A week before Super Tuesday, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders may have thought he would be taking a victory lap in Vermont as a precursor to taking front-runner control of the Democratic Party. Instead, Joe Biden earned the moniker “the comeback kid” once so aptly applied to Bill Clinton way back in 1992. In a superior show of strength that completely reversed the “death knell” narrative of his campaign, the former vice president swept the Southern states including Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and an eye-popping blow out win in Virginia.
In a stunning upset, Biden also won Texas, which Bernie Sanders had been heavily favored to win. The former VP also took Massachusetts which had been a toss up between Sanders and home state standard bearer Elizabeth Warren. Warren had been favored to win the New England state for obvious reasons, and understandably, the progressive candidate might be feeling some serious disappointment in that loss.
South Carolina was the bellwether for the Biden campaign, the so called firewall, and the Palmetto State sure lived up to its expectations. The campaign- resuscitating endorsement of Majority Whip SC politico Jim Clyburn was the defining factor that turned things around for Biden. So significant was this endorsement that long time pundit James Carville credited Congressman Clyburn with “saving the Democratic party.” So, what comes next?
Well, the Sanders campaign , though shocked by the sudden reversal of fortune for the Biden camp, vows to fight as hard and as strong as ever. The left leaning campaign feels that when the dust settles they will retake the delegate lead from Biden. So they aren’t going anywhere. However, there have been whispers that the Warren camp might move aside to make room for Sanders, but the Vermont Senator won’t hear of it. Sources say that he won’t pressure her to leave, recognizing that Warren fought a hard-driven campaign, raised a ton of money, and should therefore be given the time and space to make an independent decision .
Needless to say, Sanders will be expected to aggressively court the left-leaning Warren supporters, should she decide to leave. Go Bernie.
