Trump Clinton capture key wins on U.S. Super Tuesday

By John Whitesides and Steve Holland

Republican Donald Trump and DemocratHillary Clinton rolled up a series of wins on Tuesday as thetwo presidential front-runners took a step toward capturing

their parties' nominations on the 2016 campaign's biggest day ofstate-by-state primary contests.

Trump and Clinton turned their sights on each other aftertheir Super Tuesday wins with Trump promising to "go after"Clinton and the former secretary of state decrying what she

called Trump's divisive rhetoric.

U.S. networks projected Trump won six and Clinton sevenstates on Super Tuesday when 12 states were voting. Trump wonAlabama Arkansas Georgia Massachusetts Tennessee and

Virginia while Clinton won Alabama Arkansas GeorgiaMassachusetts Tennessee Texas and Virginia.

Trump's rival Ted Cruz a U.S. senator from Texas won hishome state and neighboring Oklahoma bolstering his argument hehad the best chance to stop the controversial Trump. U.S.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida favorite of the Republicanestablishment was projected the winner in Minnesota his firstvictory.

Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders a democratic socialist U.S.

senator from Vermont also won his home state along withColorado Minnesota and Oklahoma and vowed to pursue the battlefor the nomination in the 35 states that had yet to vote.

Super Tuesday was the biggest single day of state-by-statecontests to select party nominees for the Nov. 8 election tosucceed Democratic President Barack Obama.

Opinion polls heading into the voting had shown Trumpleading in most of the 11 Republican contests up for grabsraising the possibility of a big night that would intensifyworries among Republican leaders who fear the billionaire couldinflict long-term damage on the party.

"I am a unifier" Trump told reporters in Palm BeachFlorida dismissing concerns that his nomination would rip apartthe party. "Once we get all this finished I'm going after oneperson - Hillary Clinton."

The networks had yet to project a winner for Republicans inVermont or Alaska.

Clinton had Trump on her mind in her victory speechalthough she never mentioned him by name.

"The stakes in this election have never been higher and therhetoric we're hearing on the other side has never been lower"Clinton 68 told supporters in Miami. "Trying to divide America

between us and them is wrong and we're not going to let itwork."

Sanders won his home state of Vermont and Oklahoma two offive states he was targeting for victory on Tuesday. He lost toClinton in Massachusetts another state he was hoping to win.

Sanders thanked cheering supporters in his hometown ofBurlington Vermont and assailed the Republican front-runner.

'DONALD TRUMPS OF THE WORLD'

"We are not going to let the Donald Trumps of the worlddivide us" said Sanders 74 adding that he expected to pile up"hundreds" of convention delegates in voting on Tuesday.

Trump 69 has worried many in the Republican establishmentwith proposals such as building a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico deporting 11 million illegal immigrants and

slapping a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.

Even as Trump advances many Republican Party leaders do notsupport him and worry that he would be easily defeated inNovember if Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee.

Cruz told supporters at his victory party in Texas thatTrump was a "Washington dealmaker profane and vulgar who has alifelong pattern of using government power for personal gain."

The crossfire between Trump and establishment Republicansthreatened to tear the party apart at a time when it will needto generate momentum behind a prospective nominee.

"If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination it willsplit the Republican Party and it will basically I think splitthe conservative movement" Rubio told CBS News.

But while Trump's campaign has confounded many Republican leaders the New York real estate developer cites his high pollnumbers and big primary wins as proof he is not dividing the

party but grown its ranks.

"We have expanded the Republican Party" he said in Florida.

With his string of victories on Tuesday Trump extended hislead in convention delegates over Cruz Rubio Ohio GovernorJohn Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

On the Democratic side Clinton took advantage of her strongperformance with black voters to cruise to big wins in severalSouthern states where blacks make up a big bloc of the

Democratic electorate.

While some Democrats have begun to question whether Sandersshould continue his challenge to Clinton he said he had nointention of dropping out anytime soon.

"At the end of tonight 15 states will have voted 35 statesremain" Sanders said in Vermont. "And let me assure you that weare going to take our fight for economic justice for social

justice for environmental sanity for a world of peace to everyone of those states."

Reuters