Big wins for Trump, Clinton in key primaries; Rubio drops out

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton today won pivotal primaries in the hotly-contested US presidential polls and an epic clash between the two front-runners seemed imminent as they nearly knocked out their rivals to secure their parties' nomination.
Trump kept his substantial delegate lead by winning at least three Republican contests, including his knockout victory in Florida that pushed rival and Senator from the state Marco Rubio out of the race. Trump emphatically won Florida, the biggest prize on 'Super Tuesday 2.0', including all 99 of its delegates.
The 69-year-old real estate tycoon registered impressive wins in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina but lost to Ohio Governor John Kasich in his home state.

Clinton, 68, took big strides toward the Democratic nomination by winning Florida and North Carolina while also posting crucial victories over rival Bernie Sanders in the industrial Midwest by taking Ohio and Illinois.
Both Clinton and Trump piled up the delegates, much more than their nearest opponents, but both of them were still at a distance from securing the number of delegates required to be declared their respective parties' presidential nominee.
Trump was leading in the delegate count with 621. Texas Senator Ted Cruz had 396 delegates, Rubio 168 and Kasich 138.

Trump in his victory speech in Miami exuded confidence on winning the race and defeating his presumptive Democratic rival Clinton in the November polls.

"This was a great evening," he said. "This was an amazing evening."
"We have to bring our party together. We have something happening that makes the Republican party the story over the world. Millions of people are joining the party. We have a great opportunity. Democrats are coming in. Independents are coming in," Trump said.
The Republican Party, meanwhile, veered closer to a contested convention after Kasich held his own state and deprived Trump of its 66 delegates. That makes it more difficult for the billionaire to reach the 1,237 delegates he needs to capture the Republican nomination.
Based on the primary results, political pundits say Clinton in all probability is on her way to become the first woman presidential nominee of the Democratic party in the November 8 polls.

This was also evident in her victory speech as she used the occasion to attack Trump.
"When we hear a candidate for president call for rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning all Muslims from entering the United States, when he embraces torture, that doesn't make him strong, it makes him wrong," Clinton said.
"We should be bringing down barriers, not building walls. You know, to be great, we can't be small. We can't lose what made America great in the first place," she said amid applause and cheer from her supporters in West palm Beach, Florida.