Former Vice-President Joe Biden stormed into the Super Tuesday voting in 14 states with key endorsements from current and past rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination in a coalescing of moderates in the party ranged against Senator Bernie Sanders, the front runner and leader of the progressives.
Biden picked up three endorsements Monday, from former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the breakout star of the race who dropped out on Sunday; Senator Amy Klobuchar, who quit Monday; and former congressman Beto O’Rourke, who withdrew weeks ago. All three are moderate Democrats, same as Biden.
“When I ran for president we made it clear that the whole idea was about rallying the country together to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for the values that we share,” Buttigieg said, with Biden standing behind him at a campaign stop. “And that was always a goal that was much bigger than me becoming president and it is in the name of that very same goal that I am delighted to endorse and support Joe Biden for President.”
These endorsements on the eve of the Super Tuesday nominating contests are being seen as a major boost for the former vice-president, who is hoping to build on the momentum his campaign got from the massive victory in the South Carolina primaries, that some are calling “Joementum” (collapsing Joe and momentum).
{{/usCountry}}These endorsements on the eve of the Super Tuesday nominating contests are being seen as a major boost for the former vice-president, who is hoping to build on the momentum his campaign got from the massive victory in the South Carolina primaries, that some are calling “Joementum” (collapsing Joe and momentum).
{{/usCountry}}It’s became a two-man race between Biden and Sanders, even though Senator Elizabeth Warren, billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard are still around. The Tuesday contests are the first time Bloomberg is on the ballot in these primaries, and will be closely watched.
Millions of voters will be participating in the Super Tuesday contests in 14 states — which include California, New York, Alabama, Illinois and Massachusetts — and American Samoa, a US territory. At stake are 34% of the 3,979 pledged delegates who will elect the nominee in the event of a contested presidential convention to be held in July. A candidate needs 1,991 of them to win the nomination, in the first round. The contests goes into the second round if no one gets that number, and then 771 more delegates join the voting.
Sanders is leading in delegate count with 60, and Biden is behind him with 56. The Super Tuesday contests could potentially turn the race and propel the former vice-president to the top of the race, if he does well.