Bernie Sanders "out", Joe Biden ready to face Donald Trump?

Joe Biden is almost guaranteed, except for health problems. The day after the withdrawal of the American presidential race from his rival Bernie Sanders, the former vice-president of Barack Obama will be the Democratic candidate for the American presidential election in November 2020.

Despite primaries with disappointing beginnings, Joe Biden has rebounded. He will have the heavy burden of leading the Democratic troops to victory against Donald Trump. But before attacking the republican camp, he must first bring together the left wing of his party and succeed in embodying a credible leader in this period of coronavirus pandemic.

Bernie Sanders wants to influence the program

Without waiting for the results of the State of Wisconsin, where the last primary took place on April 7, Bernie Sanders admitted his defeat in the Democratic nomination contest. The independent senator then greeted Joe Biden as a "very respectable man" and said that he would work with this more moderate candidate, in order to advance his program firmly anchored on the left.

Today I am suspending my campaign. But while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on. https://t.co/MYc7kt2b16

"Although our campaign is ending, our movement is not" dead, "said Bernie Sanders. "The struggle continues". The independent senator said he would remain in the remaining primaries in order to "exert a significant influence on the party program".

"Whether the young voices that fell on Bernie Sanders will fall on Joe Biden remains an unknown," analyzes Gauthier Rybinski, international columnist for France 24.

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Aware of this handicap, Joe Biden reached out to supporters of the Vermont senator shortly after his retirement. "I know I have to win your votes. And I know it may take time. But I want you to know that I see you, that I hear you, that I understand the sense of urgency that drives you," said he wrote.

In the evening, Joe Biden praised the "passionate voice for progress" of Bernie Sanders, who "inspired and motivated millions of supporters, especially young voters".

Despite his two defeats in the primaries in 2016 and in 2020, Bernie Sanders has managed to lastingly influence the line of the Democratic party, as Charles Voisin, author of a biography of the socialist explains. "Since 2016, he has managed to move the entire Democratic Party on his left. Bernie Sanders is not just a candidate like any other, he is known for his progressive ideas. He defends a cause, he leads a movement very broad which appeals not only to young people but also to whole sections of society attached to its program, in particular free access to healthcare for all. And Joe Biden will have to take this into account, "warns Charles Voisin on RFI.

Indeed, even if Joe Biden is labeled as centrist, he is campaigning "on the most progressive program of all the democratic candidates in American history," said a former member of the Barack Obama team in March, director Jon Favreau, who claims it goes to Bernie Sanders and his movement.

Another step towards the rally, Joe Biden had very strong words, Wednesday, April 8, in the direction of Senator Kamala Harris. At 55, she had hoped to become the first black woman president of the United States before dropping out of the Democratic primary in December. Despite her strong criticism of Joe Biden during a debate, she now supports him and accompanied him on Wednesday for a fundraiser conducted online with donors. She could, if she appeared on the ticket with Joe Biden, become the first female vice president.

How to manage the coronavirus?

The coronavirus pandemic has already greatly disrupted the American electoral campaign. Since mid-March, it has forced the cancellation of meetings, the postponement of about fifteen primaries and send the candidates home. The Democratic convention, during which Joe Biden will be officially nominated as the Democratic candidate, was itself postponed until August 17 due to the pandemic.

This paralysis of the countryside forced Bernie Sanders to throw in the towel, deprived of a very hypothetical opportunity to overturn the table.

"Seeing the crisis hitting the country (...) I cannot, in all conscience, continue to lead a campaign, which I cannot win", he conceded, during a speech broadcast in line, from his home in Burlington, Vermont.

"It would have been very dangerous for the campaign to continue. It went against common sense to continue to see voter queues several kilometers long like in Wisconsin primary. And Donald Trump would have used it. Bernie Sanders took the right decision ", explains Jean-Éric Branaa, lecturer and specialist author from the United States, on the France 24 channel.

Since the start of the pandemic crisis, Joe Biden has endeavored to stand out as a credible leader against the virus by differentiating himself from the Trump method. A strategy that could bear fruit, according to Jean-Éric Branaa,

"Joe Biden appears today in the minds of many Americans as a good manager, who remains calm and offers solutions. He stays in the background and that is in contrast to Donald Trump who appears every night," he explains. .

Donald Trump vs "Sleepy Joe"

In his duel against the American president, Joe Biden should soon receive significant support. That of Barack Obama, whose tutelary shadow continues to hover over the Democratic party with its 90% support among the voters of the party.

"It should thus stimulate a new campaign dynamic," explains Jean-Éric Branaa.

Donald Trump is already maneuvering against what he calls "Sleepy Joe '. In a press conference, he tried to throw the disorder by insinuating that there was a reason for Barack Obama is not yet publicly supporting his former right-hand man. "He knows something you don't know," he said.

In 2016, the Democratic President declared his support for Hillary Clinton in June, once she was assured of winning the nomination.

The help of his former leader and the rallying of his former rival Bernie Sanders will not be too much for Joe Biden. Because, as France 24 columnist Gauthier Rybinski reminds us, Donald Trump has a faithful basis against all odds that neither untruths nor the coronavirus seem to weaken.

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