Thursday5 March 2020 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 3
Mr Biden’s victories also showed the
power of name recognition, analysts
said,because he had not campaigned in
most of the Super Tuesday states, with
his campaign low on cash.
Mr Biden still faces a tough fight.
Because the final count from California
can take days to calculate, it is nclearu
how big a lead he has managed to secure
over Mr Sanders in the battle for the del-
egates needed to win the nomination at
the party convention in July.
Mr Biden, who served two terms as
vice-president to Barack Obama, will be
brimming with confidence as the con-
tenders move on to the next face off next
Tuesday when Idaho, Missouri, Michi-
gan, Mississippi, North Dakota and
Washington hold primaries.
But Robert Gibbs, former White
House press secretary under President
Obama, cautioned that the race “was
not over”, comparing it to a baseball
game that had just finished the fourth of
nine innings.
He stressed that Mr Biden would still
have to show people that the earlier
problems, when stumbling perform-
ances undermined confidence in his
campaign, were behind him.
“He has got to be a good candidate for
more than one week in this race,” Mr
Gibbs told MSNBC.
Editorial Comment age 8p
Janan Ganeshpage 9Clyburn, the South Carolina lawmaker
and top African-American in Congress,
who endorsed Mr Biden three days
before the South Carolina primary.
Almost half the Democrats who voted in
South Carolina, where black voters
comprise 60 per cent of the Democratic
electorate, said Mr Clyburn’s endorse-
ment was a factor in their decision.
James Carville, who was instrumental
in helping Bill Clinton win the White
House in 1992 and who worries about
Mr Sanders becoming the nominee,
saluted Mr Clyburn. “That guy literally
saved the Democratic party,” Mr Car-
ville told MSNBC television.In the end, the former New York City
mayor who spent more than $500m of
his personal fortune on the Super Tues-
day states, did poorly across the board.
Mr Bloomberg failed to meet the 15 per
cent threshold to win delegates in sev-
eral tates, ands secured only one victory
— in American Samoa. He endorsed Mr
Biden yesterday.
Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts
senator who was hoping to resurrect her
campaign, fell badly short. She failed to
win delegates in many states and lost
her home state, which Mr Biden won in
a stunning result.
In addition to California, Mr Sanders
won his home state of Vermont, and also
Utah and Colorado. But he lost Massa-
chusetts where he had topped the polls
and came second in Minnesota, a state
where Mr Biden had been lagging badly
but surged after Minnesota senator Ms
Klobuchar quit the race and endorsed
Mr Biden.
Mr Sanders won a big majority of
young voters across most of the 14
states. But his string of losses in the
Deep South suggested that his
Achilles heel in 2016 —
very low support among
black voters — was
recurring.
His sharp reversal of
fortunes was a domino
effect triggered by JimD E M E T R I S E VA STO P U LO— WA S H I N GTO N
Joe Biden’s sweeping victories in the
Super Tuesday primaries have finally
turned the long-crowded battle for the
Democratic presidential nomination
into a two-horse race, as moderate
Democrats rally behind the former vice-
president against the socialist senator
BernieSanders.
While Mr Sanders won California, the
biggest prize of the 14 states that voted
on the most important day of the Demo-
cratic contest, Mr Biden notched up at
least nine victories and also saw off the
big-money challenge from rival moder-
ate Michael Bloomberg, who quit the
race yesterday.
This came on the heels of his crushing
win in South Carolina onSaturday, as
African-American voters once again
propelled the 77-year-old to victory.
The night set up a contest that echoes
Mr Sanders’ ultimately losing battle
with Hillary Clinton in 2016, pitting the
self-declared democratic socialist
against a favourite of the party estab-
lishment in the fight for the right to take
on Donald Trump in November’s presi-
dential election.
Speaking in Los Angeles, aeuphoric
Mr Biden old supporters that the racet
“may be over for the other guy”. He hit
out at Mr Sanders who wants an eco-
nomic revolution to narrow the wealth
gap between most Americans and the
richest “1 per cent”, and he hijacked the
senator’s description of his campaign as
a “movement”.
“People are talking about a revolu-
tion. We started a movement,” said Mr
Biden, who argues that Mr Sanders is
pitching unrealistic policies that cannot
be passed by Congress, while most Dem-
ocrats just want to oust Donald Trump.
Addressing fans in Vermont, Mr
Sanders put a brave face on a disap-
pointing night, and stressed his argu-
ment that the Democrats needed a new
paradigm o beat Mr Trump in Novem-t
ber. “You cannot beat Trump with the
same old, same old kind of politics,” Mr
Sanders declared.
The winnowing of the field, which
accelerated in the wake of South Caro-
lina when moderates Pete Buttigieg and
Amy Klobucharquit the contest, makes
the race between two candidates who
have very clear policy differences.
Mr Sanders will attack Mr Biden for
voting for the 2003 Iraq war, his previ-
ous comments about cutting social
security and his willingness to accept
campaign donations from billionaires.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden will hit Mr Sand-
ers for pushing a range of policies, such
as government-backed health insur-
ance, thatwill be difficult to pass.
In the days before Super
Tuesday, it was unclear
whether Mr Biden could
capitalise on his South
Carolina win and over-
takeMr Sanders, given
stiff competition from
MrBloomberg.
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
PAT T I WA L D M E I R— R O C H E S T E R ,
M I N N E S OTA
L AU R E N F E D O R— C H A R LOT T E ,
N O RT H C A R O L I N AJoe Biden’s surprise Super Tuesday vic-
tory in Minnesota may bode well for
the former vice-president’s chances of
winning over voters in some of the
remaining Democratic primary con-
tests in other predominantly white
Midwesternstates.
Mr Biden’sMinnesota win as a particu-w
larly dramatic reversal given that rival
Bernie Sanders won the state over-
whelmingly in 2016, beating Hillary
Clinton by 62 per cent to 38 per cent.
Just a week ago, Mr Biden was running
fourth in Minnesota, polling in the sin-
gle digits. But he came from behind on
Tuesday to claim 38.6 per cent of the
vote to Mr Sanders’ 29.9 per cent, win-
ning 38 delegates to Mr Sanders’ 26.
Analysts see parallels with the next
big Midwest presidential primary in
Michigan on Tuesday. Democrats will
also head to the polls next week in
Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri and Wash-
ington.
“Michigan was a huge victory for
Bernie Sanders in 2016 and bolstered
his argument that he could win rural
and working-class white voters in the
Midwest,” said Susan Demas, a former
Democratic campaign consultant and
editor of Michigan Advance, a political
publication. “Given Joe Biden’s shocking
win in Minnesota last night and new
polling in Michigan, however, it looks
like the former vice-president is cur-
rently well-positioned in our primary
next week.
A Biden victory in Michigan would“
likely be a powerful signal to Democrats
who may still have doubts about him.
Michigan likely won’t be the definitive
state in the delegate race but it does play
an outsized psychological role, since
Trump managed to flip it four years ago
with just a 10,704-vote margin.”
Mr Sanders announcedyesterday
that his campaign was adding rallies in
two Michigan cities — Detroit and Grand
Rapids — to its schedule ahead of next
week’s primary.
A new Detroit Newspollon Tuesday
gave Mr Biden a 7 per cent lead over Mr
Sanders in Michigan. The poll was con-
ducted in the week before Super Tues-
day, including the period when Mr
Biden was surging after a big victory in
South Carolina.Yesterday Mr Biden was
endorsed by former Michigan governor
Jennifer Granholm.
In a victory speech, Mr Bidencredited
Minnesota senator my Klobuchar forA
his victory in her home state,where the
population of 5.6m is 84 per cent white.
Ms Klobuchar ended her own Demo-
cratic presidential campaign a day
before the vote and endorsed Mr Biden
instead. “I think Amy’s endorsement
did have an impact, but the main theme
in Minnesota was electability,” said
Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for
the Study of Politics and Governance at
the University of Minnesota.M I C H A E L STOT T
L AT I N A M E R I C A E D I TO R
Latin America has been told to tackle
the world’s worstinequality, improve
public services and enlist private sector
help to create a fairer society or riskfall-
ing further behind rival economies.
Luis Alberto Moreno, outgoing presi-
dent of the Inter-American Develop-
ment Bank, said the street protests that
swept the region in 2019 after years of
economic stagnation pointed to the
need for fundamental change.
“Before, there were presidents who
said ‘this is what I’m going to do’, and
everyone kind of obeyed,” saidthe head
of the evelopment bank. “Today, huged
societal change[means people are tell-
ing leaders], ‘wait a minute, this is what
I demand of you... ot just better pub-n
lic services but, more importantly, bet-
ter opportunities’.”
Riots erupted in Octoberin Chile,
seen as the region’s big economic suc-
cess story, with demands for better edu-
cation,pensions nd healthcare. Violenta
protests also hit Ecuador and Bolivia,
the parliament was dissolved in Peru
and mass demonstrations were held in
Mr Moreno’s native Colombia.
Mr Moreno, who is preparing to step
downafterthree, five-year terms, said
Latin America had done muchto lift
60m people out of poverty and improve
the provision of basic services such as
sanitation, electricity and water. But big
questions remained about the quality of
services and access to good education.
“Levelling in all of these things, I
think, is the biggest issue of our time in
Latin America andis still the discussion
that we have yet to see. It’s a new awak-
ening to a reality that is very real and it’s
in the street,” he said.
The“role of business is one in which
they have to be more a part of the solu-
tion than just sitting on the sidelines”.
Growth in Latin America has beenthe
world’s worstsince the end of the com-
modities boom, averaging just 0.8 per
cent a year since 2014. Economists pre-
dict this year will be hardly any better,
even before the coronavirus outbreak’s
damping effect on global growth.
Few of the region’s economies have
developingexport industries that go
beyond thesale of raw materials. As a
result,South Korea, Malaysia and Tai-
wan and others have leapfroggedLatin
America over the past 40 years.
Mr Moreno lamented that many of
the policies he called for a decade ago,
such as better education, public serv-
ices, infrastructure and cleaner energy,
had not been put in place.
“Somehow in Latin America, we have
a hard time managing the good timesand we forgot about our central chal-
lenges,” he said.
The picture is not all gloomy. Brazil
passed a reform of its unaffordable state
pension system last year. Uruguay has
developed an advanced digital econ-
omy, in part thanks to a 2007 initiative
that delivered a laptop to every school-
child, and Costa Rica boasts a thriving
business process outsourcing economy.
TheIADB ends the region more thanl
$12bn a year, and Mr Moreno pointed to
a $120m project to improve neonatal
and reproductive health in southern
Mexico as an example of what could be
achieved by combining private sector
philanthropy, bank expertise and a sys-
tem that pays according tooutcomes.
In the private sector, the digital econ-
omy is starting to take shape, particu-
larly in Brazil, where São Paulo boasts athriving fintech sector and an increasing
venture capital presence. But these
remain isolated examples. Mr Moreno
cited improved productivity, more
redistributive fiscal policy, better edu-
cation and embracing the digital revolu-
tion as some of the main challenges.
New tests included Venezuela’s
implosion under the socialist regime of
Nicolás Maduro and the exodus to
neighbouring countries, which was a
“huge threat”, he said. “The capacity to
destabilise the rest of the region is real.”
Mr Moreno was diplomatic about
Argentina, where the Peronists are try-
ing topull the economy ut of recession,o
bring down inflation of more than
50 per cent and renegotiate $100bn of
foreign debt. “I think everybody looks at
Argentina as a special case,” he said.
A successor to Mr Moreno will be cho-
sen this year. Candidates are said to
include Marcos Troyjo,Brazil’s deputy
economy minister, Richard Martínez,
Ecuador’s finance minister, Laura Chin-
chilla, Costa Rica’s former president,
and Gustavo Béliz, an Argentine presi-
dential official. The vote of the US, the
IADB’s main shareholder with a 30 per
cent stake, will be crucial.
Mr Moreno says his successor will
have to grapple with rapid change and
pressing challenges ranging fromcli-
mate change o the digital revolution,t
crime, fiscal issues and communication.
“How can the bank be a partner in
helping deliver all of this?” he asked.Biden sets up face-off with Sanders
after comeback on Super Tuesday
Resurgence of former vice-president paves way for battle with self-declared democratic socialist
Dramatic reversal
Unexpected
Minnesota
victory signals
strength in
white Midwest
evelopment Bank.D utgoing presidentO
Latin America warned on inequality and services
A N D R E S S C H I PA N I— B R A S I L I A
B RYA N H A R R I S— S AO PAU LOBrazil’s economy expanded just 1.1 per
cent last year, dashing hopes of a quick
economic revival underPresident Jair
Bolsonaro.The official data eleasedr yesterday
come amid growing fears about the
coronavirus’s impact on Latin America’s
largest economy. Economists this week
cut growth estimates for 2020 to 2.1 per
cent from 2.3 per cent just a month ago
as concerns grew that thevirus would
hit the nation’s crucial export sector.
“This shock occurs at a time when the
Brazilian economy is still fragile,” said
Zeina Latif, an economist. Many hoped
Mr Bolsonaro’sinauguration early last
yearon apro-market platformwould
revive the fortunes of Brazil’s flagging
economy, which has struggled to grow
since a recession that ended in 2017.
But progress has been slow, with
growth buffeted by the trade war
between the US and China, economic
turmoil in neighbouring Argentina and
growing concern among investors and
businesses about Mr Bolsonaro’s con-
frontational governing style.
“In a stressful environment, people
are more cautious and companies are
also more cautious when invest-
ing,” said Thiago Xavier, an analyst with
Tendencias, a consultancy.“There are several sources of uncer-
tainty. One of them is the tense relation-
ship between the executive and the leg-
islative branches.” According to official
data, the economy grew 0.5 per cent in
the final quarter of last year, down from
0.6 per cent in the third quarter.Fourth-
quartergrowth in 2018 was 1.7 per cent.
Now concern is shifting to how the
spread of the coronavirus willhave an
impact on growth this year. Brazil has
two confirmed cases, with another 400
suspected.
“Our expectation at the end of 2019
was that real GDP, following three years
of very modest growth, would acceler-
ate above the 2 per cent threshold in
2020,” said Alberto Ramos, an econo-
mist at Goldman Sachs.
“[However], the ongoing coronavirus
outbreak is generating increasing head-
winds to activity in Brazil. First and
foremost Brazil remains quite exposed
to lower commodity prices,” said Mr
Ramos, adding he had cutgrowth
forecasts to 1.5 per cent for the year.
The developments pose challenges
not only for Mr Bolsonaro but also for
Paulo Guedes, the economy minister,
who has been charged by his boss with
delivering growth of at least 2 per cent
this year, according to government
insiders. Mr Guedes is betting on a mix
of fiscal rectitude and economic
reforms to boost the economy.Bolsonaro blow
Brazil growth slows as fears
mount about impact of virus
Bad news:
Bernie Sanders
watches a screen
in Vermont
showing
elections results
which reflected
a good day for
Joe Biden, his
rival. Michael
Bloomberg,
below, dropped
out of the race
and endorsed
Mr Biden
Jonathan Ernst/ReutersPrimaries standings
Number of pledged delegates by candidate
( needed to win on first ballot)Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders
Elizabeth Warren
Michael Bloomberg*
Pete Buttigieg*
Amy Klobuchar*
Tulsi Gabbard*Candidate withdrew during the primaries
With of pledged delegates awarded from seven states or territories
Source: AP As at EST Moreno issues alert after
economies in south Asia
leapfrog his own region
Demonstrators in Concepción, Chile,
protest over living costs this week‘Biden has
got to be agood
candidatefor more
than oneweek in this
race’Robert GibbsMARCH 5 2020 Section:World Time: 3/20204/ - 18:44 User:andy.puttnam Page Name:WORLD2 USA, Part,Page,Edition:USA , 3, 1