With one-third of United States delegates up for grabs, Super Tuesday was the most important day of the 2020 primaries.

In both a comedic, and slightly reassuring, turn of events Joe Biden swept Super Tuesday, gaining 380 delegates. This gives him a 45-delegate lead over Bernie Sanders, who doesn’t trail far behind him.

Biden receiving a majority of the delegates last night should come as no surprise, as the former vice president boasts a long list of credentials and gives center-leaning democrats a strong option. The difficulties other candidates had receiving delegates should not be surprising either. Elizabeth Warren has been in a decline for some time, and Tuesday should be the final nail in the coffin. Mike Bloomberg has also not enjoyed much success in the race to the nomination, I suppose buying an election isn’t as easy as it seems. He ended his campaign just hours after gaining his only primary victory, American Samoa.

As for the previous frontrunner Bernie Sanders, I’m not shocked that the night didn’t go as planned for him. The policies Sanders proposes are highly divisive and while support for Sanders seemed high, as we saw in 2016, the loud radical minority will never overcome the silent majority.

These results should spark feelings of relief. If the “Joementum” Biden is currently enjoying continues, he will obtain the democratic nomination. This is great news for moderates and conservatives who feared Sanders’ self-described democratic-socialist approach to the economy.

Looking forward, it is likely that Warren will drop out of the race and endorse Sanders as they share similar policy goals. Bloomberg endorsed Biden, who is now the obvious front-runner.

Unfortunately, this also poses a problem for the presidential race. Should Biden be given the nomination, he would provide a middle of the road option for those not keen on President Donald Trump. Biden could also potentially unite the democratic and moderate vote to obtain the presidency.

The predictions I make, while logically sound, could change in an instant. As we have seen in the past, the Democratic National Convention is willing to make decisions that aren’t the most popular with its constituents.

Who will win the democratic nomination is still unknown, but whoever it is, winning the presidency is unlikely.

 

Adrianna San Marco is a freshman economics major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at asanmarc@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @adriannasanmarc.

Published on March 4, 2020 at 7:52 pm