South Carolina primary: Joe Biden wins big over Bernie Sanders
A candidate whose campaign for president was declared all but dead has come back to record a stunning victory, transforming the race.
less than 2 min read
March 1, 2020 - 9:09AM
Joe Biden has won the South Carolina primary, rejuvenating his presidential campaign and potentially transforming the race.
Mr Biden was once considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. But his fortunes had plummeted over the last month due to terrible results in the earliest states, Iowa and New Hampshire.
Experts wrote him off. One particularly harsh staffer from a rival campaign said Mr Biden had "taken on the stench of death".
But Mr Biden always said South Carolina was his "firewall". It's more racially diverse than the previous states, which means African-American voters - the core of his support - have more of a say in the outcome. And today, that outcome was overwhelmingly good for him.
It may help him emerge as the only viable moderate alternative to left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders going forward.
And it will pile pressure on other candidates to consider dropping out of the race.
Looming in the background of today's results is Super Tuesday, which is on Wednesday this week, Australian time. More than a dozen states will vote at once, awarding a third of the total Democratic delegates on offer during the primaries, and potentially knocking out some candidates.
Read on for all the news in the presidential race.
Updates
Wrapping up a big Biden win
We'll close off our coverage of the South Carolina primary here.
About a tenth of precincts have yet to report their results, but former vice president Joe Biden has clearly won the state by a massive margin of around 30 per cent.
He has also rocketed past Bernie Sanders to take the lead in the national popular vote, and perhaps solidified himself as the one viable centrist alternative to Mr Sanders' candidacy.
Billionaire Tom Steyer has dropped out of the race, and several other candidates are under increasing pressure to do the same.
We have a huge week coming up in American politics. On Super Tuesday – Wednesday, Australian time – 14 states will vote, including some very big ones like California and Texas.
Will Mr Sanders rack up an insurmountable delegate lead? Will Mr Biden surge off the back of his win in South Carolina? What influence will Michael Bloomberg have as he appears on the ballot for the first time?
Make sure you check in for our coverage of Super Tuesday, and every other major development in the race.
Two candidates still haven't spoken
It's worth noting that we haven't heard from two of the candidates yet tonight. Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar have both remained silent.
Mr Buttigieg is running fourth in South Carolina with 90 per cent of precincts counted, earning 8 per cent of the vote. Ms Klobuchar is even further back in a distant sixth, with just 3 per cent.
Both will now be under pressure to drop out of the race, as neither has a realistic path to the nomination.
That might sound a little harsh on Mr Buttigieg, who won Iowa and almost surged past Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire before fading in the fortnight since. He's still in third place in the national popular vote.
But Mr Buttigieg has not demonstrated any capacity to win over African-American voters, and Joe Biden's big win today has probably cut off any path he still had.
On top of that, the states voting on Super Tuesday do not favour him – he's not expected to win any of them – which means his momentum and funding will only continue to dry up.
Ms Klobuchar, meanwhile, has finished no higher than third in any of the contests so far.
There is at least some logic to her staying in the race for Super Tuesday, because one of the 14 states is her home turf, Minnesota. If Ms Klobuchar were to drop out, Mr Sanders would almost certainly win big there, and she is firmly against the idea of him becoming the Democratic nominee.
Beyond this week, however? No, there's no point to her hanging around.
It's almost 11pm on America's east coast now, so it's entirely possible neither candidate plans to say anything tonight. That shows just how poorly they've done in South Carolina, and how bad their outlook is going forward.
You'll note I haven't yet mentioned Elizabeth Warren in this post. She actually did come out to speak earlier – but Mr Sanders took the stage at his event seconds later, and the TV networks cut to him instead.
It's not the first time that has happened to her in recent weeks. From memory, the same thing occurred on election night in Iowa, except that time the networks cut to Mr Biden.
For the record she looks like finishing in fifth here, about a percentage point behind Mr Buttigieg.
Like Ms Klobuchar, Ms Warren is hoping to win her home state – Massachusetts – on Super Tuesday, but has little chance elsewhere. If she were to drop out, Mr Sanders would definitely rack up a big victory there.
Picture: AP
Biden now leads popular vote
The scale of Joe Biden's win in South Carolina has taken him past Bernie Sanders into first place in the national popular vote.
By the end of the day, he will probably also have more Democratic delegates than any other candidate.
National popular vote: (With 59% SC votes in): Biden 213,468 Sanders 213,405 Buttigieg 154,465 Klobuchar 99,084 Warren 95,311 pic.twitter.com/2NmAtHUxdB
The other presidential candidates are paying tribute to Tom Steyer, who's dropping out of the race.
Thank you @TomSteyer for running a campaign to bring the crisis of climate change to the forefront of our national conversation. I look forward to working together to defeat Donald Trump in November.
From climate change to racial justice — @TomSteyer has dedicated his life to making progress on some of the most pressing issues of our time. His presence will continue to be felt in the race, and I look forward to working alongside him to get Donald Trump out of the White House.
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 1, 2020
Thank you, @TomSteyer. You’ve been a powerful voice for climate advocacy and holding Donald Trump accountable. I look forward to fighting alongside you to defeat the climate crisis—and Donald Trump.
Thanks @TomSteyer for what you brought to this campaign. Your crusade to make climate change the #1 issue changed minds &will change policy. Your ideas will endure & I loved standing next to you at the debate (& thanks for letting me borrow your pen when mine exploded on stage).
Joe Biden showed his strengths as a candidate during his victory speech, displaying a lot of passion and empathy.
He also showed his weaknesses, particularly his propensity to stumble over facts.
This clip of him telling the crowd to get behind Jaime Harrison for president is doing the rounds at the moment. Mr Harrison is running for the US Senate.
Billionaire candidate Tom Steyer has announced he is suspending his presidential campaign.
As we've pointed out a few times now, Mr Steyer bet everything on South Carolina, including a fair few million dollars. Overall, his campaign sank about $200 million into advertising.
It bought him a distant third place, and way forward to the nomination.
"Honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency," Mr Steyer told his supporters just now.
He promised to keep fighting for the causes he believes in.
Biden almost 100,000 votes ahead
About 60 per cent of the vote has now been counted, and Joe Biden is still an absolute mile ahead of everyone else.
Bernie Sanders is about 90,000 votes behind him in second place.
Picture: AP
Biden tears up in emotional speech
Joe Biden wiped away a tear at one point during his emotional victory speech, as he thanked South Carolina for reviving his campaign.
The former vice president used his early defeats in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada to frame today's result as a sign of resilience.
"All those of you who've been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign," Mr Biden said.
"Just days ago, the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we've just won and we own big.
"We are very much alive."
He said the campaign had "taken off", and urged Democratic voters in Super Tuesday states to "join us".
"As we celebrate tonight, let me talk directly to Democrats across America. Especially those who'll be voting on Super Tuesday. This is the moment to choose the path forward for our party. This is the moment, and it's arrived," said Mr Biden.
"The decisions you make will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, and what will get done.
"If Democrats nominate me, I believe we can beat Donald Trump.
"If the Democrats want a nominee who will build on Obamacare, not scrap it; take on the NRA, not protect them; stand up and give the poor a fighting chance, restore the middle class and not raise their taxes; keep the promises we make; then join us.
"If the Democrats want a nominee who's a Democrat. A lifelong Democrat. A proud Democrat. An Obama-Biden Democrat. Then join us."
Those lines were all very clearly designed to contrast Mr Biden with the frontrunner for the nomination, Bernie Sanders.
And so was the following argument about electability.
"We have the option of winning big or losing big. That's the choice. We need to build on the legacy of the most successful president of our lifetime, Barack Obama," he said.
"Win big or lose, that's the choice. Most Americans don't want the promise of revolution. They want more than promises, they want results.
"Talk is cheap. False promises are deceptive. And talk about revolution isn't changing anyone's life. We need real changes, right now. Something I've done my whole career."
Mr Biden then shifted away from policies and polling, and to the less tangible elements of politics.
"This is a battle for the soul of the United States of America. We are in an incredibly perilous moment," he said.
"We have to beat Donald Trump and the Republican Party, but here's the thing. We can't become like them."
He quoted the most famous line from America's Declaration of Independence – the one that says "all men are created equal".
"We've never fully lived up to it. But until this President, we've never walked away from it," said the former vice president.
As he neared the end of his speech, Mr Biden got personal. He spoke about the death of his son Beau in 2015, and how South Carolina had helped him recover.
Mr Biden and his wife Jill visited the state as it mourned in the wake of the Charleston church shooting that year. They were struck by the strength of its people.
"We needed to be healed. We needed whatever they were exuding. And with every season that's passed, they've gotten up and found purpose to live life worthy of the ones they'd lost," he said.
"We left here – having arrived in overwhelming pain – thinking we can do this. We can get through this.
"It's no small reason why I'm in this race. People like all of you here tonight, all around the country. The days of Donald Trump's divisiveness will soon be over."
He took a moment to wipe away a tear.
"This multi-ethnic country we call America can't survive unless we focus on our goodness," he continued.
"We can build a more perfect union, because the American people in the last few years have seen the alternative.
"No, think about it. They've seen how utterly mean, selfish, lack of any sense of empathy or concern for anyone else. A President who not only has horrible policies, but the way he mocks and makes fun of other people.
"Let's get back up. We're decent, we're brave, we're a resilient people. We're better than this President. So get up, take back our country."
Former candidate's friendly advice
Former candidate Andrew Yang had a nice piece of advice for his former colleagues you might be reluctant to drop out.
"If you get out, it's not terrible not having a camera in your face 24/7. Your families will be happy to see you. And you've missed a lot of good TV and movies," Mr Yang said.
I suddenly got a wonderful vision of Elizabeth Warren kicking back her heels on the couch, beer in hand, and watching Love is Blind.
Sanders congratulates Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders was the first candidate to speak after the polls closed in South Carolina. He addressed a rally of supporters in the state of Virginia, which votes on Super Tuesday.
"We are here tonight because we are determined that Donald Trump will be a one-term President," Mr Sanders said.
"The American people, no matter what their political views may be, do not want a President in office who is a pathological liar, who is running a corrupt administration, who apparently has never read the Constitution, and who every day, through his attacks on the media, on the judiciary, is undermining American democracy.
"I am very proud that in this campaign so far, we have won the popular vote in Iowa, we have won the New Hampshire primary, we have won the Nevada caucus.
"But, you cannot win 'em all. A lot of states out there, and tonight we did not win in South Carolina.
"That will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all.
"I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight. And now we enter Super Tuesday."
Parts of the pro-Sanders crowd booed when Mr Biden's name was mentioned.
Mr Sanders seemed more subdued and less cantankerous than usual – an acknowledgement, maybe, that this wasn't his night.
