoming the nominee, but these wins show just how much of an uphill battle his critics really have.