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In Arizona, Florida and lllinois, Biden is clearly ahead of Sanders

Mar 18, 2020 at 12:55 1344

The results of the Democratic primaries

On March 17, 2020 the Democratic primaries in Arizona, Florida and Illinois went on as planned. The Republican governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, decided to halt voting in Ohio amid the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance to avoid gatherings of 50 people or more, de facto postponing the Ohio primary.

According to Associated Press, with 88% reporting in Arizona Democratic primary 2020, Joe Biden is ahed with 43.6% of the vote, winning so far 26 of the 67 Arizona delegates. Bernie Sanders comes in a distant second with 31.6% of the vote and 22 delegates. Although no longer in the race, Michael Bloomberg was still on the ballot and finished third with 10.2% of the vote and no delegates. It is safe to assume that Bloomberg voters prefer the more moderate Biden to the self-labelled Socialist Sanders. The left-leaning Elizabeth Warren is also no longer in the race but was still on the Arizona ballot and ended up fourth with 6.5% of the vote and no delegate. It is safe to say that she took more votes away from Sanders than from Biden.

According to CNN, 7 out of 10 voters in the battleground state of Arizona said they were angry about the Trump administration. Will the anger remain until November? Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis so far surely does not appease them.

According to Associated Press, with 99% reporting in the Illinois Democratic primary 2020, Joe Biden wins 59.1% of the vote and 93 of the 155 delegates available in Illinois. Bernie Sanders comes in a distant second with 36.1% and 46 delegates. Although no longer in the race, Michael Bloomberg and others were still on the ballot. Bloomberg finished third with 1.5% of the vote and no delegates.

According to Associated Press, with 99% reporting in the Florida Democratic primary 2020, Joe Biden clearly won with 61.9% of the vote and 130 of the 219 delegates available. Bernie Sanders finished a distant second with 22.8% of the vote and only 48 delegates. His praise of leftist Latin American dictatorships, of “achievements” of Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba or of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, did not go down well with Latino and Latina voters in Florida. Although no longer in the race, Michael Bloomberg and others were on the ballot in Florida. Bloomberg finished third with 8.5% of the vote and no delegates. Most of those votes would surely rather have gone to Biden than to Sanders.

In his speech after the March 17 Democratic primaries, Joe Biden tried to look presidential and to rally the entire Democratic party behind him, reaching out to the voters of Bernie Sanders: “So let me say especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders: I hear you. I know what’s at stake. I know what we have to do. Our goal as a campaign and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party, and then to unify the nation.”

Maeve Reston wrote on the CNN website that CNN estimated that the former vice president Joe Biden would need to win 47% of the remaining delegates in order to become the Democratic presidential nominee, while Bernie Sanders must win 57.9% of the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination. She added: “a near mathematical impossibility”.

It is true that 57.9% vs. 47% means a clear advantage for Biden vs. Sanders. But to call it mathematically impossible is ignoring the numbers you’ve just pointed out. And let’s not forget that, not so long ago, Joe Biden looked tired, finished, dead in the water.

In Arizona, Florida and lllinois, Biden is clearly ahead of Sanders

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