February 28, 2016 08:07 AM UTC

Big South Carolina Clinton Win Ups Stakes in Colorado

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• by: Colorado Pols

CNN reporting on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s decisive win last night in South Carolina’s Democratic primary:

Riding the strength of her support among African-Americans to a resounding victory in the Palmetto State, Clinton seized the momentum in the Democratic presidential race — winning her third of four early-state contests just three days before the race goes national on Super Tuesday…

The South Carolina win is especially important because of what it means for the 11 Democratic contests that are on tap for Tuesday.

Clinton is eyeing six Southern states with heavy minority populations as a way to lock in a clear delegate advantage. She’s hoping for big wins in Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas.

Sanders, meanwhile, has his home state of Vermont locked in, and he’s hoping for wins in Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Oklahoma.

Clinton’s South Carolina blowout effectively guarantees that Sanders will have to scrap for those states [Pols emphasis] — and would struggle to expand his playing field, leaving Clinton’s six targets intact.

The question in South Carolina was never really whether Clinton would win, but by how much, and her margin of victory is big enough to give her campaign real momentum going into Super Tuesday. We’re not making any predictions on how this result will affect Tuesday’s Democratic caucuses in Colorado, but the stakes are definitely higher for Bernie Sanders’ campaign to win big here–and for Hillary, who could put herself that much closer to clinching the nomination by pulling off another Nevada-style caucus win.

Safe to say, even casual Democrats should clear Tuesday evening’s calendar.