The Virginia and North Carolina primaries were called for Joe Biden within a second of polls closing. The easy wins provide an early indication that the momentum built by Biden from his South Carolina blowout is real, and they spell danger for Bernie Sanders for the rest of Super Tuesday.
Just last week, when the Vermont senator had emerged from his Nevada victory as the consensus front-runner, he was expected to win Virginia solidly, reaching a 9-point lead in the state in a poll taken last week. Sanders expended crucial time before Super Tuesday campaigning in the commonwealth, whereas Biden only had one rally in the state. And still, despite lapping Biden and every other candidate in the race with fundraising, Sanders couldn’t eke out a win.
North Carolina was predicted to be more favorable for Biden, but even there Sanders showed a narrow edge in a few of the polls taken last week. But when the results came in, Biden’s primary margin was staggering enough that newsrooms could announce his win the moment the polls closed.
As a cherry on top, Alabama was also called for Biden the second the polls closed. He was also called as a top contender in Massachussetts, which could not be called for anyone, not even for Elizabeth Warren.
These wins suggest that Biden was able to capitalize on his big victory in South Carolina and the flood of high-profile endorsements that followed, including from former rivals Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
The comeback started as Biden showed some fight in last week’s debate, and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn endorsed him. He went on to crush the South Carolina primary, helped by a surge in support from black voters, a crucial Democratic voting bloc. Biden’s early success suggests Joementum is real.
This is still slated to be a tight primary, especially given that Sanders’s stronger states are supposed to be out West, including the massive delegate prize of California. But Biden’s boom just made the race interesting again and demonstrated rank-and-file Democrats are lining up behind him to prevent a socialist from leading their ticket.
