That would be a good strategy. A lot of people think of Indiana as being similar to Wisconsin and Michigan but it’s really more like the South culturally. I do not see Pete with much of a future there. Also, he has the kind of face that will look more handsome with 10 years of aging, and I do think that looks have an advantage.
As more and more talk of a brokered convention emerges, a certain sub-set of people are arguing that if one candidate has a plurality of delegates, then that candidate deserves to be the nominee, since that candidate would have received more delegates than anyone else. And so, I have a question:
Is it possible, with the way delegates are allocated, for one candidate to have received more of the popular vote throughout the primary season, but less delegates?
I would assume so, since Sanders is currently leading in delegates but Biden is leading in popular vote totals.
With fewer viable candidates its much less likely for a brokered convention anyway. One or two more drops and this question sorts itself all out.
I can just hear it now:
“My candidate got more delegates!”
“Mine got more votes!”
“Why do you hate democracy?!”
“Why do *you *hate democracy?!!”
I just really hope by the end of voting, a moderate (presumably Biden) has grabbed a plurality of both. Otherwise there’s gonna be an ugliness on display that humanity can’t afford to witness.
Klobuchar dropping out:
Just saw the Klob news. I suspect this means that the “establishment” is deciding to rally around Biden.
I think this is a good thing, even though I support Bernie. It should be a 2 candidate race. I’d prefer if the alternative wasn’t Biden (I much prefer Klobuchar and most of the other “moderates” aside from Bloomberg over Biden), but this is the kind of choice Democrats should face.
Thank you Amy! We MUST stop Bernie and Biden is the only one who can.
We are flying in the dark going into Super Tuesday because there hasn’t been that much high-quality polling after SC and especially after Pete’s departure. Morning Consult seems to suggest a big Biden bounce but we really don’t know how that will play state by state. A strong second by Biden seems to be a reasonable bet but the margin in both directions is quite big.
I am seeing fewer big endorsements for Biden than I expected; only Kaine and Duckworth among senators in the last week. The most anticipated ones are probably Harris and Newsom and I suppose they could come today. Perhaps Harris feels she would be an equally good VP pick for both Bernie and Biden and there is therefore no need to take a risk though in general IMO taking calculated risks is the only way to move ahead in high-level politics.
I’m glad it’s a 4-way race and though I do not in any way support Bloomberg, I’m glad he’s in for Super Tuesday. If the votes are split 4 ways and all rise to the 15% threshold in California, they split the delegates 4 ways and that blunts Sanders’ impact. Biden needs to nip Sanders’ heels until after Super Tuesday. He does just fine on his own after that.
I’m encouraged by Bloomberg not making any ad buys past Super Tuesday. I suspect Bloomberg will drop out after tomorrow.
Tammy Duckworth endorsing Biden. Nice to see. She is an excellent senator and someone who I think would be a great VP pick (for him, or anyone else).
Apparently Amy will be endorsing Biden which will be a fairly big deal especially in Minnesota. Things are looking pretty good for Biden though it would be wise to be cautious given how he underperformed his polls in both Iowa and NH.
I hope that if Bloomberg fails to get a good number of delegates tomorrow, he’ll drop out tout suite and throw his massive billfold and campaign apparatus behind Biden’s election.
Above all else, he’s a data-driven guy, and I don’t think he’ll ignore the data in this race just to stroke his own ego.
BTW why isn’t Beto endorsing Biden and campaigning with him in Texas? He had a highly disappointing campaign and doesn’t have a good job to go back to so it would seem an obvious move.
The endorsements keep rolling in for Biden: Harry Reid and Mayor Pete.
According to 538’s endorsement tracker, Biden’s gotten seven new endorsements (not yet counting Pete’s) today:
Steve Adler Mayor of Austin, Texas
Harry Reid Former U.S. Senate majority leader
Amy Klobuchar U.S. senator from Minnesota
Veronica Escobar U.S. representative from Texas
Tammy Duckworth U.S. senator from Illinois
Michael Hancock Mayor of Denver
Gil Cisneros U.S. representative from California
The Establishment Strikes Back!
I support Bernie and I’m glad the primary is becoming more clear (i.e. less likely to drag out with massive uncertainty). This will also crystallize the messaging – Bernie v. “the establishment”. It might even allow him to portray himself as the underdog, which was hard to do when he was winning 2.5 of the early states (NH and NV plus split decision in IA).
But it’s obviously a tall task ahead of him. We’ll know a lot more on Tues. If endorsements like this have an effect, I’m hopeful that they’re coming too little, too late to have a big impact for tomorrow. Like I said in another thread, watch TX and VA (and probably NC) closely – if Sanders wins at least 1 of those he’s in good shape; if he wins 2 or 3 he’s probably going to dominate the delegate count overall. If he loses all three by a lot than Biden will be having a good day.
nm
Note to self for 2024: early/mail in voting in a primary is a bad idea.
Can I just point out that it’s not really a great look to trash “The Establishment” of the political party whose infrastructure you’re using to mount your campaign?
Definitely takes some chutzpah!