Biden aiming to establish himself as the best candidate to beat Sanders ahead of ‘Super Tuesday’
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Joe Biden hopes to establish himself as the only moderate who can beat Bernie Sanders to the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday as 14 states vote following his blowout win in South Carolina and after the surprize announcement that Pete Buttigieg – One of Biden’s leading moderate rivals – withdrew his nomination from the Democratic Presidential bid.
The former US vice president pulled his campaign back from the brink on Saturday in the southern state, taking every county and winning 48 per cent of the vote to Mr Sanders’s 20 per cent.
Mr Biden had staked his campaign on victory in South Carolina after fourth, fifth and second place finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, with victory coming thanks to overwhelming support from African-American voters.
.@PeteButtigieg ran a historic, trail-blazing campaign based on courage, compassion, and honesty. We will be a better country for his continued service. This is just the beginning of his time on the national stage.
Super Tuesday is the most important day in the remaining race of the Democratic Party to choose it’s Presidential nominee, when 14 states vote and around a third of delegates – the metric that ultimately determines the winner.
Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire and former New York mayor who has spent close to half a billion dollars on his campaign, will finally be on the ballot and is under pressure to prove that he rather than Mr Biden is best placed to beat Mr Sanders to the nomination.
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, who finished a disappointing fifth and sixth in South Carolina respectively with vote shares in single digits, are also hoping to prove viability.
Tom Steyer, the billionaire who had gambled on breaking through in South Carolina, pulled out of the race on Saturday night after finishing third with 11 per cent of the vote.
As he exited the race on Sunday, Buttigieg said he was acknowledging reality: “The path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy.”
Buttigieg didn’t endorse any of the remaining candidates, though he and former Biden traded voicemails on Sunday. Buttigieg has spent the past several weeks warning that nominating progressive leader Bernie Sanders to take on President Donald Trump would be risky.Biden’s other rivals showed no interest in getting out of the race. In fact, some vowed to keep fighting no matter what happened on Super Tuesday.
Up to now, only 155 delegates have been awarded in four states. On Super Tuesday, a massive 1,357 delegates will be distributed, and 14 states are voting. The two most populous, California and Texas, will take part – the former for the first time on Super Tuesday.
Later in the summer, those delegates will then vote for their candidate to become the Democratic nominee. The target for any candidate is to reach an unbeatable majority of 1,990 delegates.
