The Worm Has Turned in the Democratic Race

The establishment has consolidated incredibly rapidly around Joe Biden after his South Carolina triumph.

Most importantly, Amy Klobuchar and Peter Buttigieg have both dropped out and are endorsing him. Part of the reason it was difficult to see anyone stopping Bernie was that it was hard to figure how the field could consolidate before Super Tuesday, which on the prior trajectory would have given Bernie an insurmountable delegate lead. Now, the field is at least partly consolidated with the exception of the increasingly pointless Mike Bloomberg campaign and of Elizabeth Warren (who is doing the establishment a favor by staying in and crimping Bernie).

Of course, Klobuchar and Buttigieg don’t have massive support in Super Tuesday states, but any increment of support that goes to Biden is very important, because he needs to get over the threshold in as many places as possible, including Minnesota.

Meanwhile, a new national Morning Consult poll shows Biden (26 percent) now within three points of Bernie (29). This means he’s getting a bounce out of South Carolina and it will likely have some effect in the Super Tuesday states.

Bernie may very well still win the nomination, but the last three days show the party is not going to go down without a fight.