Black and White Workers Secured... Biden Solidifies Momentum

Victory in 4 out of 6 Mini-Tuesday States Following Super Tuesday

Leading Democratic Presidential Candidate in the U.S.

▲Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden secured a decisive victory on the 10th during 'Mini-Tuesday,' following the 'Super Tuesday' primaries held on the 3rd (local time), emerging as the leading Democratic presidential candidate.

Biden won in four states?Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, and Idaho?out of the six states holding primaries on Mini-Tuesday. He achieved a major victory in Michigan, the most competitive battleground state that day, and showed a close race in Washington state in the West, where Senator Sanders has strong support. Senator Sanders secured a clear win only in North Dakota, where he received 53.3% of the vote.

Biden's victory is analyzed to have been decisively influenced by gaining support from Black voters and white working-class voters. In particular, he emphasized that he is also from the Rust Belt (Pennsylvania), a declining industrial region, in Michigan?a representative swing state that will determine the outcome of the November presidential election?stimulating voter sentiment. This victory is considered even more meaningful given that in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, Senator Sanders narrowly defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton there by 1.4 percentage points.

U.S. media outlets unanimously attributed great significance to Biden's victory. The New York Times (NYT) reported, "Biden takes the lead," while CNN evaluated that "Former Vice President Biden has built a solid support base among Black voters, suburban residents, and rural white voters."

As Biden secured a favorable position in the Democratic presidential primary and momentum spread, there were speculations that Senator Sanders might be contemplating his future course.

On the 11th, Sanders held a press conference in his hometown of Vermont, stating, "My clear goal is to defeat President Donald Trump," and added, "Through upcoming one-on-one TV debates with Biden, I will clearly demonstrate who is the more competitive candidate against Trump," expressing his intention to continue the primary race. Sanders' campaign plans to leverage Biden's relatively weaker debate performance by aiming to outperform him in the first one-on-one TV debate scheduled for the 15th in Phoenix, Arizona.

However, there are also views that if Senator Sanders fails to create a turnaround opportunity going forward, the contest could end early. The Democratic Party will hold a 'bridge' primary on the 14th in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands to select six delegates, followed by primaries on the 17th in four states (Florida, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio) to select 577 delegates. Among these, Florida, with 219 delegates?the largest number?is a stronghold for Biden.

So far, former Vice President Biden has secured 864 delegates, while Senator Sanders has 710 delegates, 154 fewer than Biden. The 'magic number' of delegates required to secure the presidential nomination is 1,991.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.