A4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020
election 2020
praisals of his campaign’s efforts,
admitting that he has failed to
convince Democrats he is more
electable than Biden but arguing
that he has won the battle of
ideas and the support of young
people.
In the starkest terms yet, he
warned Democrats on monday
night not to overlook the youth
vote. “It really does stun me to
what degree the Democratic es-
tablishment continues to ignore
the needs and the i deas of young-
er people,” Sanders said during
his digital rally.
But the results Tuesday made
clear those strategic recalibra-
tions had not solved his prob-
lems.
Even c lose confidants said
they couldn’t predict what Sand-
ers ultimately would decide
about his candidacy. He and his
wife are expected to reach a
decision together, people in fre-
quent contact with them said.
Some allies have privately
speculated that the coronavirus
crisis might make it more likely
for Sanders to stay in the race. As
a longtime advocate of creating a
medicare-for-all system in which
the government is the sole pro-
vider of health insurance, Sand-
ers has said the pandemic shows
precisely why universal health
care needs to be enacted swiftly.
roseAnn Demoro, a close
Sanders friend and a former
head of an influential nurses
union, said monday that the
volatility across the country is
justification for the senator from
Vermont to stick it out.
“A nything can happen,” she
said in an interview monday.
Demoro expressed disdain for
Biden and his supporters, accus-
ing some of being “out of touch”
and taking “cheap shots.”
Larry Cohen, who heads a
pro-Sanders nonprofit, saw a dif-
ferent benefit to staying in for
the long haul: a slow and steady
accrual of delegates to the na-
tional convention. In Cohen’s
view, this will give the Sanders
movement leverage against the
Biden forces when it comes to
forming key party panels and
shaping the party’s approach to
health care and climate change.
“It’s a big difference between
one-third of the florida dele-
gates versus zero,” Cohen said.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]the delegate differential,” wrote
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy
campaign manager in a memo
issued Tuesday afternoon.
Biden’s team laid out a case
that the primary results would b e
valid, rebutting questions raised
by Sanders’s allies that the p oten-
tial for a depressed turnout be-
cause of the virus might cast
doubt on the validity of the
outcome.
“The American people are re-
silient and strong,” Bedingfield
wrote. “We have maintained our
democracy through war and
pe ace, economic downturn and
prosperity, and in previous mo-
ments of public health crisis. We
held elections during the Civil
War, the 1918 flu pandemic, and
World War II.”
Both campaigns h ave dramati-
cally shifted their strategies as a
result of the pandemic, forgoing
travel and rallies for the past
week in favor of virtual town
halls for Biden and a streaming
“fireside chat” and a “digital
rally” for Sanders.
The Sanders campaign said
Tuesday that its programming
had been viewed more than
5 million times. “our digital
organizing infrastructure is un-
matched, and in this moment of
fear and uncertainty, we are
proud to be able to speak directly
to Americans,” Sanders cam-
pa ign manager faiz Shakir said
in a statement.
Biden’s campaign a lso plans to
hold virtual h igh-dollar f undrais-
ers in which the candidate will
interact online with donors.
Biden’s team is increasingly
focusing on the assumption he
will win the nomination. Biden
himself announced at a Sunday
night debate that he would p ick a
woman to be his vice president.
The campaign plans soon to
detail who will be in charge of
vetting potential running mates.
Sanders’s defeats Tuesday
were a reprise of four years ago,
when Sanders lost the primaries
in Arizona, florida a nd Illinois to
Hillary Clinton. She crushed him
in florida, winning by more than
30 percentage points, and bested
him by nearly 20 percentage
points in Arizona. The margin
was t ightest i n Illinois, where the
two candidates were within two
percentage points.
In this primary, after a string
of devastating losses, Sanders
started offering blunt public ap-Democratic Party Chair To m
Perez urged states to adopt vote-
by-mail, no-excuse absentee vot-
ing and to expand polling place
hours to prevent more delays in
the primary calendar.
“A s our country deals with the
uncertainty of covid-19, it is criti-
cal t hat states provide clarity and
not confusion, which could lead
to disenfranchising voters,” Perez
said in a statement Tuesday af-
ternoon.
A key question for Tuesday
was to what extent voters would
stay home to avoid exposure to
the virus. So far this y ear, turnout
has increased by about 30 per-
cent over 2016 levels.
Initial estimates by Edison on
Tuesday night showed turnout in
florida up about 8 percent from
four years ago, bolstered by a
substantial early vote. In Illinois,
turnout appeared lower than in
2016.
Before polls closed, the Biden
campaign expressed confidence
that the results would all but seal
the nomination for their candi-
date.
“It would t ake a drastic, histor-
ically-incomparable swing for
Sen. Sanders to win more dele-
gates than Biden today or to c losespeak publicly again Tuesday
night, according to a campaign
official.
Sanders and his wife, Jane,
spent the day in Washington,
where the Senate is working on
relief packages to respond to the
virus, according to a campaign
official. Biden met with advisers
and public health experts at his
Delaware home before his tele-
vised address.
Voting in ohio, the fourth
state that was to cast ballots
Tuesday, was delayed at the last
minute by Gov. mike DeWine (r)
as a result of the growing viral
infection, despite a court ruling
that voting should take place.
DeWine said monday night
that he wanted to postpone in-
person voting until June 2 and
extend absentee balloting into
the intervening weeks.
G eorgia, Louisiana, maryland
and Kentucky also have resched-
uled their contests for l ater in t he
year. Under Democratic Party
rules, states have until June 9 to
complete their delegate selection
primaries or caucuses, and party
leaders have the authority to
seek rule changes to accommo-
date states that fail to meet the
deadlines.supporters that “going to the
polls amid the coronavirus out-
break is a personal decision and
we respect whichever choice vot-
ers make.” Biden told voters that
they should vote by mail or from
curbside if possible.
“If you vote in person, please
wash your hands, don’t touch
your face, and stay 6’ from others
in line,” Biden tweeted.
Sanders made no mention of
the elections Tuesday night when
he addressed the nation about
his proposed responses to the
coronavirus pandemic. Shortly
before florida closed the last of
its polling places, Sanders of-
fered a long list of responses to
the viral outbreak that would
cost about $2 trillion, he said,
including a monthly $2,00 0
check for every American house-
hold for the d uration of the crisis.
Signaling an intent to stay
involved in the political conver-
sation, Sanders directed people
to his campaign website and
concluded by saying, “I look
forward to continuing to com-
municate with you to tell you
where we are coming from, what
our ideas are and look forward to
hearing from you.”
Sanders was not expected tomuch as he did after his victories
last week, telling Sanders’s sup-
porters that he shares many of
the senator’s priorities.
“ I hear you. I know what is at
stake. I know what we have to
do,” Biden said.
In the general election swing
state of florida, the biggest prize
of the night, with 219 pledged
delegates, Biden was winning
more than twice as many voters
as Sanders after the vast m ajority
of votes had been counted.
He won every county in the
state, claiming voters at least 45
years old by 6 to 1, according to a
statewide voter poll by Edison
media research. Sanders won
voters younger than 45 by just
over 10 percentage p oints, f ar too
little to overcome Biden’s lead
with older voters.
In Illinois, with 155 delegates
at stake, over 6 in 10 voters said
they trusted Biden more than
Sanders to handle a major crisis,
and nearly 7 in 10 said Biden has
the better chance of defeating
President Trump in November.
Biden’s speech to the nation
provided a striking coda to a
complicated primary day. As he
moved ever closer to becoming
the Democratic nominee, he
stood alone in front of a camera
without a cheering crowd —
symbolizing the example Ameri-
cans have been asked to follow by
isolating themselves from others
in the midst of the novel-corona-
virus outbreak.
“Tackling this pandemic is a
national emergency that is akin
to fighting a war,” Biden said.
“This is the moment for each of
us to see and believe the best in
every one of us.”
Voters braved historic condi-
tions in the three states that cast
ballots a day after Trump re-
quested that Americans stop
co ngregating in groups of more
than 10 people to reduce trans-
mission of the virus, which has
sequestered millions in their
homes, closed businesses across
the country and hammered the
financial markets.
reports of polling place dis-
ruptions — with unopened pre-
cincts, a dearth of cleaning sup-
plies and long lines in some
places — emerged across the
country. Both candidates urged
voters to take extra precautions.
The Sanders campaign told
PrImArIes from A
Trio of primary wins e xtends Biden’s lead
ZACK WITTMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTA volunteer g reets voters in Florida’s primary at a precinct at the Pinellas County Library in st. Petersburg on Tuesday. more than twice as many Floridians voted for Joe Biden as supported Bernie sanders.
YOUNGRAE KIM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
reba shaffer, 5, receives her father’s “I Voted” wristband from volunteer Bruce Voice during v oting in
Illinois on Tuesday. That state, Florida and Arizona held s cheduled primaries, but Ohio did not.