Capping an extraordinary four day stretch, Joe Biden on Wednesday locked up his tenth victory from Super Tuesday, putting the campaign of Bernie Sanders on the defensive and turning around a White House bid which seemed like it was generating little momentum only a week ago.
Michael Bloomberg was the latest Democrat to drop out on Wednesday, as the billionaire quickly threw his support to Biden, and urged his backers to do the same.
"I endorse Joe Biden, and I hope you will join me in working to make him the next President of the United States of America," Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg's decision meant that four Democrats had dropped out since Biden won a resounding victory on Saturday in South Carolina, with Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar quickly endorsing the former Vice President, as Democratic voters rallied around Biden in extraordinary numbers.
"Has there ever been a week that so clarified a large presidential field with so many big events and unrelenting headlines?" asked political expert Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, as no one could offer any kind of similar chain of events in modern U.S. political history.
The final state to fall into the Biden win column was Maine, which Sanders had won easily in 2016 - but the difference in 2020 was a primary was used instead of a caucus - and Biden rode that to a narrow victory.
Biden's show of strength, which stretched from New England, through the mid-Atlantic, through the Deep South, the Upper Midwest, and all the way to Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, was not what the Sanders campaign had expected from Super Tuesday.
Six states vote next week on March 10: Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Washington State.
Speaking to reporters at his campaign headquarters in his home state Vermont, Sanders showed no signs of panic, and said he welcomed a very direct comparison of his record with Biden in the months ahead.
"Joe and I have a very different voting record," Sanders said, referring to Biden's time in the U.S. Senate, which he left in 2009.
"Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country," Sanders added.
While the race narrowed to Biden and Sanders, Elizabeth Warren was considering her next move - Sanders said he had spoken with the Massachusetts Senator, but did not now whether she would stay in the race or not.
The next debate for the Democrats is Sunday March 15, coming just before primaries in Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, and Florida.
If Warren drops out, that debate might only involve Biden and Sanders.
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