The Democratic nomination race is entering a decisive phase with Super Tuesday ("super Tuesday"), in which fourteen states will vote on March 3. The milestone comes three days after the South Carolina primary on February 29, which was marked by an unexpected rebound from ex-favorite Joe Biden. Heckled at the beginning of February in Iowa, then New Hampshire, the former vice-president erased a catastrophic start to the campaign by leaving the leader who currently leads the race in number by nearly 30 points , independent senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders.
Joe Biden's overwhelming victory, marked by a mobilization as strong as during the ruthless duel of 2008 between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, produced chain effects. It prompted the immediate retirement of billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer on Saturday, and especially the day after the revelation of the nomination contest, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, the following day.
This abandonment was inevitable. The resurgence of the former vice-president, who defends like him more moderate positions than those of Bernie Sanders, and who pleads for a vast rally passing through the center and the Republicans reluctant to Donald Trump, deprived the youngest of the race from any space and any perspective. After two remarkable performances in Iowa and New Hampshire, and solid performances during the debates, the first openly gay candidate in a presidential nomination race had nothing to gain from accumulating setbacks.
Biden's structural weaknesses
This ongoing clarification at the center is expected to continue Tuesday evening after the Minnesota vote. Senator Amy Klobuchar, regularly outdistanced since the start of the votes, will have little reason to remain after proclaiming the results of her state of election, which she symbolically hopes to win.
The magnitude of Joe Biden's South Carolina victory therefore partly reconfigured the nomination contest, but only partially. The structural weaknesses of the former vice president’s campaign remain, starting with a maligned organization and a weak capacity to raise campaign funds.
These reduced finances have limited spending in recent days, focused on the vital goal of South Carolina. There, in fact, spent 1 million dollars (900,000 euros) against only 600,000 dollars during the same period for the fourteen states of March 3, far from the 15 million by Bernie Sanders, and very far from the 160 million spent by billionaire Michael Bloomberg a week before the fateful day. The latter is the only one to self-finance its campaign.
