By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – As the presidential campaigns will shift to Illinois, Florida and Ohio for primaries next week, a political expert said there’s no guarantee Hillary Clinton will win her home state.
Bob Bradley, retired politics and government professor at Illinois State University, told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin a Clinton victory seemed certain in Michigan, a state Bernie Sanders won on Tuesday. Bradley calls Clinton a flawed candidate whose past associations could hurt her.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Bradley on WJBC.
“Her relationship with (Chicago mayor) Rahm Emanuel has had its ups and downs,” Bradley said. “The Sanders campaign could portray that she’s been very supportive of him. Rahm Emanuel is not on the top list of the most popular mayors in America.”
He added Clinton will need to strong support from the Africa-American community in Chicago to win.
“That’s going to be absolutely fascinating,” Bradley said.
As for the Republicans, Bradley said Marco Rubio’s campaign is in trouble, noting he’s been polling poorly in his home state of Florida.
“I’ve never seen a person finish second or third as often as he does and he makes it sound like he’s won,” Bradley said.
Polls in Illinois have Donald Trump leading on the GOP side, Bradley said if Marco Rubio were to drop out, he expects his supporters will mostly side with John Kasich rather than Trump or Ted Cruz.
“The antipathy between (Rubio) and Cruz is probably ever stronger then it is Trump, but I think it is,” Bradley said.
Bradley suggested if Kasich were to him his home state next week, it won’t be enough to win the election, but could be enough to play a factor in a state Bradley says the GOP has to win in November.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
