Bernie Sanders declares victory in ideological debate but says Joe Biden is winning the electability argument
Having faced yet another primary debacle, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders did not turn up to speak publicly on March 10. He, however, emerged on March 11 afternoon in Burlington, Vermont, hinting that he is not dropping out of the race yet.
The 78-year-old could win only four out of 14 states on Super Tuesday held on March 3. He managed to win only North Dakota on Mini Tuesday and was likely to win Washington. However, he was humbled by former vice president Joe Biden in the biggest state of the day — Michigan.
After news of his press conference came up, speculation was rife that Sanders would quit the race but the veteran nullified it. In fact, the senator will also take part in the Democratic debate in Arizona on March 15.
At his Vermont speech, Sanders acknowledged that "while our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability". "Last night obviously was not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view," Sanders said. "We lost in the largest state up for grabs yesterday, the state of Michigan. We lost in Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho."
Sanders started off well with three back-to-back good shows in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. But once Biden secured a big win in South Carolina and the moderate wing united behind him, the socialist campaigner has struggled and the gap between the delegate counts of him and Biden has only increased. On Super Tuesday, he faced some unexpected defeats in states such as Texas, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Virginia and even a moderate win in California did not do enough to make it up.
Highlighting the gains of his campaign, Sanders said he was "strongly winning" in "two enormously important areas" which will determine the future of the US. He said his campaign speaks to voters who harbor a lot of admiration for his policies but also believe that he can't win.
Sanders is winning 'generational debate'
"Today, I say to the Democratic establishment: In order to win in the future, you need to win the voters that represent the future of our country," the senator said. He also said his campaign was winning the "generational debate" by attracting young people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Biden, according to him, was winning the votes of the older generation.
"We cannot be satisfied by just winning older votes," he added.
The veteran also previewed his upcoming one-on-one debate with Biden on March 15. He went through a list of questions and they featured health care, climate change, education and criminal justice. The debate will be audience-free because of the coronavirus scare.
Biden now has 832 delegates as against Sanders’ 675. To bag the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate has to win 1,991 delegates.
Biden reached out to the supporters of Sanders on the Mini Tuesday night in Philadelphia saying they share a common goal of beating President Donald Trump, suggesting his socialist rival to drop out and help unify the Democratic Party.