Former Vice President Joe Biden obviously had a Super Tuesday and a Very Excellent Wednesday morning when former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination. Plus Bloomberg is not taking his ball and going home but is promising to spend millions of his personal fortune to defeat Donald Trump.
Some of Biden’s wins were not major surprises but some were. He didn’t campaign in either Sen. Amy Klobacher’s backyard of Minnesota or Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Massachusetts, but he won both states. Warren finished a bad third in Massachusetts and while she says she’ll continue in the race, that’s unlikely to last for long.
Biden being able to quickly get former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Klobachar to endorse him went a long way to helping bring unity to the Democratic Party, or at least to a good chunk of the party. Warren will be under great pressure to get out, and my guess is she will soon – once she’s able to have talks with the Biden camp about her role going forward in both creating the party platform and Biden’s presidency, should he win. (If you can't win your own state, it's unlikely you'd be named the vice presidential candidate.)
That will leave, basically, only Sen. Bernie Sanders in the race. And my guess is, as he did four years ago, he will continue his march pretty much to the Democratic convention. Remember, he is not a Democrat so, despite his claims to the contrary, he really isn’t here to unify the Democratic Party.
If he went another week or two, and Biden continues to beat him, Sanders should get out. At the moment he has sufficient support to stay in.
But, consider the impact it would have if Sanders immediately announced he’s “suspending” his campaign and endorsed Biden. Biden’s support plus whatever backing Sanders could transfer to him would be a major step in defeating Trump. Don’t hold your breath.
Meanwhile Trump is tweeting how Warren should get out of the race because she’s hurting Sanders. So, really, who do you think Trump wants to run against? He’s always feared Biden, with Biden’s warts and all.
And the message millions of voters sent yesterday, many deciding in the final hours before Super Tuesday, they too think Biden is the best option to beat Trump.
One more thing about Sanders, to see how the tide is changing. He is losing support and, despite his claims that he will get turnout to increase, younger voters were not turning out yesterday. And, Sanders was getting lower totals in states, including his home of Vermont.
He has a ceiling on support he can attract and he’s likely not just reached it, but is losing some of it.
It ain’t over, of course. But it would be something if Warren drops out and, Sanders does the best thing he can do which is to stop splintering the electorate and dropping out to support Biden.
Unlikely? Yes, but just a few days ago you wouldn’t have believed Biden’s comeback (miracle?) either.
Some of Biden’s wins were not major surprises but some were. He didn’t campaign in either Sen. Amy Klobacher’s backyard of Minnesota or Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Massachusetts, but he won both states. Warren finished a bad third in Massachusetts and while she says she’ll continue in the race, that’s unlikely to last for long.
Biden being able to quickly get former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Klobachar to endorse him went a long way to helping bring unity to the Democratic Party, or at least to a good chunk of the party. Warren will be under great pressure to get out, and my guess is she will soon – once she’s able to have talks with the Biden camp about her role going forward in both creating the party platform and Biden’s presidency, should he win. (If you can't win your own state, it's unlikely you'd be named the vice presidential candidate.)
That will leave, basically, only Sen. Bernie Sanders in the race. And my guess is, as he did four years ago, he will continue his march pretty much to the Democratic convention. Remember, he is not a Democrat so, despite his claims to the contrary, he really isn’t here to unify the Democratic Party.
If he went another week or two, and Biden continues to beat him, Sanders should get out. At the moment he has sufficient support to stay in.
But, consider the impact it would have if Sanders immediately announced he’s “suspending” his campaign and endorsed Biden. Biden’s support plus whatever backing Sanders could transfer to him would be a major step in defeating Trump. Don’t hold your breath.
Meanwhile Trump is tweeting how Warren should get out of the race because she’s hurting Sanders. So, really, who do you think Trump wants to run against? He’s always feared Biden, with Biden’s warts and all.
And the message millions of voters sent yesterday, many deciding in the final hours before Super Tuesday, they too think Biden is the best option to beat Trump.
One more thing about Sanders, to see how the tide is changing. He is losing support and, despite his claims that he will get turnout to increase, younger voters were not turning out yesterday. And, Sanders was getting lower totals in states, including his home of Vermont.
He has a ceiling on support he can attract and he’s likely not just reached it, but is losing some of it.
It ain’t over, of course. But it would be something if Warren drops out and, Sanders does the best thing he can do which is to stop splintering the electorate and dropping out to support Biden.
Unlikely? Yes, but just a few days ago you wouldn’t have believed Biden’s comeback (miracle?) either.
RSS Feed