rallying cry. “People are freaked out”
by Sanders, says Colin Strother, a Texas
Democratic strategist who argued that
if Sanders is at the top of the ticket,
he has concerns about down-ballot
candidates. “We think we’re going to
get creamed.” Strother is a political
adviser to Representative Henry Cuellar,
a moderate Democrat who beat back
a liberal primary challenger— another
proof point in the case against the
far left.even Biden’S Senior aides were sur-
prised by the rout. “Was this not exactly
what I told you was going to happen?” a
senior Biden campaign official joked as
his victory came into view. But Biden’s
romp came not from voters’ long-
standing preferences but from a last-
minute stampede. Nearly as stunning as
the speed of Biden’s turnaround was the
fact that it didn’t seem to be because of
anything the candidate himself did. In-
stead, the party came to him.Biden had made some changes to
his campaign after his fourth-place
showing in Iowa on Feb. 3, only to fare
even worse in the next contest, finish-
ing fifth in the Feb. 11 New Hampshire
primary. He was second in the Feb. 22
Nevada caucuses but with just 20% of
the vote. His debate performances were
uneven, and his campaign so low on
money he couldn’t afford to place major
advertising buys, build a ground game
or even poll the Super Tuesday states.
But he benefited from events outside
his control. Bloomberg’s dismal debate
performances discouraged moderates
still looking for a deus ex machina. And
Sanders’ early successes alarmed rank-
and-file Democrats looking for a centrist
nominee in November.
All the while, Biden kept insist-
ing that the largely African- American
Democratic electorate of South Carolina
would stick with him. And in the end it
did, thanks in part to a crucial endorse-
ment from the influential South Caro-
lina Representative Jim Clyburn. Biden’s
landslide there changed the race. He
claimed to have raised $15 million in
three days and was endorsed by a parade
of Democratic Party elders and elected
officials as well as Buttigieg and Klobu-
char. When Minnesota broke Biden’s
way, headquarters erupted into chants
of “Amy!”
Several Biden fundraisers told TIME
that after South Carolina, donors who
had contributed the maximum $2,
to his rivals swiftly re-opened their wal-
lets. “There’s been an outpouring of
people” wanting to donate, says Alan
Patricof, a top Biden fundraiser and New
York City venture capitalist. “It’s a much
more positive atmosphere.”
Exit polls indicated that Biden’s
strongest voter demographics, African
Americans and older Democrats, pro-
vided the base for his March 3 victories,
bolstered by a late- breaking wave of ed-
ucated suburban moderates. An unusu-
ally high proportion of the electorate,
more than 40%, told pollsters they chose
a candidate in the final few days, an in-
dication of the uncertainty and concern
as Democrats grapple with the central
question of how best to take on Presi-
dent Trump in November.
Sanders worked hard to expand the
passionate movement he began to buildin 2016, by focusing on reaching out
to minority, working class and young
voters while arguing that he is the most
electable candidate. But turnout to date
has not shown that he can vastly expand
the electorate, and voters in most of the
March 3 states appeared unconvinced.
Exit polls showed voters prioritizing a
candidate they thought could win in No-
vember over one who agreed with their
views by a 2-to-1 ratio. It was Biden, not
Sanders, who could claim to be driving
up turnout in places like Virginia, where
nearly twice as many people voted as
did in 2016 and the former Vice Presi-
dent topped the Vermont Senator by 30
points.
Sanders, for his part, remains un-
bowed. “I think we go forward basically
neck and neck,” Sanders told reporters
at a press conference in Burlington on
March 4. “What this campaign, I think,
is increasingly about is, which side are
you on?” He contrasted his record and
Biden’s, pointing to their divergent posi-
tions on the Iraq War, “disastrous trade
agreements” and consumer protection.
He attacked Biden for his position on
Social Security and released a new ad
tying himself to former President Barack
Obama—a U-turn for a candidate who
has assailed the party Obama led and
reportedly considered primarying the
President in 2012.
Sanders’ strong base and delegate
total still give him a shot to win the
nomination. His grassroots fund raising
remains unparalleled: the campaign
raked in $46.5 million in February
from more than 2.2 million donations.
Backers argue he will benefit from a
one-on-one contrast with Biden. But
Biden’s wins on Super Tuesday marked
a dramatic shift in momentum. “The
entire month of February was a perfect
storm for Bernie Sanders,” says Addisu
Demissie, an uncommitted California-
based strategist who managed the
campaign of Senator Cory Booker.
“And then the first three days of March
were a perfect storm for Joe Biden and
may have reversed all of that. It’s hard
to believe how much has changed.”
—With reporting by alana abramsOn
and PhiliP elliOTT/ WashingTOn,
CharlOTTe alTer/lOs angeles,
KaTy sTeinmeTz/ OaKland and
lissandra villa/ hOusTOn □BUTTIGIEG26KLOBUCHAR7PATRICK SEMANSKY—AP (6); BIDEN: TAMIR KALIFA—THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUXAR
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SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESSDROPPEDOUT13