OPINION:
An ocean wave is relentless — until it hits a seawall and dissolves into spray and foam. Similarly, political momentum surges forward with an air of inevitability. If it meets a competing force, though, momentum lives or dies on the currents of public opinion. “Unstoppable” Bernie Sanders has collided with Joe Biden, and the race for the Democratic presidential nomination swirls with uncertainty, for now. That’s a good thing — it gives Americans a moment to ignore momentum and ponder the consequences of drowning liberty in a sea of socialism.
Finally measured up to expectations on Saturday, Mr. Biden won the South Carolina primary with a solid 48 percent of the vote. Breathing a sigh of relief, the former vice president tweeted: “Thank you, South Carolina!” He says, “To all those who have been knocked down, counted out, and left behind — this is your campaign.”
The socialist senator from Vermont only managed to finish as the runner-up, with 20 percent. “That will not be the only defeat,” he told a campaign-trail crowd in Virginia. A lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all.”
Tom Steyer, who spent more than $24 million of his billions to buy himself a third-place finish with 11 percent, threw in the towel. Pete Buttigieg’s 8 percent tally and Amy Klobuchar’s 3 percent convinced them to do the same. Elizabeth Warren staggers on with 7 percent, and Tulsi Gabbard with 1 percent. Michael Bloomberg skipped the ballot.
Abiding respect for traditional values sets South Carolina apart from some “progressive” states where interest in God and country is on the wane. Residents of the Palmetto State are among the nation’s most religious, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey, with 78 percent identifying as Christians and 85 percent holding their faith as either very or somewhat important to them. And with military veterans composing 9.3 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, South Carolina is also one of the most patriotic.
It’s not surprising, then, that many Southerners generally look askance at the trendy values that undergird the current Democratic Party. Though a 2019 Gallup poll showed South Carolina equally divided between Democrats and Republicans with each party registering 28 percent, independents comprising 41 percent consistently lean to the right and keep the state solidly red. Accordingly, the state’s Republicans canceled their primary to help President Trump consolidate his support.
South Carolina Democrats have a fairly strong record of picking winners: Five of the seven candidates they have favored since 1988 have gone on to win their party’s nomination for president. Mr. Biden’s triumph could be short-lived, though.
Super Tuesday on March 3 puts 1,357 delegates up for grabs in 14 state primaries, plus caucuses in American Samoa. Despite Mr. Biden’s victory in 54-delegate South Carolina, progressive stronghold California is projected to throw the majority of its 415 delegates into Mr. Sanders’ column and Texas is on track to do the same with its 228. Even with a worst-case outcome for Mr. Sanders in the other Super Tuesday contests, polling analysis firm FiveThirtyEight reckons the hard-left Vermonter should finish the day nearly 150 delegates ahead of the more moderate former vice president.
Barring a surprise, Bernie is favored to ride renewed momentum to the party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in July with the required 1,991 delegates in hand. To catch him in the home stretch, Mr. Biden would need to scoop up at least 60 percent of the remaining delegates — not likely — or beg the also-rans to drop out and fork over their delegates.
If Mr. Sanders fails to finish the primary contests with a clear majority, party bosses that comprise superdelegates are poised to break with tradition and abandon the front-runner in favor of a more moderate competitor, reports The New York Times. The party establishment is “willing to risk intraparty damage to stop his nomination.” It’s a flashing warning that smart money recognizes the Bernie buzz may resonate with progressive ideologues, but Middle America associates socialism with authoritarianism.
Mr. Biden’s South Carolina win has given Americans a brief opportunity to consider the consequences of backing an angry socialist who vows to put the government in charge of their lives, and then force them to pay for their loss of liberty. None of the other candidates are cut from the mold of George Washington, but none of them wax nostalgic for the days of Fidel Castro, either.
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