Super Tuesday in the United States: the centrist strategy favored Joe Biden

Text by: RFI Follow

Super Tuesday ends up in the Democrats with a duel since only two candidates have won states among the 14 in the running: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator resists, but Joe Biden, who wins 9 states, has the advantage.

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Joe Biden surfed on the dynamics, started last Saturday during his victory in South Carolina . The Americans speak of "momentum". Given for dead politically, a few days ago, the vice-president has imposed himself in all the states where the black electorate is important, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia.

These voters obviously opted for the useful vote: choosing the one who has the greatest chance of beating Donald Trump. Joe Biden has sold them the Obama legacy since the start of his campaign, insists that he will rid them of Donald Trump, that this presidency will be a parenthesis and that the country will be able to resume the thread of history interrupted in 2016.

Unite around Biden, the centrist strategy

Special Super Tuesday Edition [8:10 am / 8:30 am] Part 1-040320

Joe Biden also won in Texas and it is the jack pot because it was the second juggernaut in terms of delegates, victory also in Minnesota, Massachussets, proof that the strategy of the centrists to unite around Biden is proven to be a winner. Joe Biden benefits from Monday evening rallying from Texan Beto O'Rourke, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigiege .

For Bernie Sanders, the observation is harsh: as four years ago, he failed to break into the black electorate. He won Vermont, the state of which he was a senator, as well as Colorado and Utah, supported by the Hispanic electorate. But the standard-bearer of the progressive wing resisted however by winning the jackpot in terms of delegates with a victory announced in California.

Joe Biden will try to expand his coalition

" Bernie Sanders' campaign is a campaign of ideas, a campaign that wants to weigh in on the debate," analyzes Célia Belin, researcher at the Brookings Institution. He wants to be able to do as he could in 2016. In 2016, he hoped to win, but what he also wants is to be able to play on the democratic platform, is to be able to structure the teams that will emerge behind Joe Biden. What is very likely is that Joe Biden will now try to expand his coalition and begin to incorporate the progressive ideas of Bernie Sanders if he really wants to win. "

RFI: Does that mean that Joe Biden has no program as it stands?

“ Joe Biden, in my opinion, is the tale of who can win. Who to beat Donald Trump. And its program will be shaped by the balance of power of the rest of the Democratic Party. That's what it is for. "

Will it be a compromise?

" No, Joe Biden is kind of an empty shell, and that's how it sells. That is to say: come pour into me all the programs, all the ideas that you want to have, because it is I who could build this majority coalition. "

► Read also: What is “Super Tuesday”?

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• United States
• USA elections 2020

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