SELMA, Ala. — An emboldened Joe Biden tried to cast himself as the clear moderate alternative to progressive Bernie Sanders on Sunday as the Democrats’ shrinking presidential field raced toward Super Tuesday.
One of Biden’s leading moderate rivals, former small-city mayor Pete Buttigieg, dropped out of the campaign just 24 hours after Biden scored a resounding victory in South Carolina, his first of the 2020 rollercoaster nomination fight.
While other rivals appeared undeterred, Biden pressed his case during a round of national television interviews that reflected a stark reality a day after his resounding primary victory in South Carolina: The former vice president was forced to rely upon free media coverage because he was understaffed, underfunded and almost out of time as he fought to transform his sole win into a national movement.
Biden vowed to improve his campaign operation, his fundraising haul — and even his own performance — in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” He warned of a “stark choice” between him and Sanders, while making the case he was the candidate who could win up and down the ballot and in states beyond those voting next week.
Biden added a swipe at one of Sanders’ signature lines during an appearance on “Fox New Sunday”: “The people aren’t looking for revolution. They’re looking for results.”
The newfound confidence came at a crossroads in the Democratic Party’s turbulent primary season. Sanders remained the undisputed front-runner. But the rest of the field was decidedly unsettled, even after Biden’s South Carolina blowout and Buttigieg’s sudden departure.
Most notably, New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg could create problems for Biden as the race sped toward Super Tuesday, when 14 states from Maine to Alabama to California hold Democratic elections as the 2020 primary moved into a new phase. No longer would individual states hold primaries every week. Starting Tuesday, and most Tuesdays through early June, batches of states would vote at the same time in what had essentially become a national election.
Biden claimed a handful of new endorsements and fundraising successes on Sunday in his quest to project strength. At the same time, a handful of high-profile political strategists with ties to former President Barack Obama encouraged Biden’s rivals — including Bloomberg — to quit the race to allow anti-Sanders’ Democrats to unify behind Obama’s former vice president.
“Most of them have seen the writing on the wall for at least the last week,” said Rufus Gifford, who held top fundraising posts on both of Obama’s campaigns and was part of Biden’s fundraising operation. “It’s clear the Democratic alternative to Bernie Sanders is Joe Biden.”
Text messages reviewed by The Associated Press revealed an outpouring of interest in Biden from donors supporting other candidates, including Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren.
Biden announced he took in $5 million immediately after his South Carolina win, by far his best single day of fundraising over the last year.