Shortly after polls closed Tuesday, it became apparent that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was going to win the primary fight in Florida, which polls had suggested all along.
Ultimately, she bested Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders some 64.5 percent to 33.2 percent.
By the time she stepped to the podium to deliver her victory speech at around 9 p.m., she had won two more states.
"Thank you Florida, thank you North Carolina, thank you Ohio," she said at her victory party in Palm Beach County. "We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November."
What followed was a speech about promising to create jobs, eradicate student debt and protect seniors, among other things, a speech in which she called this year's election "one of the most consequential campaigns of our lifetimes.".
"We're going to stand up for the middle class again we going to stand up for American workers," she said.
She said her platform is much easier to accomplish than that of Sanders, and implied that his approach on defense was lacking.
"Protecting Americans' national security can never be an afterthought," she said, adding a dig at Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. "Our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it."
About half an hour later from a stage in Phoenix, Sanders seemed unfazed.
“What excites me so much as I go around the country is the incredible energy of hundreds of thousands of people who love this country but know we could do so much better,” he said. “We started this race at three percent in the polls and we have come this far in ten months.”
At a bar in St. Petersburg, Sanders fans packed the house to watch the results. Even though it was clear that their man lost Florida by some 30 points, their optimism about the underdog's chance of clenching the nomination was similarly unfazed.
“Yawn. Yawn," he said. "About expected. The good news is, at the end of tonight, the Confederacy is now over and we move forward with a real election across the country.”
He said he thinks Clinton did so well in Southern states because of name recognition, but as his message becomes better known, Sanders should be able to pull off some wins in later-primary states.
“Here's the math: Number one, Bernie has a Pacific firewall that nobody in the media talks about," Fox said. "He will win Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California, the single largest state in the union. He will crush in California for the following reason: next Tuesday, Arizona. Bernie has been campaigning [there] for over a year.”
“That's a beautiful thing. But [Florida] was never going to happen. Bottom line. She beat Obama here. This was hers to win. Bottom line.”
As for the super delegates that political observers say could benefit Clinton, Fox said they “are absolutely useless to be talking about at this point. It means nothing. It means absolutely nothing…because they aren't dedicated. They aren't committed to anything. They can go anywhere they care to."
Long story short, Fox said, Sanders supporters in Florida — regardless of whether or not he lost by 30 points there —aren't giving up anytime soon.
“We are in this for the long haul," he said. "How can your morale collapse when you're working for a guy who, at age 74, did five rallies in three states yesterday? You can't. FDR never lost his support. And that's what we're talking about. He is the FDR of the 21st Century."
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2016.
