Hillary Clinton scored decisive wins against Bernie Sanders across the South on Super Tuesday and allowed herself, for the first time in two grueling presidential runs, to assume the mantle of prohibitive Democratic front-runner.

With her demeanor and tone at her victory speech in Miami, Clinton signaled her next fight is against Donald Trump in the general election.


"We know we've got work to do. But that work, that work is not to make American great again," she said, reprising the New York developer's slogan. "We have to make America whole. We have to fill in - fill in what's been hollowed out."

Clinton's exuded confidence on a night when she routed Sanders in many of the 11 states where Democrats went to the polls. She even stole a win in Massachusetts late in the evening, capturing a liberal stronghold that Sanders had hoped would sustain his underdog campaign.

The Vermont senator notched wins in his home state, as well as in Minnesota, Colorado and Oklahoma. Those victories give Sanders the rationale he needed to continue his campaign, which continues to rake in tens of millions of dollars in small contributions and energize progressives. At the same time, he failed to make inroads in the critical Southern contests, where African-American voters powered Clinton to dominant wins.

Clinton won in seven states, most of them delegate-rich places that she'll need to capture the nomination. In many cases, it wasn't even close. Clinton won by 60 points in Alabama, by 43 in Georgia, by 39 in Arkansas, by 34 in Tennessee and Texas, and 29 in Virginia. In the only closely fought state, Massachusetts, Clinton eked out a two-point win.

On the GOP side, Trump, also steamrolled his rivals and took another long stride toward the nomination. Though his rivals jockeyed for positioning beneath him, the night increasingly took on the feel of the first round of the general election.

Trump took on Clinton at the outset of his remarks, arguing that her long tenure in government proves she can't fix America's problems.

"If she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years," he said. "She wants to make American whole again and I'm trying to figure out what that's all about."

Clinton is hopeful that the strength of her victory will consolidate Democratic support. So intent on locking up the delegates she needs to win the nomination, she phoned American Samoa to appeal for the territory's six delegates — and they went for her.

Sanders, expecting a difficult night, made a quick exit after clinching his home state of Vermont, delivering a rally-the-troops speech before Clinton racked up more wins. He urged his backers to ignore the impending string of statewide defeats and pledged to remain in the race into June.

"This is not a general election," Sanders told his allies before most of the results had flooded in. "It's not winner take all. By the end of tonight, we are going to win many hundreds of delegates."

There are still 35 states left to vote, Sanders noted. "Let me assure you that we are going to take our fight for economic justice, for social justice, for environmental sanity, for a world of peace to every one of those states."

Even as polls were closing, Democrats began envisioning Sanders' role in the race after Clinton cuts off his path to the nomination.

"He didn't start off, in my view, thinking he was going to be the Democratic nominee," David Axelrod, a former aide to President Barack Obama, said on CNN. Axelrod said Sanders was likely to remain in the race to drive issues he staked his candidacy on, like economic inequality. "He has done that and he will continue to do that."

Sanders' goal was to emerge from Super Tuesday with a viable comeback path. But it's unclear how he envisions proceeding from here. His team has sketched a strategy that involves running up margins in the predominantly white states that have responded better to his message. He's hoping to rattle off wins in the weeks ahead in friendlier territory — Nebraska, Kansas and Maine, which are next on the calendar.

Sanders plans to travel to Maine on Wednesday and Kansas on Thursday.

Sanders' campaign is leaning heavily on polls showing that he's in a stronger position to take on Donald Trump or the other potential Republican nominees than Clinton, though she leads the Democratic horse race. There are also no signs of a fundraising slowdown for the Vermont senator: He announced a $42 million February haul, a jaw-dropping total.

Whether Clinton gets to maintain her focus on Trump will largely depend on whether her Super Tuesday momentum bleeds into the next round of states. Though all of the Democratic contests award delegates proportionally — ensuring Sanders will come away with a share of support — he faces a deep hole in the battle to secure 2,383 delegates and the nomination.

