As an old politician, Joe Biden knows this perfectly; the road that can take him to the inauguration of the Democratic Party in July absolutely requires a clear victory on Saturday February 29 in South Carolina, the fourth stage of the primaries. After having long donned the favorite costume, the former vice-president is now pale. In question: two pitiful scores during the first two meetings. On the evening of primary in New Hampshire, the candidate preferred to cancel an event at the last minute and take an emergency plane to the "Palmetto State". He has since managed to raise the bar in Nevada, where he came second behind Bernie Sanders. The man showed optimism in front of his supporters in Las Vegas: “And now we are leaving for South Carolina to win and we will get the upper hand. "
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"If you win South Carolina decisively, you prepare for" Super Tuesday "and you become the big favorite," echoed Jim Clyburn, number three in the majority in the House of Representatives and highest African-American placed in Congress. Very influential in the state, he came this week to the rescue of the centrist, publicly supporting him. Joe Biden arrives on less hostile lands here. The black community, which represents 61% of the democratic electorate here, is reputed favorable to the former right-hand man of Barack Obama. The candidate even repeated it over and over again for a long time: this southern state acts as a “firewall” in the event of disappointment. Given the magnitude of it, he revised his rhetoric and now denies before the cameras having used the term which now sounds too alarmist.
"If he can't get away from Bernie Sanders clearly, it will still sound like a failure"
Jean-Éric Branaa, specialist in American politics at Panthéon-Assas UniversityA vicious gear could have started and doubt has arisen about his ability to beat Donald Trump. The lead Joe Biden had in the South Carolina polls has melted. With 28% of voting intentions according to a recent YouGov survey, he is only five points ahead of Bernie Sanders. "But if he fails to detach himself clearly from his opponent, it will still sound like a failure," comments Jean-Éric Branaa, specialist in American politics at Panthéon-Assas University. Worse, a significant part of the black community has turned its back on him. Since the fall, he has lost nearly twenty points to this segment of the electorate. "What happens is that Steyer spends hundreds of millions, tens of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars, campaigning there , " complained the former vice president on Sunday. "Face The Nation".
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Tom Steyer has certainly spent without counting there. In third place in polls, the billionaire has allocated more than $ 18 million to bombard state voters with advertisements, according to Kantar Media data. But the former vice president did not spend as much time as his opponents on the field. He organized 27 events, according to a count by the Post and Courier. Its campaign team is also less extensive. Several local elected officials therefore stood behind one of his opponents. "Although there is a lot of sympathy for the vice president because of his association with President Obama, this relationship needs to be nurtured and requires a bit of work. It seems that the vote was to some extent taken for granted, " said influential local congresswoman Gilda Cobb-Hunter in the New York Times. She joined Tom Steyer's team in early February.
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Embarrassed by a plethora of offers, Joe Biden will also have to count on the defect of other moderate candidates, especially as another contender, the billionaire Michael Bloomberg, will enter the contest during "Super Tuesday", after having passed the dead end on the first installments.
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