Joe Biden Aims For South Carolina Win But Has Big Challenges On Super Tuesday, Analyst Says
Joe Biden appeared poised for a victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, but the road could grow more difficult from there, a political analyst says.
After failing to win any of the first three contests of the Democratic primary, once-frontrunner Biden has fallen behind in national polling to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and lags behind in several key upcoming states. Polling in Saturday’s contest in South Carolina points to a bounceback for Biden as he leads by double digits over Sanders in second place, but the polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight notes that it may be difficult for Biden to build on that victory in the contests that will follow.
Saturday’s primary is followed quickly by a large slate of contests on Super Tuesday, including the delegate-rich state of California. With Biden still trailing Sanders in national polls — and statewide polling in California, where Sanders had a significant lead — the former vice president may be facing an uphill climb, the report suggested.
FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley noted that Biden has not invested much in the way of campaign resources in any of the Super Tuesday states, while Sanders has been building campaign operations.
“Although Biden is in a good position to win South Carolina, these national polls suggest that he still has work to do if he wants to catch up to Sanders across the country,” Skelley noted. “Looking ahead to Super Tuesday, when many big states vote, the Biden campaign’s lack of investment in those states compared to other campaigns (including Sanders’s) could make building on a South Carolina win more challenging. Biden may really need a huge win in South Carolina to overcome a resource disadvantage in the states that vote just three days later.”
Some political experts believe even a big win in South Carolina may not be enough to save Biden’s campaign. As The Inquisitr reported, CNN anchor John Berman noted that Biden is being outspent by many of his primary competitors in the Super Tuesday states. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already spent $161 million in these states, while Sanders has spent $15 million. Biden has spent close to $450,000.
Commentator Van Jones noted that Biden was once the clear frontrunner in the race, but his failure to take any of the early contests has left his campaign foundering.
“No. The problem is a former Vice President… Obama’s guy, should be just sucking in money. He’s broke,” Jones said, via Mediaite.
