The presidential race defeat of Democrats Senator George McGovern in 1972, and then Senator Walter Mondale in 1984, prompted the southern leaders of the party to become a counterweight to the first two states that take part in primary season – Iowa and New Hampshire – where a win traditionally gave much momentum to the Democratic victor.
This was achieved by forming a powerful bloc of southern states, whose citizens would all vote on the same day – Super Tuesday – and express their diverse demographic, social, ethnic and ideological outlines (which differ vastly to those of Iowa and New Hampshire) and thus leave their mark on the rest of the race.
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Indeed, 12 southern states participated in the 1988 Super Tuesday, thus upgrading the tradition that began in 1984, when, for the first time, three southern states voted on the same day for their favorite Democratic candidate.
This southern strategy bore fruit for the first time in the 1992 primaries, when an unknown governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, whose race to the White House started slowly (he didn't win Iowa or New Hampshire), and suddenly skyrocketed on Super Tuesday, taking all the southern states with him in his race towards the nomination and the presidency.
24 years later, in the 2016 primaries, his wife Hillary continued this tradition when she won major victories on Super Tuesday in all the southern states (except Oklahoma). Like her husband, the former secretary of state also managed to leverage this voting day to win the Democratic nomination and basically end the race for her main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.
The weak start was forgotten
Similarly, this Super Tuesday, the southern branch (which included seven states of the 14 states that voted) was Sanders' Baal Gad, as they fell like ripe fruit into Joe Biden's lap (including the key state of Texas, which elects 228 delegates for the party convention).
Biden surprisingly and impressively managed to replicate Clinton's 2016 achievement and win in Massachusetts, the home field of the liberal candidate Elizabeth Warren. Except for California, where his victory was more modest than expected, Sanders only won in his state of Vermont, Colorado and Utah. After being unconditionally defeated in Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden recovered in Nevada, finishing second after Sanders, and that's where the dramatic shift began. The former vice president, who up until two weeks ago was seen as a candidate with no chances and a punching bag, became an energetic and fresh figure (despite being 77 years old) whose self-confidence and belief in his ability to win returned.
Last Saturday Biden defeated Sanders in the southern state of South Carolina with an unimaginable gap of 28.5%, and proved that he can get the support of a large part of African American population (who are 60 percent of the Democratic party in that state). This impressive victory was seen by the party establishment and its senior leaders as one that showcases his ability to win a large part of the remaining southern states, who have similar demographics.
The above victory is when the process of rapid endorsements for the former vice president began, as a long list of officials and influencers (past and present) joined Biden at every stop and event to support his candidacy. The outstanding victory in South Carolina revealed impressive electoral potential and convinced the party leadership that despite the slow start at the beginning of the race and the weakness of his logistical and organizational campaign, Biden remained relevant and betting on him was justified and worthy.
The results on Tuesday proved that the bet paid off. Furthermore, over the past few weeks the disconcerting realization that Sanders gained momentum and was the front runner, permeated the Democratic establishment's consciousness. The representatives of the moderate wing understood that if he is elected, Sanders would become an easy target for Trump, who was already painting him as a figure whose social and economic vision deviated from the basic lines of the American cultural and political legacy, and are not part of the consensus.
Sanders remains in the fringes
The effort to unite under one flag and coalesce around the moderate and pragmatic Biden, whose ties with the financial elite are tight and his stances on a wide array of economic and political issues are far from revolutionary and are in the heart of the national consensus, did not pass over the other three candidates who were seen as moderates and had just dropped out of the race - Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg. The three endorsed Biden this week and left him without any moderate Democratic rivals.
So while Sanders continues his voyage towards the radical and militant fringes of the party – on Monday he shared the podium at an event in St. Paul, Minnesota with no other than Ilhan Omar, who is part of the most extreme wing of the Democratic party in the House of Representatives – Biden got on the high road and continued, backed by the party leadership, to proceed safely as he sticks to the political center. The fact that just like the Clintons, Biden has succeeded in claiming a large part of the African American vote in the south and at the same time win large parts of the white, wealthy and educated vote (especially over the age of 45) shows he is capable of breaking the boundaries and limits of a specific and defined sector.
During the coming weeks it will become clearer if Biden's success on Super Tuesday was a springboard for him to gallop towards the nomination. What is completely clear now is that for Trump, Biden's strengthening position is bad news.
After all, the president identified him as the most dangerous rival to win another term in office, and Ukraine-gate is proof of that. As opposed to Sanders (who has managed to enthuse many youngsters but has not succeeded in broadening his base of support), Biden has the power to pave roads not only to the heart of the white, wealthy and educated middle class voter in the suburbs, he can also – especially – have a close race with the White House over the votes of the blue collar worker in the Midwest who gave Trump the victory in 2016.
