Clinton, Cruz win first round of U.S. presidential elections

The Democrat Party of the U.S. held its primary elections in the state of Iowa on Feb. 1 to determine the next U.S. president. The Democrats gave the most delegates to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, or 49.9%, but by only a small margin to her challenger Bernie Sanders, 49.6%, a senator from Vermont and radical Leftist.

The Republican Party of the U.S. held its caucus elections on Feb. 1, giving the most delegates to Ted Cruz, 28%, a senator from Texas and ideological conservative. Anti-immigration populist Donald Trump finished in second place with 24%. These elections were the first round in a months-long campaign to determine the presidential nominee from both parties.

Zenon Zawada: Ukraine was the victor in these Iowa elections as both Clinton and Cruz are consistent hawks in combatting Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sanders performed unexpectedly well and he is expected to win the next round of elections in the state of New Hampshire, though we expect him to lose against Clinton in the long run because of his radical views. His comments on Putin have been lukewarm so far.

Among the Republicans, Trump is the candidate that voiced the most favorable position towards Putin and is still favored over Cruz to win in New Hampshire on Feb. 9. In the long run, the Republican race is still open between Cruz, Trump and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, another anti-Putin hawk who finished in third place yesterday.