Joe Biden’s Lucky Break
A big win in South Carolina and Pete Buttigieg’s withdrawal are the first two things that have gone Biden’s way all year
It took Joe Biden a mere 33 years to finally emerge victorious in a presidential primary, and on February 29, he did it in the biggest way imaginable. In winning the South Carolina primary by more than 28 points over Bernie Sanders and capturing the lion’s share of the state’s delegates, Biden has gained much-needed momentum in the race for the party nomination.
He’s also reversed a spate of bad political luck that came perilously close to derailing his third try for the presidency. Virtually every step of the way, Biden has been undercut by a group of similarly middle-of-the-road candidates who have never had much hope of matching the broad-based and diverse coalition that he assembled in South Carolina. As a result, Sanders has found himself in the lead for the Democratic nomination.
This series of events would have seemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago. It’s difficult to remember now that Biden had, at the end of 2019, emerged as the Democratic frontrunner. He had a persistent lead in national polls. He showed consistent strength in state polling, and his key progressive rivals (Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) were splitting the votes of more liberal…
