Momentum for Biden in nomination race
Withdrawal helps former vice-president secure Democrat moderate wing in race for White House
Joe Biden hopes to establish himself as the only moderate who can beat Bernie Sanders to the Democratic presidential nomination tomorrow after his huge win in South Carolina. He pulled his campaign back from the brink on Saturday, taking every county and winning 48 per cent of the vote to Mr Sanders’s 20 per cent. It gives Mr Biden momentum going into Super Tuesday tomorrow, the most important day in the remaining race, when 14 states vote.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana who electrified the early stages of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination has ended his bid for the White House.
Mr Buttigieg’s decision to pull out has strengthened the position of Joe Biden as the likeliest standard-bearer for the Democrats’ moderate wing.
The former vice-president, who won a massive victory in the South Carolina primary, is now set to go head to head with Mike Bloomberg in the fight to be the “Stop Bernie” candidate ahead of Super Tuesday tomorrow, when 14 states will go to the polls.
Mr Buttigieg, who was America’s first openly gay presidential candidate, emerged as a front-runner alongside Vermont’s democratic socialist senator Bernie Sanders after strong performances in the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary.
But despite spending nearly $3million on advertising in the state, he finished a distant fourth in the South Carolina primary, raising questions over his appeal to black and Latino voters across the country.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden pulled his campaign back from the brink on Saturday in the southern state, taking every county and winning 48 per cent of the vote to Mr Sanders’s 20 per cent.
Mr Biden had staked his campaign on victory in South Carolina after fourth, fifth and second place finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, with victory coming thanks to overwhelming support from African-american voters.
“For all those of you who’ve been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign,” Mr Biden told a jubilant crowd in Columbia, the state capital, dismissing pundits who had declared his candidacy was “dead”.
He used his victory speech to square up to Mr Sanders, repeatedly criticising the democratic socialist senator from Vermont who topped the vote in all three opening states, though not mentioning him by name.
“Folks, win big or lose, that is the choice. Most Americans don’t want the promise of revolution. They don’t want promises, they want results,” Mr Biden said.
Mike Bloomberg, who has spent close to half a billion dollars on his campaign, will finally be on the ballot while Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, who finished a disappointing fourth, fifth and sixth in South Carolina respectively with vote shares in single digits, are also hoping to prove viability. Tom Steyer pulled out of the race on Saturday night after finishing third with 11 per cent of the vote.