After winning big at Missouri and Mississippi primaries, Joe Biden also won big at Idaho. The former vice-president also won in Michigan, North Dakota and Washington state.
Analysts speculate that this could mean an end to Vermont Senator Bernie Sander's campaign. Biden beat Sanders in Idaho by 6 points. In 2016, Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in Idaho by 56 points.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, blamed Elizabeth Warren for costing Sander's his nomination. “Pocahontas, working in conjunction with the Democrat Party, totally destroyed the campaign of Bernie Sanders. If she would have quit 3 days earlier, Sanders would have beaten Biden in a route, it wouldn’t even have been close. They also got two other losers to support Sleepy Joe!” he tweeted, referring to Warren as Pocahontas.
On March 3, Trump had tweeted, “They are staging a coup against Bernie!” They, in this context, being the Democratic Party. Even as Trump tweeted this out, Biden was leading the Super Tuesday caucuses and gathering more delegates than Sanders or Warren.
According to experts, Sanders, being a Jew, might be hurting his odds and even if he did make a presidential candidate, a big win for him might not be a plausibility.
Biden, on the other hand, has been gaining support from voters belonging to the African-American community. Pew survey conducted before the Iowa caucuses in mid-January found that Jewish support had not consolidated around any one candidate—Michael Bloomberg or Sanders. The survey also said that only one in five Jewish voters preferred Sanders. According to experts, Biden gaining support of voters from the African-American community could be due to unwavering loyalty he portrayed to former president Barack Obama.
Celebrities backing Biden include actor Tom Hanks, songstress Cher, Olympic medallist Michelle Kwan, actors Alec Baldwin, Jane Lynch, author George R.R. Martin and actor Vivicia A. Fox. Biden also has the backing of former Democratic hopefuls like Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker, and Senator Amy Klobuchar.
He also recently gained backing of Congresswomen Abby Finkenauer, Chrissy Houlahan, Elaine Luria, Cindy Axne, Sylvia Garcia and Jennifer Wexton, all of who have publicly endorsed the former vice-president.
Sanders isn't far behind when it comes to celebrity endorsements. He has big names like Ariana Grande, Gigi Hadid, singer Lizzo and The Strokes backing him. But, even as Sanders commanded attention of young voters, according to local media reports, they did not turn up in big numbers to back Sanders.
Sanders himself blamed young voters for not turning up and the media for failing to take notice of his campaign, as per a report in The New York Times, for him not being able to come out on top in the March 10 polls.
Though Sanders may not show an indication to pull out of the campaign yet, he probably should consider it in the coming weeks, lest it leads to heaving losses for the Democratic Party.
