Who's in, who's out in Democratic White House race
03 March, 2020
The Democratic Party set records this past year for the size and diversity of its field of candidates wanting to challenge President Donald Trump.
Fast-forward to Super Tuesday, when 14 states vote in what may be the most consequential day of the nomination race, and the party has just five hopefuls left in the fight.
Three have called it quits since Saturday, as the top three remaining are all septuagenarian white men.
Where do the five individuals stand as the party struggles to look for a leader who can unite its competing factions and defeat Trump in November?
Bernie Sanders
Sanders, 78, had been the clear winner of the nomination battle until recently, emerging as the frontrunner after early votes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
But on Saturday he finished a distant second in South Carolina's primary behind Joe Biden, raising the chance of a comeback by the former vice president.
The success of Sanders, a leftist senator from Vermont, has made alarm among party moderates who fear his policies are too radical and make him a fairly easy target for Trump.
"They're getting nervous," Sanders told rally attendees Sunday in California.
Sanders still has momentum heading into Super Tuesday, given his polling lead in California and the next largest state, Texas.
Trump has signaled he'd prefer to go face to face with Sanders -- who he has dubbed a "communist" -- and has repeatedly mocked Democrats for scrambling to coalesce around a moderate alternative.
"It's rigged against Bernie, there is no question about it," Trump said Monday.
Joe Biden
Barack Obama's vice president is pleased with the loyalty he has earned among many black voters, plus they came through for him in a large way in SC.
Concern had grown that Biden's performances in debates and poor results in early states put him at a major disadvantage to Sanders.
By trouncing Sanders in the southern state, he revived his sagging campaign and knocked three rivals out from the race, including fellow moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.
Biden, 77, now credibly claims he's the Democratic centrist who can do battle against Sanders and bring American voters from various socio-economic backgrounds and disparate political ideologies together.
"The country is hungry, hungry to be united," he said Monday in Houston.
Democratic presidential prospect former NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, on March 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. AIPAC is the lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies in the U.S. (AFP/ Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg, a billionaire US media tycoon, sat out the first four early nomination contests and makes his Democratic ballot debut in the 14 states that check out the polls on Super Tuesday.
The former NY mayor, age 78, is concentrating on California, with the single biggest delegate haul, and other prize states like Virginia.
However the late-starter is a significant contender in the overall race, boosted by his vast, self-financed campaign budget -- he has poured an astounding $500 million into advertising, a record.
Bloomberg says he supplies the best chance of defeating Trump.
Elizabeth Warren
After disappointing results in the first three contests, the 70-year-old senator from Massachusetts tried to regain ground with effective attacks on Bloomberg during the past two debates.
But she didn't move the needle in SC, finishing back fifth spot.
As a progressive, Warren has suffered from Sanders' rise, and her prospects look to be fading.
But she has remained focused on the campaign, and is advertising or has booked air amount of time in at least 11 states that vote after Super Tuesday, including Florida, Michigan and Ohio, according to tracker Advertising Analytics.
Tulsi Gabbard
The congresswoman from Hawaii has never been a solid contender for the nomination, but she has outlasted several better funded rivals.
Gabbard, 38, holds isolationist foreign policy views and is demanding US military withdrawal from Iraq as well as Syria.
In January she filed a lawsuit against the 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, for calling her a "Russian asset."
Source: www.thejakartapost.com