"Super Tuesday results will draw a clearer picture for potential candidates, although more so for the Democratic Party than the Republican Party," US Embassy to Indonesia deputy chief of mission Brian McFeeters told reporters during a press briefing in Jakarta on Tuesday. 

In observance of the primaries and caucus that have been held thus far, McFeeters said that Clinton already had a strong lead and had garnered support from a large number of delegates, including a total of 505 pledged super delegates, compared to the 71 for Bernie Sanders.

Following in the trend, the results from Tuesday's votes would likely reinforce Clinton’s position, McFeeters further said.

Meanwhile, McFeeters said that there was much more of a contest occurring on the Republican side. Even though Donald Trump had been leading in the polls, he is yet to garner support from a majority of delegates, the US diplomat said.

However, there is no doubt that Trump has been getting strong support among certain groups of people, he went on. 

"It's still the primaries. It's the Republicans determining their candidate, which is not the same as the nation determining who the President can be," McFeeters said.

He went on to say that despite his controversial statements, Trump’s appeal lay in his ability to tap into the frustration of the public with relation to the current system.

"He's getting the kind of outsider [...] people who don't believe in the system are sympathetic to him," McFeeters said. 

Meanwhile, the US Embassy Deputy Political Counselor Siriana Nair said that Trump’s campaign demonstrated the US commitment to the value of free speech.

At the beginning, people did not expect his campaign to go as far as it had, Nair added. Trump was saying something that was appealing to the voter population and it was clear that there was growing segment of the Republican population who believed he could be the person to bring about change, she further said.

"But in the general elections, in order for a candidate to be successful and to be elected, they need to be able to appeal to not just a small group of people, they need to appeal to the whole country," said Nair.

At this stage, she further said, there was still a lot of uncertainty within the American public as the people were still making up their minds. Overall, the candidates in the election this year reflect the diversity in the US, Nair said.

"We're bringing people into a leadership position that maybe not always traditional," she added. (ebf)

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