Last week we opined that Joe Biden had just had the best Tuesday night of his life. Today must therefore be the morning after the second-best Tuesday night of his life.
Yesterday six states were in play for the Democratic nomination – Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Washington and, most important of all, Michigan.
In the popular vote, which is interesting in that it provides the basis for the proportional allocation of delegates under the Democrats’ primary system, Biden took four out of six outright and played to a very, very close second in Washington and a virtual tie in North Dakota.
But winning the popular vote alone isn’t how you win the nomination in the Democratic Party. You win the nomination by gaining delegates. On that score, Biden had a very good night.
Of the 242 delegates that were up for grabs yesterday, Biden took 153 of them leaving just 89 for Bernie Sanders. That’s a 63 percent to 37 percent victory for Biden.
Tulsi Gabbard was on the ballot in all six states but garnered no delegates.
What we have witnessed in the past two weeks is likely the most dramatic political comeback any of us will ever see in our lives.
Less than a month ago, Joe Biden snuck out of New Hampshire before the polls even closed. Though it’s a tiny and somewhat quirky New England state, New Hampshire draws enormous media attention by virtue of the fact that it is the first state to hold its primary every election season.
Joe Biden got clobbered in New Hampshire. He came in at a distant fifth in the popular vote and did not pick up a single delegate. Virtually the entire pundit class was declaring his candidacy dead.
As he left New Hampshire, Biden announced that South Carolina would be his “firewall.” And so it was. Biden picked up the endorsement of South Carolina’s Democratic lion in the House of Representatives, James Clyburn. That endorsement proved to be critical in gaining Biden the first presidential primary win of his life.
Biden went into last week’s Super Tuesday with the wind in his sails and that momentum carried forward into yesterday. Since last Tuesday, three candidates who beat Biden like a drum in New Hampshire – Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar – have dropped out of the race. All three ended their campaigns by endorsing him.
From DOA in New Hampshire to strong front-runner and – increasingly – the presumed nominee in just 28 days. It has never been done in living memory.
All of this despite questions from both sides as to Biden’s increasingly worrisome verbal miscues and apparent memory lapses.
The math now gets daunting for Bernie Sanders. In order to win the nomination on the first ballot, he will have to effectively double his performance in the remaining primary states. Biden needs 55 percent of the remaining delegates in play. Sanders needs nearly two out of three.
There’s a Democratic debate scheduled for Saturday night. It will be a two-man show now – Biden v. Sanders. It ought to prove interesting.