Biden snags Texas in Super Tuesday sweep, Sanders has edge in California

[snoop1130]

Biden snags Texas in Super Tuesday sweep, Sanders has edge in California

By Trevor Hunnicutt and John Whitesides

 

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden addresses supporters with his wife Jill at his side during his Super Tuesday night rally in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kyle Grillot

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A resurgent Joe Biden rode a wave of momentum to win Texas and eight other states, while Bernie Sanders was leading in Super Tuesday's biggest race in California, setting up a one-on-one battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

 

In a surprisingly strong showing, Biden rolled to victories across the South, Midwest and New England on the biggest day of voting in the Democratic campaign. Americans in 14 states cast ballots to select a challenger to Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

 

In what would be the day's biggest upset, Biden was projected by Edison Research to have won Texas, the biggest prize after California. Sanders invested heavily in Texas and was counting on its sizeable Latino population to propel him to victory.

 

"For those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign," said Biden, the former vice president who had performed poorly in the first three nominating contests but broke through with a win in South Carolina.

 

"We are very much alive," he told roaring supporters in Los Angeles.

 

Sanders, the one-time front-runner who had hoped to take a big step toward the nomination on Tuesday, won Colorado, Utah and his home state of Vermont, Edison Research said.

 

Fox News and AP projected Sanders won California, whose 415 delegates represent the largest haul in the nominating contest. But Edison Research and other networks held off declaring a winner as results trickled in. Maine was a toss-up, with both Biden and Sanders winning roughly a third of the vote with 73% of the precincts reporting.

 

With overwhelming support from African-American, moderate and older voters, Biden also swept to wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia.

 

It was a spectacular turn for Biden, whose campaign was on life support after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Until a week ago he trailed Sanders in most state and national opinion polls.

 

But Biden's blowout win in South Carolina on Saturday provided a burst of new momentum, fueling a wave of endorsements from elected Democratic officials and former presidential rivals including Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

 

Biden spent most of the past few months in the early voting states and did not personally campaign in several of the states he ultimately won, including Minnesota, in the months leading up to Super Tuesday.

 

Biden called Klobuchar Tuesday night to thank her for the Minnesota win, after she dropped her own presidential bid and publicly endorsed Biden at his rally in Texas the night before, a Biden campaign official said.

 

ONE-THIRD UP FOR GRABS

 

More than one-third of the delegates who will pick the eventual nominee at a July convention were up for grabs on Tuesday, which provided some clarity at last in a muddled race for the White House.

 

The results left Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor who spent more than half a billion dollars on advertising, largely out of the running, with his only victory coming in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

 

Bloomberg campaign officials said he would reassess whether to stay in the race on Wednesday, but they said that did not mean he would drop out.

 

The results were also disappointing for Senator Elizabeth Warren, who finished well behind Sanders and Biden in most states and trailed them in her home state Massachusetts.

 

Just a week ago, Biden was hoping to stay within reach of Sanders in delegates, giving him a chance to catch up as the race moved on. But initial tallies showed him leading Sanders in delegates for the day 268 to 194, with hundreds more to be allocated.

 

To date, Biden leads Sanders in delegates 321 to 254. A candidate needs to win 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention in July.

 

The campaign continues an accelerated pace through the next two weeks, when nearly another 1,000 delegates are up for grabs, including the swing state of Florida on March 17.

 

Biden also accomplished his main Super Tuesday goal of muscling aside Bloomberg and consolidating support from moderates to turn the race into a one-on-one contest against Sanders.

 

Without naming him, Sanders took direct aim at Biden during a rally with supporters in Vermont, criticizing his 2002 vote to authorize war in Iraq and his support for global trade deals that Sanders opposed.

 

"We're going to win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country," Sanders said, referring to Trump.

 

BAD NIGHT FOR WARREN, BLOOMBERG

 

Bloomberg was a wild card heading into the voting, as he joined the competition for the first time. He was winning 15% or more of the vote, enough to pick up some delegates, in Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Utah, California and Arkansas.

 

The moderate skipped the first four contests and bombarded Super Tuesday and later voting states with ads, but saw his poll numbers slip after coming under fire during Democratic debates over past comments criticized as sexist and a police policy he employed as New York's mayor seen as racially discriminatory.

 

Biden is hoping to build a bridge between progressive Democrats' desire for big structural change and more moderate Democrats' yearning for a candidate who will be able to win over enough independents and Republicans to oust Trump.

 

That effort gained fresh momentum on the eve of Tuesday's voting as moderates Buttigieg and Klobuchar endorsed Biden after withdrawing from the race.

 

In Texas, which Biden unexpectedly won with 33% of the vote compared to Sanders' 30%, 56% of the voters said they favored a candidate who could beat Trump over someone who they agreed with on major issues. Among those voters, nearly 40% chose Biden, over Sanders who had 26%, according to Edison Research exit polls.

 

Biden pulled off his victories despite being vastly outspent on ads by Bloomberg, who had spent $377 million on ads by Feb. 23, and Sanders, who spent $20 million. Biden spent $4.7 million during the same period, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks ad spending and content.

 

The pace of the Democratic race begins to accelerate after Super Tuesday, with 11 more states voting by the end of March. By then, nearly two-thirds of the delegates will have been allotted.

The next contests, on March 10, will be in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-04

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[JHolmesJr]

How do you vote for a guy who doesn't know where he is most of the time, makes up 

weird facts, thinks his wife is his sister, confuses Thursday with Tuesday, sniffs young kids and sees nothing wrong with his son accepting huge sums of money from a financially beholden foreign power?

Edited March 4, 2020 by JHolmesJr

[Bluespunk]

8 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

For those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign," said Biden, the former vice president who had performed poorly in the first three nominating contests but broke through with a win in South Carolina.

 

"We are very much alive," he told roaring supporters in Los Angeles.

I watched that speech, I'm hoping he was joking when he mixed up his sister and wife at the start. Compared to the speech Sanders gave earlier [which I also watched], Biden's wasn't quite a train wreck, but I fully expected it to turn into one at any point.

 

C'mon Bernie, take California...

[Jingthing]

One of the most remarkable and rapid political comebacks in history. 

 

Congratulations Joe! 

 

On to the nomination. 

 

On to the presidency. 

 

Evict you know who. 

[Brigand]

Doesn't look good really with Crazy Bernie thinking the US is going to elect a proper socialist (never happen) and Senile Joe who barely knows where he is or what he's doing and mixing up people/days/facts and lords knows what else ...looking a little embarrassing and both are like 78-79. Bernie won't be able to convince the swing voters that he's it and Biden is tarnished on numerous fronts plus, if he made it, may not last long before he needs a mental home ...the smart Democratic politician should be looking to be Biden's vice president as he/she might end up president by default after a year if Senile Joe wins. To be honest, considering the amount of vitriol from the Dems for Trump ...is this the best they can come up with? Pretty <deleted>-poor if you ask me.

Edited March 4, 2020 by Brigand

[sirineou]

All the botox , formalgahide and cool sunglasses , can't hide the ravages that time  has inflicted on Biden, if he wins the nomination trump will have a good time with him. 

[JHolmesJr]

1 minute ago, sirineou said:

All the botox , formalgahide and cool sunglasses , can't hide the ravages that time  has inflicted on Biden, if he wins the nomination trump will have a good time with him. 

 

He's going to destroy him in the debates....biden cant walk up to trump and poke him in the chest

and challenge him to a fight....trump would savage him.

 

This will be like watching Ali box against a punching bag.

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[Kelsall]

Even Bernie realizes the DNC is out to screw him.  He has zero chance of getting the nomination, even after winning California!

Edited March 4, 2020 by Kelsall

[sirineou]

Just now, JHolmesJr said:

 

He's going to destroy him in the debates....biden cant walk up to trump and poke him in the chest

and challenge him to a fight....trump would savage him.

 

This will be like watching Ali box against a punching bag.

Oh I don't know who would win a physical fight. You more than anyone else understands what physical shape trump is in . My thinking is that they will both fall to the ground wheezing and shaking, but if trump fell on him , trump's blubber might smother Biden. LOL

As far as the debate goes It will be fun to watch.

  trump insisting that he does not have a small penis and biden squeaking "malarkey!!!" ???? 

With 227 million people , that's the best we can do?

 

[Ventenio]

Bloomberg really did GREAT!!!!  

 

He could have saved 932749204732943489324324 poor families or got 7 electoral (?) votes....  I'd take that 7 any day!!!!  

 

He should go and spend 10 billion on commercials and go watch them at church with friends from the slums of Detroit.  

 

lol

[Antonymous]

Hillary is just waiting in the wings...

[ChouDoufu]

my bet at this point will be a deal at the convention resulting in a biden-hillary ticket, knowing biden won't last more than a few months in office before taken out by a stroke.

 

 

 

[zydeco]

Biden swept all the Republican states. Sanders won the Democratic strongholds.

[zydeco]

42 minutes ago, sirineou said:

All the botox , formalgahide and cool sunglasses , can't hide the ravages that time  has inflicted on Biden, if he wins the nomination trump will have a good time with him. 

Biden can't even keep his false teeth in his mouth during debates. He's a disaster. That's why I believe he will bail out before all is said and done. He will simply keep embarrassing himself into oblivion. Someone will come out the convention, but it won't be Joe.

[Jingthing]

58 minutes ago, Brigand said:

Doesn't look good really with Crazy Bernie thinking the US is going to elect a proper socialist (never happen) and Senile Joe who barely knows where he is or what he's doing and mixing up people/days/facts and lords knows what else ...looking a little embarrassing and both are like 78-79. Bernie won't be able to convince the swing voters that he's it and Biden is tarnished on numerous fronts plus, if he made it, may not last long before he needs a mental home ...the smart Democratic politician should be looking to be Biden's vice president as he/she might end up president by default after a year if Senile Joe wins. To be honest, considering the amount of vitriol from the Dems for Trump ...is this the best they can come up with? Pretty <deleted>-poor if you ask me.

He'll do fine. 

Thank you very much. 

I agree his VP pick is important. 

It will say alot. 

Warren if she chooses to stick around has a potential convention erer pplay as a compromise candidate. 

I think Warren would work as a second choice for the vast majority of democrats. 

To be fair isn't over yet for Bernie either but it will be a harder path. 

[Lacessit]

Just wondering how a Biden-Sanders ticket would do.

[Jingthing]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Just wondering how a Biden-Sanders ticket would do.

Impossible. Neither one would want that. 

[Tug]

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

How do you vote for a guy who doesn't know where he is most of the time, makes up 

weird facts, thinks his wife is his sister, confuses Thursday with Tuesday, sniffs young kids and sees nothing wrong with his son accepting huge sums of money from a financially beholden foreign power?

Ahh have you listened to trump lately?weird facts oh wait trump just lies rember when trump thought his dad immigrated from Germany?hey has joe grabbed the lady’s by the private’s or been accused of rape lately naaa good for joe keep it up we can’t afford Bernie your experience and your soon to be assembled TEAM will be just what is needed to get the ship of state back on course.and imo older people aren’t as good at spure of the moment one liners joes experience and talent will show through much better whin things slow down a bit as President and you have a few minutes to think before you respond

[Somewhere In Time]

Befuddled old yes-man Joey and the grumpy old Socialist Bernie.

 

The Democrat Clown Show rolls on...

 

Comically entertaining, indeed.

 

SIT 

[Cryingdick]

The irony of the people here given what the average age is to make fun of and belittle anybody for being old and off their game. 

[Tug]

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

He's going to destroy him in the debates....biden cant walk up to trump and poke him in the chest

and challenge him to a fight....trump would savage him.

 

This will be like watching Ali box against a punching bag.

Ha ha when in doubt straight back to elementary school sand box trump is an obease old man dude but I do agree trump needs a good beat down that’s the crux of his problem he’s been sheltered by wealth and never had to pay the price of his mistakes others have.

[mfd101]

3 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

The irony of the people here given what the average age is to make fun of and belittle anybody for being old and off their game. 

Except that the geriatrics on this site aren't running for POTUS.

 

 

[Cryingdick]

1 minute ago, mfd101 said:

Except that the geriatrics on this site aren't running for POTUS.

 

 

Still amusing how little respect they have for the elderly. 

[tomazbodner]

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

Even Bernie realizes the DNC is out to screw him.  He has zero chance of getting the nomination, even after winning California!

What happens if he runs as an independent? Does he have to have Democratic party endorsement?

[JustAnotherHun]

As a European and not knowing much about US politics I ask myself if the Donald on the one and Biden on the other side really are the best, the US have to offer.

To me it seems as Biden was a bit mentally disabled. Sometimes not knowing, where is is, confounding his wife with his sister, believing he made climate agreements with Deng Xiauping and pretending he was imprisoned when he wanted to meet Nelson Mandela.

Edited March 4, 2020 by JustAnotherHun

[Chomper Higgot]

A whole bunch of disgraceful agist comments and baseless accusations of mental health problems.

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Chomper Higgot

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

The irony of the people here given what the average age is to make fun of and belittle anybody for being old and off their game. 

We don’t often agree CD but on this I agree with you entirely.

 

 

[JustAnotherHun]

5 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

A whole bunch of disgraceful agist comments and baseless accusations of mental health problems.

 

So he did not pretend he had climate talks with Deng and that he was imprisoned in South Africa? Fake news? 

[Cryingdick]

Bloomberg is out. For all the BS he talked about being so accomplished, he failed miserably at his debates, couldn't even buy the office and will never be president. Maybe richer than Trump but not the most powerful man on the planet. It must irk him power is better than money after all.

 

What an egotistical schmuck.