Joe Biden gathering support ahead of Bernie Sanders in South Carolina
Joe Biden is gaining momentum over Bernie Sanders ahead of the crucial South Carolina primary on Sunday.
Joe Biden is gaining momentum over Bernie Sanders ahead of the crucial South Carolina primary on Sunday (AEDT), raising the chance the former vice-president can win the state and revive his presidential campaign.
A new Monmouth University poll showed Mr Biden, a moderate, is winning the vote of African-Americans and now has double the support of his democratic socialist rival, with 36 per cent compared with 16 per cent for Senator Sanders.
The positive trend for the 77-year-old Mr Biden was also reflected in a growing lead in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, which show him extending his lead over Senator Sanders in South Carolina with 34.2 per cent support compared with 20 per cent for the national frontrunner.
“Biden appears to be holding on to his core support among African-Americans in South Carolina,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
The news came as Barack Obama, who has remained neutral in the primary race, said he would “wholeheartedly support” whoever wins the Democratic presidential nomination.
In a fundraising pitch, the former president said Democrats needed to give generously to support their eventual nominee and that “I will wholeheartedly support whichever candidate wins our party’s nomination”.
Mr Obama’s comments come at a time when mainstream Democrats are increasingly concerned about Senator Sanders winning the nomination, fearing that the democratic socialist’s big-spending, big-taxing policies may gift the election to Donald Trump.
Mr Biden is hoping a big win in South Carolina will rejuvenate his campaign and revive momentum ahead of the massive 14-state Super Tuesday poll on Wednesday (AEDT).
Mr Biden had been expected to win South Carolina because of its large number of black voters but in recent weeks Senator Sanders had narrowed the gap, prompting speculation of an upset victory.
If Mr Biden were defeated in South Carolina it would almost certainly spell the end of his campaign given his poor performances in the first three voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Mr Biden renewed his attacks on Senator Sanders on Friday (AEDT), saying Americans were not looking for the kind of revolution proposed by the 78-year-old.
“The idea that there’s going to be this revolution — Americans aren’t looking for a revolution, they’re looking for progress,” he said.
He said if he were defeated for the party’s nomination it would show Democrats had deserted their history. “It says to me that we have moved away from our roots,” he said. “We have always stood for a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multidimensional party, and my basis of support has always been working-class folks who are white and black, and the black community, and high school-educated people who just deserve a shot.”
Senator Sanders enters the South Carolina and Super Tuesday contests as the clear frontrunner to win the nomination following wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, and a narrow second in Iowa. The South Carolina primary is also a key test for moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who have failed to attract black and Hispanic voters, with the RCP average showing Mr Buttigieg with just 6.3 per cent support and Senator Klobuchar on only 3 per cent in the state.
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg — running third in national polls behind Senator Sanders and Mr Biden — will not contest South Carolina but will be on the ballot for the first time on Super Tuesday. Mr Biden said any candidate who could not win support from African-American voters would soon be forced to leave the race.
“They would have to consider dropping out, not because I want them to or anybody else does, but because the victories and losses are going to dictate it,” he said.
There will be increasing pressure on moderate candidates to withdraw from the race if they don’t do well in South Carolina and Super Tuesday, and give their support to a single moderate candidate to tackle Senator Sanders.
The vote of moderate Democrats is being split between Mr Biden, Mr Buttigieg, Senator Klobuchar and, from Wednesday, Mr Bloomberg.
By contrast Senator Sanders has so far easily defeated his only challenger from the left, Elizabeth Warren.
Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia
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