After Super Tuesday, Joe Biden, who finished ahead of Bernie Sanders, got back into the running for the Democratic nomination. The former vice president won nine states: Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The Vermont senator is content with four states: California, Colorado, Utah and Vermont. The results are still too tight in Maine to designate a winner.
Behind these two candidates, billionaire Michael Bloomberg has not passed the 15% mark (which entitles delegates) in several states despite the millions of dollars invested. Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren also had a difficult evening, finishing third in her own state.
Corine Lesnes, correspondent for World in San Francisco answered questions from Internet users on the new issues after this important election day.
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veergeel: Are Super Tuesday results as expected?
Corine Lesnes: Not at all. It’s even a pretty miraculous resurrection for Joe Biden. In the remaining states, each of the candidates will find their account. But some of the "big" states, the biggest providers of delegates, are traditionally centrist, therefore rather pro-Biden. That said, the voters decide at the last moment. And there are uncontrollable factors, like the coronavirus. What will be the impact on the campaign? Will the candidates hold meetings? The Los Angeles Times recalled, a short time ago, that in 1918, rallies had been banned because of the Spanish flu. The voters had gone to vote with masks!
Star: how can Bernie Sanders go back?
More than a third of the delegates are distributed based on Super Tuesday results (1,512 out of 3,979). However, it takes at least 1,991 to win the nomination for the Democratic convention to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in mid-July. According to estimates from New york times (we are still at the estimation stage: the final result for California could take several days), Joe Biden leads with 660 delegates, ahead of Bernie Sanders, who totals 587 delegates. We are therefore far from the mark. It is likely that Joe Biden wins Florida, Mississippi and Bernie Sanders, Washington State, Wisconsin, Indiana, as in 2016. There remains Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York… To be continued also Arizona , which was won by Hillary Clinton, but whose demographics have changed.
Samuel: why is the vote of African-Americans so favorable to Joe Biden?
It’s an interesting question. Especially if we look back to the start of the campaign, when Kamala Harris and the other candidates attacked Joe Biden on his position on the busing for example (he objected to the transfer of black children to white schools in the 1970s). Joe Biden was accused of racism and was "saved" by the black electorate in South Carolina. The first state to secede in 1860, the one that still had a Confederate flag at the foot of the Capitol, and which saw the birth of the Tea Party under the Obama presidency…
But there is a generation gap. The young blacks did not vote Biden. They see him as the author of the 1994 Crime Bill, which resulted in the over-imprisonment of African Americans on drug charges. For the older ones, I would say that there is a kind of complicity, the feeling of having crossed a part of the history of the United States together, the march of civil rights … The elders understand the evolution of men like Joe Biden. The generation "Woke" – aware of the themes of social and racial justice – does not have the same indulgence. More directly: Joe Biden was the faithful companion of Barack Obama. Did the former president send a discreet message?
Finally, African-American voters are said to be pragmatic. They want someone who can win against Donald Trump. Perhaps they are not convinced that Bernie Sanders is in the best position.
Jean-Charles: Barack Obama has not officially supported Joe Biden. Is this normal?
Yes. At this stage, the party figures remain in reserve: Nancy Pelosi – the president of the House of Representatives -, for example, did not speak. Neither Bill Clinton nor Hillary Clinton… A fortiori "Barack" (as Joe Biden says). His name is constantly invoked by his former vice-president (and by Donald Trump). The less it appears, the more it is in the debate. It is true that we are re-examining his record, too, in favor of the Biden candidacy. Above all, he wants to reserve a position of conciliator if the fight between Democrats goes to the convention.
Gabin. Bertrand: if Joe Biden wins the primaries, what names circulate to become a running mate on the Democratic ticket for the White House?
Have you seen the stampede, on the eve of Super Tuesday, to call Biden to vote? Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and even Beto O’Rourke (whose former campaign team, rather favorable to Bernie Sanders, has broken away)! Some believe this is a way to run for the vice presidency. Joe Biden may indeed have an interest in choosing someone much younger. A woman, surely: Amy Klobuchar has shown her solidity. Or why not Kamala Harris, the senator of Indian origin (by her mother) and Jamaican (by her father)? Joe Biden showed up in Oakland on Tuesday. This is the city of Kamala Harris. He probably hoped she would support him, but she had to do in Washington. Many factors come into play when choosing the vice-president: geographic or community support (Latinos, Blacks, etc.).
Arnonym: in case of abandonment, Elizabeth Warren will she call to support Bernie Sanders, as their strategies are close on the merits?
You can imagine. Still it would have to give up, because it sees itself as a recourse, in the event of impasse with the convention. I don't know if their strategies are close, but their programs are in any case, even if she doesn't talk about "Revolution". Elizabeth Warren made it clear what she was "More qualified" than Bernie Sanders to pass such a program, but she never attacked him like she attacked Michael Bloomberg for example. They said they were friends and would not fall into the trap of those who wanted to oppose them. Until the day Bernie Sanders denied (in the middle of a debate) telling him that a woman had no chance of winning the presidency. After which she refused to shake his hand …
Some would see it on Sanders' "ticket". But it is not easy to imagine, together, two strong heads with such clear-cut opinions. At the same time, Bernie Sanders is so apart, in the political landscape, that it is not clear which running mate he could choose …
Pierre BS: how do you explain the very low enthusiasm for Elizabeth Warren?
I can't explain it. She had her "moment" last year, she made the cover of Time, she had found her style "I have a plan for that" : a swing that gets things done. She had found a very educational way to present her wealth tax proposal: "2 cents". It is a wealth tax with a rate of 2% on each dollar beyond a fortune of 50 million dollars. In the meetings, she made the crowd repeat: "Two cents! Two cents! "
And then the craze subsided. She has changed. She decided to accept money from the Super PACs (funding committees) which she had not wanted until then. In the debates, she began to attack her opponents without restraint. Including Michael Bloomberg about his contemptuous comments on women, which suited Bernie Sanders well but did not particularly benefit him. Super Tuesday is a real slap in the face for her. She doesn't even win in her state of Massachusetts.
