Washington - Former vice president Joe Biden made a Super
Tuesday sweep across the south, winning contests in eight states and
setting up a two-way race between him and left-wing Senator Bernie
Sanders for the Democratic party's presidential nomination.
The 77-year-old Biden was buoyed by strong support among older voters
and African-Americans - two key Democratic constituencies - who
carried him to wins in Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
Tennessee and Virginia in the south.
He also snagged wins in Massachusetts on the east coast and northern
Minnesota.
The boost for Biden, who was on the verge of being written off in the
last few weeks, is a blow for Sanders, 78, who is projected to win
Vermont, Utah and Colorado during Super Tuesday, when a third of all
delegates in the primary race are on the table.
Sanders and Biden were virtually tied in Texas, the state with the
second largest share of delegates, in what was being seen as a jolt
for the former vice president, who was predicted to come in a distant
second. Biden may yet pull off a win in the state.
Left-winger Sanders had a lead in preliminary exit surveys coming out
of California, the last state to see its polling stations close, in
part thanks to his support among Latino communities, who make up a
sizeable chunk of the electorate out west.
California is the single most important race, with 415 delegates up
for grabs out of 1,357 across the country on this one day alone.
Biden was leading in the overall delegate count on Super Tuesday,
though both he and Sanders secured more than 200 delegates with
tallying ongoing.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a primary election night campaign rally in Los Angeles. Picture: Chris Carlson/AP
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars
on campaign ads, largely underperformed, failing to reach victory in
a single state and securing a win only in American Samoa, an outlying
territory.
Bloomberg sought to take on Biden as the moderate front-runner who
was able to spend his own money to defeat Trump. However, Biden's
success defied allegations he was unelectable and that his frequent
gaffes were a liability for the party.
Reports by major US broadcasters said Bloomberg's team was going to
reassess its next steps on Wednesday.
Also suffering heavy blows was Elizabeth Warren, the progressive
senator, who came in third in her home state Massachusetts. However,
she has shown no signs of bowing out, despite pressure from some
Sanders supporters to open up space in the left-wing lane by dropping
her bid.
Candidates need to surpass 1,991 delegates to win the nomination by
the party's convention in July.
Biden will need to continue to build momentum in the remaining races
and soundly defeat Sanders in key states to ensure he has a clear
victory, otherwise there may be a brokered convention, which will be
contentious.
The results indicate Sanders failed to build the coalition he needed
to win, even as he secured clear margins of victory among younger
voters off all ethnic backgrounds in most areas taking part in Super
Tuesday.
Biden and Sanders are increasingly attacking each other, with the
former vice president saying his rival is pitching an unrealistic
political revolution.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a primary night election rally in Essex Junction, Vermont. PictureMatt Rourke/AP
Sanders goes after Biden's vote for the war in Iraq in 2003, his
reliance on money from special interest and billionaires and support
for cutting social programmes.
Both candidates contend that they are best positioned to defeat Trump
in November, a major concern for Democratic partisan.
"I'm here to report, we are very much alive. And make no mistake this
campaign will send Donald Trump packing," Biden said at a rally in
Los Angeles, sounding upbeat. "Things are looking awful, awful good,"
Biden said.
In Vermont, Sanders pressed on, touting his progressive campaign of
implementing a government-run health care system, criminal justice
reform and a broad climate change initiative.
"You cannot defeat Trump with the same old, same old kind of
politics," Sanders told supporters in Vermont, his home state. "We
are going to defeat Trump because we are putting together an
unprecedented grass-roots multi-generational multi-racial movement."
In multiple states the most important issue for voters was health
care, according to exit polls conducted by CNN, and large percentages
of voters did not make up their minds until days before the
elections.
Biden's campaign has renewed energy in recent days after a win
in South Carolina and endorsements from centrist and moderate
candidates who have dropped out of the once-crowded field, in an
apparent bid to consolidate around a politician who can beat Sanders.
Biden says the country does not lean towards the left-wing ideas
Sanders proposes and prefers a moderate who can beat Trump. Biden is
relying heavily on his experience as former president Barack Obama's
deputy, his support among some unions and his work for stricter gun
laws.
Trump, who is running virtually unopposed in the Republican Party
nomination contest, won all his races.
He pledged to hold debates with whoever emerged as the winner in the
Democratic race, adding he would do so "very gladly," voicing
confidence he would get a second term in the White House.