Super Tuesday is often considered the true beginning of the primary season. The states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada lead it off, but with such a limited number of delegates, they don’t serve as much more than a momentum builder. Nonetheless, after Bernie Sanders won each of these by a significant margin, America was convinced the democratic party had become so radical that they were ready to nominate a self-proclaimed socialist as their presidential nominee. While many Republicans were excited at the prospect of President Trump being able to easily secure a second term against Bernie, others, including myself, were distraught that one of our two major parties had come to this point.
This is why it was exciting to see the democratic party come out in full force on Tuesday to resoundingly declare they wish to see a more moderate candidate become the potential president. A resounding win in South Carolina a week earlier set the stage for former Vice President Joe Biden to overperform even the most optimistic predictions. Biden won 10 of the 14 states voting on Tuesday, while Sanders claimed victory in just 4. Perhaps most importantly, Biden eclipsed the 15% mark in every state, allowing him to receive delegates in Sanders’ strongholds like Vermont and California. This is part of the reason Biden now holds 566 delegates, a 65 delegate lead over his socialist counterpart.
The voter breakdown revealed a very telling story. Sanders faired extremely well with voters younger than 44, but was blown out by Biden in the 45+ age range. In other words: Bernie is the favorite among voters who were 16 or younger when the USSR collapsed in December 1991, while those old enough to remember the horrors it brought on prefer Biden. Seeing this age gap makes me wonder if Karl Marx was correct when he argued that socialism naturally progresses from capitalism. Those who are raised in households benefiting from the wonders of capitalism seem to take it for granted. If it’s true that we will naturally tend towards socialism, we must recognize that this will be an uphill battle for the fate of our country’s well-being; a battle that even the radical democratic constituency managed to win on Super Tuesday. While it may make the road to re-election slightly more difficult for President Trump, the likely nomination of Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders should be a welcoming sign for us all.
