Super Tuesday Puts Dems in Close Contest

Much of the Super Tuesday delegate count is in, but the slate of primaries has done little to clarify the race for the Democratic nomination.

The moderate vote consolidated itself behind Former Vice President Joe Biden this week, and his campaign for president is back with a vengeance. Biden posted strong numbers across the several states, and he even managed to best Senator Elizabeth Warren in her own home state of Massachusetts.

The votes are still coming in but, as of Wednesday morning, Biden was leading the delegate count. He currently holds 381 out of the 3,149 it takes to secure an outright nomination.

Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders is still in the race. He managed to win California, which has the most delegate votes of any state. Sanders also took Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and his home state of Vermont. He also secured second-place finishes in almost every state that Biden won.

There are still a lot of votes coming in but, right now, Sanders’ tally of 336 delegates is trailing Biden’s count by about 45 delegates.

Former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg was the night’s biggest loser. After shelling out over half of a billion dollars on advertising, Bloomberg failed to carry even one of the states holding primaries.

Surprising Buttigieg got so close to first place in the #NHPrimary. He has yet to face a contest with a diverse electorate, however. The question now is whether Biden can maintain the lead he has long had in NV and SC. Ultimately, Super Tuesday is key. https://t.co/28jZtx1dfP

— Shahab (@ssmoghadam) February 12, 2020

Although the night wasn’t a total failure for Bloomberg. Associated Press projections said he would pick up five delegates from American Samoa. Bloomberg failed to place higher than third in the other states up for grabs on Tuesday. However, Bloomberg doesn’t seem like he plans on going anywhere just yet. At a Fox News town hall meeting on Monday, Bloomberg hinted that he might take his campaign all the way up to the Democratic National Convention.

You could argue that Warren had an even worse day than Bloomberg. She finished third in her home state of Massachusetts and failed to win any state on the docket. Some Democrats are beginning to pressure Warren to bow out so the moderate vote can consolidate behind Sanders. After Sanders narrowly lost Minnesota to Biden, Minnesota house representative Ilhan Omar posted a tweet that seemed to encourage Warren to exit the race. “Imagine if the progressives consolidated last night light the moderates consolidated, who would have won?” said the freshman congresswoman, “I feel confident a united progressive movement would have allowed for us to #BuildTogether and win MN and other states we narrowly lost.” However, Warren previously promised that she would take her campaign all the way to the DNC if it was necessary. Yesterday, after her defeat became evident, she reassured her supporters that she’s still in the race and promised them that she is “the woman who’s going to beat Donald Trump.”

There are still a lot of districts reporting, but it looks like Biden and Sanders will be locked into a close campaign for the nomination.

It looks like Biden will win more states than Sanders, but Sanders took the crown jewel with his California win and he’s still in close contention for front-runner status. Bloomberg and Warren are both well behind either candidate’s delegate totals.

President Donald Trump couldn’t resist the opportunity to troll the night’s losers, both of whom have harshly criticized him in the past. In a series of Tweets late Tuesday night, he called “Mini Mike” Bloomberg “the biggest loser tonight, by far”. Trump tweeted that his failed campaign resulted in nothing but “$700 million washed down the drain” and “the complete destruction of his [Bloomberg’s] reputation”.

The president also had some a few choice words for Warren. Trump tweeted, “Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas” Warren, other than Mini Mike, was the loser of the night. She didn’t even come close to winning her home state of Massachusetts. Well, now she can just sit back with her husband and have a nice cold beer!” Trump’s cold beer comment was referencing Warren’s Instagram campaign-launch video that showed her drinking a beer in her kitchen.

Super Tuesday appears to have been the official death knoll for Bloomberg and Warren. It’s doubtful Bloomberg will be able to secure the nomination at the DNC, and that goes double for Warren.

Biden and Sanders will likely remain in close contention for the foreseeable future. If the contest remains close, the nomination could be decided by the Democrat’s super delegates, party bigwigs with additional voting powers. Given Sanders’ reputation as an outsider, a super delegate decision would likely favor Biden. However, there’s no telling where this race is headed just yet.