Joe Biden had a strong showing, Bernie Sanders picked up the biggest prize of the night, California, and Michael Bloomberg dropped out. Alex Burns, a Times political reporter, lays out what happened, and what it means for Democrats.
Joe Biden had a strong showing, Bernie Sanders picked up the biggest prize of the night, California, and Michael Bloomberg dropped out. Alex Burns, a Times political reporter, lays out what happened, and what it means for Democrats.
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Super Tuesday Is Over. What Just Happened?
Joe Biden had a strong showing, Bernie Sanders picked up the biggest prize of the night, California, and Michael Bloomberg dropped out. Alex Burns, a Times political reporter, lays out what happened, and what it means for Democrats.
This was a night that was supposed to bring clarity to the Democratic race … “Hello, hello, hello, hello!” “Here’s what is clear.” “I don’t know what’s going to happen later tonight.” … and establish whether there was one clear front-runner or maybe two clear front-runners, or no front-runners at all. We’ve covered contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. “Can I get you to wear a button?” “I’m with the press.” “Sure I know, I’m just trying.” And now we’ve arrived at Super Tuesday. Super Tuesday is the single most important date on the primary calendar. You have more than a dozen states and territories voting at the same time. And it is the first real test of which candidates are drawing broad national appeal. “Winston-Salem, thank you!” “Hello, Denver!” “Tennessee will deliver. This is the Volunteer State.” The biggest prizes on the map are Texas and California. But all told, you’re looking at about a third of all the delegates that are at stake in the Democratic primary are at stake on Super Tuesday. This was a good night, especially for Joe Biden. “It’s a good night! It’s a good night!” We have seen that Biden has been regaining traction in the race over the last couple of days. “It ain’t over, man. We’re just getting started.” But he pulled off a series of big wins and upsets in places where even a newly revived Biden campaign wasn’t terribly optimistic about winning. Over the last few days, we have seen an extraordinary coalescing of support around Joe Biden. “I am ending my campaign and endorsing Joe Biden!” When he collected those endorsements on Monday from Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, that only accelerated his new momentum. So many of Joe Biden’s most important and biggest victories on Super Tuesday came in states where black voters make up either a majority or a very, very large share of the primary electorate. “We just got in from Alabama. We won Alabama!” Joe Biden edged out a narrow victory in Texas, but it was a close outcome. And Bernie Sanders recorded very significant support, especially from Latino voters and progressives. This was a solid night for Bernie Sanders. This was not some massive setback. It was not the massive breakthrough that his campaign hoped it would be. But what we did see him do, was continue adding significantly to his delegate count in a series of states where his progressive base was strong. “Hi, my name is Tom. I’m from the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.” Most importantly, California. In his speech on election night … “This will become a contrast in ideas.” … Bernie Sanders made it pretty clear that in the coming weeks he is going to be going after Joe Biden even more aggressively. “One of us in this race led the opposition to the war in Iraq — you’re looking at him.” It was not such a good night for Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren. Warren has needed to make a comeback, and she did not carry a single state. She even came in third in her home state of Massachusetts. This was the first time that Michael Bloomberg’s name appeared on a ballot in this Democratic primary. He spent hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising, and other campaign operations in the Super Tuesday states. In the end, he only won a single contest in American Samoa. Ultimately, Bloomberg and Warren both dropped out. For the first time in this campaign, you really have the two wings of the Democratic Party organized under a pair of clear front-runners. Joe Biden, closer to the political center … “Look, most Americans don’t want the promise of a revolution. They want results. They want a revival of decency, honor and character.” … and Bernie Sanders, further to the left. “From day one, we have been taking on the establishment. It is no surprise, they do not want me to become president.” There is clearly a real hunger among many voters in the party to coalesce quickly around someone they see as an electable challenger for President Trump. Do you want some kind of salutation or — Producer: “No, no.” It’s only March, and we’ve got a long way to Election Day. The Times will continue covering the campaign from all angles, from the campaign trail to investigations to analysis and beyond. For our latest reporting, go to nytimes.com/2020. Thanks for watching.
Super Tuesday Is Over. What Just Happened?
Joe Biden had a strong showing, Bernie Sanders picked up the biggest prize of the night, California, and Michael Bloomberg dropped out. Alex Burns, a Times political reporter, lays out what happened, and what it means for Democrats.
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