超级星期二初选前夕希拉里和川普居领先地位

The race to be the next president of the United States has its most important day so far Tuesday as candidates compete in 13 states.  Those trailing in polls hope to make major moves to catch a pair of frontrunners who lead by double digits.

Tuesday is hugely important for Republicans with businessman Donald Trump riding a three-state winning streak and favored in 10 of the so-called "Super Tuesday" states.  Trump trails only in the southern state of Texas, where Senator Ted Cruz hopes to capture his home turf.

The key will not be how many states Trump wins, but how well Cruz and fellow Senator Marco Rubio perform.

In the Democratic race, a cnn/ORC poll released Monday showed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton widening her national lead over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at 55 to 38 percent.  Clinton also has a huge lead in the Democratic delegates awarded so far.