Supporters of Bernie Sanders may be restless in starting their revolution against the Democratic establishment, but Jim Clyburn just proved they may have to wait a moment.
The South Carolina representative helped save Joe Biden’s campaign, issuing an eleventh-hour endorsement. According to exit polls, 47% of South Carolina Democrats said the endorsement was an important factor in their vote. With a victory margin so wide that newsrooms could call the election within the minute after the polls closed, Biden dominated the Palmetto State at the moment he needed to the most. His campaign, on life support just one week ago, is suddenly viable once more, with Biden’s support among black voters spelling ample potential for success in both a primary and a general election.
And, perhaps most importantly in the long term, it proves that the adults in the room still have a say.
Clyburn didn’t just crucially save Biden with the South Carolina turnout. He reportedly also sat the former front-runner down for a come-to-Jesus moment, encouraging Biden to put up a fight at last Tuesday’s debate. And fight Biden did, not aggressively as he ought to, but enough that voters clearly didn’t count him out.
And already, the benefits have rolled in. After his strong debate showing (and Michael Bloomberg’s two weak debates), Biden’s numbers began to tick back up in crucial Super Tuesday states such as Florida. And a half-hour after Biden finally blew out South Carolina, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe endorsed Biden with a scathing warning that other candidates wanting to save the party from Sanders ought to drop out.
Terry McAuliffe, moments after endorsing Biden, calls on other candidates to drop out BEFORE Super Tuesday: “If you do not have a pathway… I’m hoping some of the candidates tomorrow get out.”
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) March 1, 2020
It only took a year, but at last, it’s clear that party authorities such as Clyburn are ready to lead the way to guide Democrats to coalesce around the only candidate with a clear path to beat President Trump in the Electoral College. Biden will still struggle to win a delegate majority outright, but he can cut enough into Sanders’s lead to make it to a contested convention, if only the rest of the party’s leadership begins to buck up behind Biden.
