Super Tuesday boosts Biden; brings challenges for Sanders

“The Democratic campaign for president took another wild and unexpected turn Tuesday night, dramatically lifting the candidacy of former vice president Joe Biden and suddenly putting the onus on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to demonstrate that he can expand his base of support,” as The Washington Post is reporting.

“The Democratic contest has been transformed almost overnight from one with many candidates and no clear alternative to Sanders into a head-to-head battle that pits a populist insurgent preaching revolution and democratic socialism against an establishment-backed politician calling for modest change and civility and claiming greater electability against President Trump.

“There are few commodities more valuable in political campaigns than momentum, and, right now, Biden is blessed with it in abundance for the first time in his campaign. Biden had a noticeable deficit in money and organization in the Super Tuesday states, compared with the well-resourced and well-organized Sanders.

“The rapid consolidation around Biden’s candidacy has given him what Sanders’s money and ground game could not produce, and the results Tuesday put the former vice president in position to compete on at least an even basis with the senator from Vermont for supremacy in the contest to become the party’s nominee.

“For the foreseeable future, the calendar will not get easier for Sanders. In coming weeks, the states holding contests, with some exceptions, were ones that he lost to Hillary Clinton four years ago. In some of the states he won in 2016, the shift from caucuses to primaries could hold down his delegate totals even if he were to win again.”

The rest of the article is here.