Politics

Candidates gear up for key races in South Carolina, Nevada

WASHINGTON — High-stakes contests Saturday could reset both the Democratic ♕and Republican presidential races.

Hillary Clinton will be trying to avoid another humiliating loss when she goes up a💛gainst Bernie Sanders in the Nevℱada caucuses while Donald Trump looks to cement his GOP front-runner status in the South Carolina primary.

The once-dominant Clinton is again on shaky ground as Sanders has pul💯led even in a state where she once led by more than 20 points.

Clinton brought her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter Chelsea on the campaign trail,🅺 rolled out a new ad from Hollywood star Morgan Freeman, and even pulled out an endorsement from South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn.

The South Carolina Democratic൩ primary is still a week away, but Clyburn said Nevada friends “urged me to come forward now expressing that it may help them in Nevada — I certainly ho꧅pe so.”

Team Clinton had first pitched Nevada as a more diverse state than Iowa, where Clinton eked out a win over Sanders, and New ༺Hampshire, where she got pummeled.

Her campaign moved aꦚway from that argument as Clinton’s numbers dropped.

A loss in Nevada, with a population that is 9 percent black and 28 percent Hispanic, would give Sanders a burst of mone💃y and momentum and promote even more heartburn among Clinton ꦯloyalists.

🦩A win would give Clinton the ability to pitch her recovery after her loss in New Hampshire and move toward what could be a romp in South Carol⛎ina, where she leads by an average of 24 points in polls.

“I’m not just making speeches. I’m not just promising free this and free that and free everything,” Clinton said of her rival, who is promoting a single-payer health plan and a $15 minimu🍸m wage.

After Clinton said at a town hall Thursday she would only release transcripts of her speeches at Goldman Sachs events when other candida💫tes released theirs, Team Sanders hit back with snark.

“Sen. Sanders accepts Sen. Clinton’s challenge,” responded spokesman Mike Briggs. “He will release all o🍌f the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches. That’s easy. The fact is, there weren’t any.”

On the GOP side, Trump leads the field in South Carolina with 28 p🍷ercent of the vote, according to a new Clemson University poll.

Ted Cruz is in second with 19 percent, followed by Marco Rubio at 15 percent, Jeb Bush 10 🎶percent, John Kasich 9 percent and Ben C💎arson 6 percent.

With Post Wires