The Democratic Party delegate race heated up Saturday night when Joe Biden scored all the delegates up for grabs that night. Biden’s decisive win in South Carolina shows that the Democratic nominee will be selected by traditional party politics. Much has been made about Bernie Sander’s “revolution” and Pete Buttigieg’s emergence as the unlikely candidate but in the end, South Carolina shows that it will come down to traditional party politics. For better or for worse, Joe Biden is the heir apparent of the party establishment.
And, therein lies the problem, the Democrats need to put forth the candidate that can beat Donald Trump in November.
Bernie Sanders talks about engaging voters through his revolution. But South Carolina demonstrates that Sander’s supporters are the young who traditionally do not vote when it matters. They may seem energetic. They may seem like they will vote. But in the end, Sander’s supporters do not vote in the numbers that are necessary to beat Donald Trump.
Pete Buttigieg is, unfortunately, not electable under the electoral college rules. While the electoral college determines the election results, candidate like Buttigieg is just not electable. It isn’t fair. It isn’t right but it is the rules that govern who is elected.
Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar just do not have the infrastructure for the long run. They also suffer from the electoral college system that silences the will of the majority.
South Carolina also proved that money cannot buy an election. Tom Steyer dropped out on Sunday. Mike Bloomberg still has not received a single delegate. But Bloomberg remains a dark horse who may upset the Democratic Party establishment.
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday when 14 states will be holding their primaries. By the time the dust settles on Tuesday night, there will 1,344 delegates awarded to the candidates. How the delegates are awarded will give us a better picture of who the Democratic Party nominee will likely be.
Herein lies the party establishment versus the upstarts versus the Bloomberg money.
For Bloomberg to be viable he needs to earn a significant number of delegates tomorrow. If not, Bloomberg will likely end his campaign.
But the Biden versus Sanders competition will be the most interesting one to watch. Does Sanders have the mobilization he promises? Will enough Sanders supporters come out and cast a vote for him?
Likewise, does Joe Biden have the ability to mobilize enough voters?
Or, will Buttigieg, Klobuchar, or Warren surprise the pundits and prove they have the traction to be the nominee?
Tomorrow many of these questions will be answered.
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