Joe Biden Surged During Last Night’s Primaries, Adding to His Lead over Bernie Sanders

While Joe Biden was declared victorious in Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho during Tuesday night’s Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders isn’t giving up the fight to be Democratic nominee so easily. Sanders is projected to win Tuesday night’s primary in North Dakota, while Washington state remains yet to be declared.

Sanders is particularly interested in holding out for the Democratic debate this upcoming Sunday, where Biden and Sanders will debate one-on-one and where the conversation will be policy-based, giving Sanders an edge considering Biden’s short and confusing responses to policy questions as of late.

Biden and Sanders are also competing for delegates as much as they are competing for popular votes in states. Biden currently has 860 pledged delegates out of a necessary 1,991 to secure the nomination, while Sanders has 710.

Biden and Sanders will debate this Sunday in Arizona ahead of primary elections held there as well as in Florida, Illinois and Ohio. A primary will also be held in Georgia the following week.

What is puzzling about the low turnout for Sanders voters is that a majority of those who vote for Biden actually support Sanders’ policies, namely Medicare-for-All. An exit poll found that six out of 10 Michigan voters supported a single-payer government healthcare system in lieu of private insurance, but nearly half of those voters thought that Biden had a better chance than Sanders of beating Trump in the 2020 election.

It appears that in order to get support back on Sanders’ side, the nebulous question of “electability” will have to be front and center of his campaign going forward.