Winning 10 of 14 States on Super Tuesday, March 3, 77-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden (D-Del.) served notice that he’s on his way to winning the Democratic nomination. Needing 1,991 delegates for an outright win, Biden grabbed 458 delegates yesterday for a grand total of 511, besting his 78-year-old chief rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who picked up 399 delegates, winning only four states for a total of 459. While only 56 delegates separate them now, Sander’s path to the nomination got a lot steeper with most Democrats getting behind Biden’s candidacy. Since declaring for president April 25, 2019, Biden sold himself as the candidate most likely to beat 73-year-old President Donald Trump. When Joe finished fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire and second in Nevada, Joe’s beat-Trump narrative was upended, giving Sanders and others hope that they could compete in South Carolina.
Taking South Carolina Feb. 29, 48.4% to Sanders 19.9% showed that Joe, having served under former President Barack Obama for eight years, still had loyalty of African Americans, a key voting block in Democratic primaries in Southern states. Biden’s big win in South Carolina reminded older voters, those in the 50-plus demographic, that Joe promised to continue the Obama legacy. Trump has done everything possible to extinguish the Obama legacy, something that irks African Americans. With 59-year-old Sen. Amy Klobushar (D-Minn.), 37-year-old former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-Ind.) and 62-year-old billionaire Tom Steyer (D-Calif.) dropping out before Super Tuesday, it gave Joe rocket fuel for his 10 victories. Most impressive of all was Biden’s win in Texas where he pulled a come-from-behind victory to beat Bernie 34% to 30%, attesting to Joe’s new momentum.
When 78-year-old billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropped out today endorsing Biden, it spelled doom for the Sanders campaign. Sanders no longer has any path forward with Joe picking up backing from Klobushar, Steyer, Buttigieg and now Bloomberg. Bernie’s message resonates only with the youth voters or old left-leaning hippies looking for pie-in-the-sky but, knowing to beat Trump, they must appeal to independents and cross-over Republicans fed up with the White House. While Bernie tried to rally the troops last night in Burlington, Vt., there was a sad realization that his Medicare-for-all, free college tuition, student loan debt forgiveness and commitment to climate change was about to end. Biden’s big wins let the air out of Sanders’ balloon, knowing that Democrats lined up behind Biden’s candidacy. Only Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) holds on.
Warren came in a distant third place with 21.4% of the vote in her home state of Massachusetts. Resisting calls to resign, Warren’s continued presence hurts Bernie, guaranteeing Biden’s march to the nomination. Warren looks to hang on at least until March 10, when Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota and Washington State, where 516 delegates will be up for grabs. Biden’s poised to win the lion’s share to delegates next week. Dropping out and throwing his support to Biden, Bloomberg guarantees that Bernie has no way forward, other that picking up a few more states. If there’s anything most surprising about Super Tuesday, it was Bernie beating Biden in California 33.6% to 24.9%. California’s Democrat primary has a diverse electorate with smaller percentages of blacks and larger numbers of Latinos, something that favored Bernie’s appeal.
Biden has no worries when he wins the Democratic Nomination because California overwhelmingly voted for 72-year-old former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in 2016, winning 61.7% of the vote. Sanders beat Biden in California because Democrats haven’t yet caught up with Biden’s steamroller, looking to wrap up the nomination before the convention. While Bernie’s backers are loyal to the self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, his voters, no matter how disappointed, will eventually back Joe. Unlike 2016 when there was some controversy at the Democratic National Committee [DNC] handing Hillary the nomination, it’s not moving in the that direction this time around. Bernie’s supporters would only rebel in November if the DNC stacked the deck against Bernie. Biden now looks to unify the Party behind his candidacy, eventually getting Bernie’s blessing.
Super Tuesday changed the landscape of the Democrat primaries, once again getting behind Biden’s nomination. While Warren holds on until March 10, it’s doubtful she’ll go beyond that, when six states divvy up 516 more delegates. After next week, it will be clear to even Bernie that the 2020 nomination has coalesced around Biden, for better or worse. Shortly after March 10, expect an endorsement from Obama, who’s done his best to stay out of the race so far. Obama wants nothing more than to send Trump packing as a one-term aberration in American politics. Obama doesn’t take lightly Trump’s deliberate attempt to reverse every major accomplishment of his eight years in office. Biden would like nothing more that to reprise the Obama legacy, during what promises to be only one term. If Joe’s sworn in Jan. 20, 2021 at 78, he’d be the oldest president in U.S. history.
