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| The Democrats Are Moderately Excited | The Democrats Are Moderately Excited |
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| Another round of Democratic voters registered their presidential preferences on Tuesday, sending a message strikingly similar to the one from Super Tuesday: They are tired of being scared, they are tired of being angry and they are not in the mood for a revolution. | Another round of Democratic voters registered their presidential preferences on Tuesday, sending a message strikingly similar to the one from Super Tuesday: They are tired of being scared, they are tired of being angry and they are not in the mood for a revolution. |
| There has never been any doubt about Democrats’ top priority in this election. They are desperate to beat President Trump and have spent months agonizing over which candidate is best equipped for the task. Increasingly, they are betting that the way to defeat a divisive, bomb-throwing demagogue is with his political opposite. Instead of the Bernie Sanders Revolution, they are opting for the Joe Biden Cuddle, embracing a candidate who is peddling reassurance, unity, moderation, empathy and civility. | There has never been any doubt about Democrats’ top priority in this election. They are desperate to beat President Trump and have spent months agonizing over which candidate is best equipped for the task. Increasingly, they are betting that the way to defeat a divisive, bomb-throwing demagogue is with his political opposite. Instead of the Bernie Sanders Revolution, they are opting for the Joe Biden Cuddle, embracing a candidate who is peddling reassurance, unity, moderation, empathy and civility. |
| Six states voted on Tuesday. Mr. Biden carried four of them. In Mississippi, he crushed Mr. Sanders, winning over 80 percent of the vote. He won Idaho with close to 50 percent and Missouri with 60 percent. Mr. Sanders won North Dakota by around 13 percentage points and, as of early Wednesday morning, was on track to win a squeaker in Washington State. But the big prize was Michigan, with 125 delegates, where Mr. Biden beat Mr. Sanders 53 percent to 37 percent. | Six states voted on Tuesday. Mr. Biden carried four of them. In Mississippi, he crushed Mr. Sanders, winning over 80 percent of the vote. He won Idaho with close to 50 percent and Missouri with 60 percent. Mr. Sanders won North Dakota by around 13 percentage points and, as of early Wednesday morning, was on track to win a squeaker in Washington State. But the big prize was Michigan, with 125 delegates, where Mr. Biden beat Mr. Sanders 53 percent to 37 percent. |
| Mr. Sanders’s loss in Michigan was about more than the delegate count. It was about morale and mojo. This is the state where in 2016 his surprise upset over Hillary Clinton gave his insurgent campaign a shot of adrenaline and marked him as a political force. It also should have served as an early warning that Mrs. Clinton, who went on to lose Michigan to Donald Trump, had a problem in the Midwest. Limping from last week’s Super Tuesday contests, Mr. Sanders needed another Michigan boost. Instead, Mr. Biden delivered a thumping, performing significantly better in the state’s rural areas than Mrs. Clinton had four years earlier. | Mr. Sanders’s loss in Michigan was about more than the delegate count. It was about morale and mojo. This is the state where in 2016 his surprise upset over Hillary Clinton gave his insurgent campaign a shot of adrenaline and marked him as a political force. It also should have served as an early warning that Mrs. Clinton, who went on to lose Michigan to Donald Trump, had a problem in the Midwest. Limping from last week’s Super Tuesday contests, Mr. Sanders needed another Michigan boost. Instead, Mr. Biden delivered a thumping, performing significantly better in the state’s rural areas than Mrs. Clinton had four years earlier. |
| Overall, Mr. Biden enjoyed another superb night with black voters and older voters. He also did well with moderates, women, suburbanites and, most notably, white voters without college degrees. He even ate into Mr. Sanders’s support among white men. In 2016, Mr. Sanders destroyed Mrs. Clinton in this demographic in Michigan and Missouri. This year, early exit polling had Mr. Biden narrowly winning white men in Missouri and losing them by a sliver in Michigan. | Overall, Mr. Biden enjoyed another superb night with black voters and older voters. He also did well with moderates, women, suburbanites and, most notably, white voters without college degrees. He even ate into Mr. Sanders’s support among white men. In 2016, Mr. Sanders destroyed Mrs. Clinton in this demographic in Michigan and Missouri. This year, early exit polling had Mr. Biden narrowly winning white men in Missouri and losing them by a sliver in Michigan. |
| As usual, Mr. Sanders dominated with liberals and young voters. But as in previous contests — and previous elections — young voters did not turn out at the same levels as their elders. | As usual, Mr. Sanders dominated with liberals and young voters. But as in previous contests — and previous elections — young voters did not turn out at the same levels as their elders. |
| All this played out against the grim backdrop of the coronavirus crisis. The epidemic is already having practical repercussions on the primary race: Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders canceled rallies planned for Tuesday in Ohio, which votes on March 17. It may also be fueling people’s longing for stability and comfort. In exit polls, voters were asked which candidate they trusted more to handle a major crisis. Mr. Biden consistently outpaced Mr. Sanders. | All this played out against the grim backdrop of the coronavirus crisis. The epidemic is already having practical repercussions on the primary race: Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders canceled rallies planned for Tuesday in Ohio, which votes on March 17. It may also be fueling people’s longing for stability and comfort. In exit polls, voters were asked which candidate they trusted more to handle a major crisis. Mr. Biden consistently outpaced Mr. Sanders. |
| Mr. Biden has been happy to position himself as a caretaker. “Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” he told a crowd in Detroit on Monday, in an appearance alongside his former primary rivals Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, and Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. “There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw standing behind me,” he said. “They are the future of this country.” | |
| This primary season is not over, but the math is grim for Mr. Sanders. Andrew Yang, who ended his presidential run last month, noted as much when, not long after Michigan was called, he offered his official endorsement of Mr. Biden while doing on-air commentary for CNN. Much of the night’s commentary, in fact, revolved around the assumption that Mr. Biden would secure the nomination and speculation as to how he could stitch together the party’s feuding factions. | This primary season is not over, but the math is grim for Mr. Sanders. Andrew Yang, who ended his presidential run last month, noted as much when, not long after Michigan was called, he offered his official endorsement of Mr. Biden while doing on-air commentary for CNN. Much of the night’s commentary, in fact, revolved around the assumption that Mr. Biden would secure the nomination and speculation as to how he could stitch together the party’s feuding factions. |
| Many Democrats are understandably nervous. Mr. Sanders has never been an especially gracious competitor. Belligerence is central to his brand, and he is a master practitioner of grievance politics, rallying disaffected voters around the message that the system is hopelessly rigged against them — and him. | Many Democrats are understandably nervous. Mr. Sanders has never been an especially gracious competitor. Belligerence is central to his brand, and he is a master practitioner of grievance politics, rallying disaffected voters around the message that the system is hopelessly rigged against them — and him. |
| Since the race turned against him, Mr. Sanders has been busy blaming everyone else for his troubles: the media, young voters and, most pointedly, the Democratic establishment. When the voters of South Carolina saved Mr. Biden’s candidacy, Mr. Sanders’s first impulse was to complain that “the establishment” had conspired to bring him down. That was also his second, third and fourth impulses. | Since the race turned against him, Mr. Sanders has been busy blaming everyone else for his troubles: the media, young voters and, most pointedly, the Democratic establishment. When the voters of South Carolina saved Mr. Biden’s candidacy, Mr. Sanders’s first impulse was to complain that “the establishment” had conspired to bring him down. That was also his second, third and fourth impulses. |
| That did not sit well with many black leaders and voters, who Mr. Sanders seemed to be implying had been snookered or brainwashed. Some of his more animated supporters took an even nastier tone on social media. As an outreach strategy, it was, um, counterintuitive. | That did not sit well with many black leaders and voters, who Mr. Sanders seemed to be implying had been snookered or brainwashed. Some of his more animated supporters took an even nastier tone on social media. As an outreach strategy, it was, um, counterintuitive. |
| Mr. Biden recognizes the challenge now before him, as was evident when he spoke to staff members and supporters in Philadelphia a little before 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Unlike the euphoria displayed on Super Tuesday, the candidate’s tone was subdued. This may have been in part a nod to the coronavirus crisis. He opened by mentioning the canceled rally in Ohio. But he also clearly grasped that this was no time to gloat. The closer he comes to clinching the nomination, the more he must think about how to bring at least a portion of Mr. Sanders’s supporters along with him. On Tuesday night, he was in extend-an-olive-branch mode, with much talk of unity and healing. | Mr. Biden recognizes the challenge now before him, as was evident when he spoke to staff members and supporters in Philadelphia a little before 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Unlike the euphoria displayed on Super Tuesday, the candidate’s tone was subdued. This may have been in part a nod to the coronavirus crisis. He opened by mentioning the canceled rally in Ohio. But he also clearly grasped that this was no time to gloat. The closer he comes to clinching the nomination, the more he must think about how to bring at least a portion of Mr. Sanders’s supporters along with him. On Tuesday night, he was in extend-an-olive-branch mode, with much talk of unity and healing. |
| “We need you, we want you, there’s a place in our campaign for each of you,” he coaxed any and all listeners. He explicitly thanked Mr. Sanders and his supporters for all their hard work and passion, stressing that they all “share a common goal” and that “together we’ll defeat Donald Trump.” | “We need you, we want you, there’s a place in our campaign for each of you,” he coaxed any and all listeners. He explicitly thanked Mr. Sanders and his supporters for all their hard work and passion, stressing that they all “share a common goal” and that “together we’ll defeat Donald Trump.” |
| He ticked through a handful of policy aims, from expanding health care coverage to bringing the N.R.A. to heel. But even that was in the service of his message of unification. “There’s not a single thing we cannot do if we do it together,” he proclaimed. It was a speech meant to comfort more than to electrify. | He ticked through a handful of policy aims, from expanding health care coverage to bringing the N.R.A. to heel. But even that was in the service of his message of unification. “There’s not a single thing we cannot do if we do it together,” he proclaimed. It was a speech meant to comfort more than to electrify. |
| Mr. Biden has never been the most exciting choice in this race. But that is kind of the point. | Mr. Biden has never been the most exciting choice in this race. But that is kind of the point. |
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