Vice President Joseph Biden chalked up a string of impressive victories in southern states as the Super Tuesday vote elevated him to the forefront of the Democratic primary race, pitching his pragmatism against Senator Bernie Sanders’ progressive idealism.
The latest count by 10 am (EST) shows Biden won in Alaska, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma Tennessee and Virginia, and also overturned all predictions to take delegate-rich Texas, where Sanders was expected to be a victor.
Sanders has taken Colorado, Utah and his home state Vermont and is leading in California, the state with the largest delegates. The two are in a dead heat in Maine.
So far, Biden is leading in the delegate count with 305 delegates to his credit in comparison to Sanders’ 243 while the candidates await full results from California. The AP has declared Sanders a winner in California and he is expected to clinch a major share of 415 pledged delegates.
Both Biden and Sanders sounded hopeful in the quest for Democratic nomination to fight 2020 election against President Donald Trump.
“They don’t call it Super Tuesday for nothing,” Biden said cheerfully as results of his comeback put him ahead of all other candidates and challenger to Sanders whose political movement appeared to be invincible on the eve of Super Tuesday 14-state election.
But Sanders sounded confident in going ahead with his momentum.
Analysts say African American voters made the difference for Biden, who had been almost written off the primary as an army of Sanders’ young supporters looked to a transition in the Democratic party from moderate politics to a revolutionary approach on key issues including healthcare, immigration and foreign policy issues.
“What we need is a new politics that brings working class into politics and young people into our movement,” Sanders said, reflecting the core pillar of his movement.
Sanders has also built a base among diverse communities including Spanish Americans and American Muslims, primarily for taking unconventional approach to some of the hot button issues including Kashmir and Palestine. His Medicare for All has also won him many supporters but also some opponents among Democrats.
Still Sanders has not been able to appeal to older voters in almost all communities and lags far behind among black voters.
Biden, long tipped to be a favorite with Democratic establishment, showed his remarkable resilience and on the back of support from former candidates and endorsement from some top Democratic leaders, looks set to make a match of it.
Mike Bloomberg has suspended his campaign expressing his endorsement of Biden while Senator Elizabeth Warren, who lost in her home state of Massachusetts to Biden, is contemplating the future course.
