The Hill’s Campaign Report: Centrists rush behind Biden to stop Sanders

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail. 

 

LEADING THE DAY:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is poised to emerge from Super Tuesday with a lead in delegates, and the centrists who want to stop him have come to a stark realization: It’s time to band together or watch him run away with the nomination.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s massive victory in South Carolina was a tipping point for the moderate Democrats who are worried that Sanders will lose to President Trump in the general election.

Biden’s victory on Saturday unlocked a flood of new donations and endorsements for his campaign.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) ended her presidential campaign on Monday and is en route to Dallas to back Biden’s bid. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who dropped out on Sunday night, will also endorse Biden for president.

Among the current lawmakers who have announced their support for Biden over the past 24 hours: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.). Party leaders coming out in support of Biden include former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, as well as former Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Biden, who has struggled to raise money, took in an astonishing $10 million over the course of 24 hours following his South Carolina victory.

The big question: Will the relatively late movement behind Biden be enough to blunt Sanders’s momentum heading into Super Tuesday?

Fourteen states will cast ballots tomorrow, including California, where Sanders is expected to win big, and Texas, where he’s led comfortably. Texas and California are the two biggest delegate prizes on the map.

Sanders is also expected to win Utah, Colorado, Maine and Vermont. He’s the favorite to win in Minnesota, now that Klobuchar is out, and he’s pushing to win in Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s home state of Massachusetts.

The polls in Virginia and North Carolina are close and could tip toward either Biden or Sanders.

Biden needs to win in the south, where voters in Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama are headed to the polls.

The wild card on Tuesday is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and will be on the ballot for the first time. 

Bloomberg is clearly cutting into Biden’s support in the polls in Texas. But there are real questions about whether Bloomberg’s national ad campaign will translate into real votes when it matters most.

We’ll find out about that and a lot more when polls close tomorrow.

— Jonathan Easley

 

READ MORE: 

The Hill’s Max Greenwood: Klobuchar to drop out, endorse Biden.

The Hill’s Julia Manchester and Amie Parnes: Buttigieg to endorse Biden.

The Hill’s Jonathan Easley: Top liberal group endorses Sanders.

 

FROM CONGRESS AND THE STATES: 

Biden is ramping up his attacks on Sanders, warning that the progressive independent will cost Democrats seats in the House and Senate.

“There’s an awful lot of people who are running for office who don’t want to run with Bernie at the top of the ticket as a self-proclaimed socialist. Imagine here in Texas or in North Carolina or in Georgia, the idea, if I said to you, ‘This is an open test. You’re running for office. Do you want a very popular, self-proclaimed socialist or a popular mainstream Democrat running at the top of the ticket?’ My guess is in most states, they’d say no.” – Biden in an interview with CBS News.

 

Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy (D) holds a six-point lead over longtime incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D) in the Bay State’s Democratic Senate primary, according to a Suffolk University/WBZ/Boston Globe survey released on Sunday.

 

The House Democrats’ campaign arm is targeting seven House Republicans in ads over the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus and the affordability of a potential vaccine, The Hill’s Rebecca Klar reports.

 

PERSPECTIVES:

Antjuan Seawright: February gladness brings March madness

Glenn Greenwald: Democrats should beware a brokered convention

The Nation: Bernie Sanders for president

Isaac Chotiner: How socialist is Bernie Sanders?

Perry Bacon, Jr.: Why Buttigieg dropped out

 

POLL WATCH:

MORNING CONSULT

Sanders: 29 percent 

Biden: 26 percent

Bloomberg: 17 percent

Warren: 11 percent

 

NORTH CAROLINA (High Point):

Sanders: 31 percent

Bloomberg: 18 percent

Biden: 14 percent

Warren: 11 percent

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Super Tuesday is tomorrow.

March 10:

-Idaho primaries

-Michigan primaries

-Mississippi primaries

-Missouri primaries

-North Dakota Democratic caucuses

-Washington State primaries

 

March 15:

-Eleventh Democratic presidential primary debate

 

March 17:

-Arizona Democratic primary

-Florida primaries

-Illinois primaries

-Ohio primaries

 

March 24:

-Georgia primaries

 

March 29:

Puerto Rico Democratic primary

 

ONE FUN THING:

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and other Virginia politicians were late to a press conference for former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday after the elevator they were riding in got stuck. 

About 30 minutes after the 8 a.m. press conference was expected to begin, McAuliffe tweeted out an update to explain his absence. 

“Hey @JoeBiden ! If you are wondering about why we are not at our 8am press conference for you – we are stuck in an elevator in downtown RICHMOND. 30 minutes and counting!” McAuliffe tweeted along with a group photo that included Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.

 

Hey @JoeBiden! If you are wondering about why we are not at our 8am press conference for you – we are stuck in an elevator in downtown RICHMOND. 30 minutes and counting! #TeamJoe pic.twitter.com/SVpTIUoYfC

— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) March 2, 2020

 

Minutes after the tweet, the Richmond Fire Department came to the rescue. 

 

UPDATE: Saved! THANK YOU RICHMOND Fire Department @iaff1286 always has #TeamJoe’s back! pic.twitter.com/aB0GHCzf1Q

— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) March 2, 2020