Biden's clear triumphs in southern states on "Big Tuesday" have united Democrats' top leadership around him • For Trump, who identified him as the more dangerous opponent, it's a worrying boost

First it was Senator George McGovern in 1972, followed by Sen. Walter Mondale in 1984, who led the Democratic Party to a victorious defeat in the presidential race. These resounding failures have led to a decision among the movement's Southern Pillar leaders to counterbalance the first two states participating in the primaries season - Iowa and New Hampshire - whose success has given a great momentum to the Democratic winner.

Be sure to stick to the political center, thus differentiating himself from Sanders. Biden // Photo: AFP

The path to achieving this goal was to formulate a powerful bloc of southern states, whose residents would go to the polls that day itself - this is "Big Tuesday" - reflecting their diverse demographic, social, ethnic and ideological outlines (largely different from those of Iowa and New Hampshire ), And thereby stamp the continuation of the struggle.

Indeed, in the early 1988 election campaign, no less than 12 southern states participated in Big Tuesday, greatly upgrading the pattern, which first came to fruition in 1984, when three southern states created a precedent when they first voted for the candidate Their favorite Democrat.

This southern strategy first bore fruit in the 1992 primaries, when anonymous Arkansas governor Bill Clinton began his journey to the White House with limping (and failed to win the first rounds in Iowa and New Hampshire), suddenly skyrocketed in "Big Day" Southern states on their journey to the candidacy card and the presidency.

Twenty-four years later, in the 2016 pre-election campaign, his wife, Hillary, continued this tradition as she won "Big Tuesday" for impressive victories in all Southern states (except Oklahoma). Like her husband, the former secretary of state was also able to make this election day a lever on her way to winning the Democratic nomination and thus, in effect, blocked the nomination of her main rival in the race, Senator Bernie Sanders.

The lame opening was forgotten

This time around, too, on Big Tuesday, it turned out that the southern faction (which included seven states) out of the 14 states that took part in the primaries round became the Valley for Sanders, when Rural fell into the lap of former Vice President Joe Biden (including the key Texas state, Which selected no less than 228 delegates to the party conference).

Biden has also surprisingly restored and impressed Clinton's 2016 achievement, and emerged victorious in Massachusetts, the home ground of liberal contender Elizabeth Warren. Except in California, where his victory was more modest than expected, he won only in his state, Vermont, as well as Colorado and Utah. After being unconditionally defeated in the first rounds of Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden recovered in the state of Nevada, where he finished second after Sanders, at which point the dramatic upheaval began. The former vice president, who emerged until about two weeks ago as a hopeless candidate and a thumping candidate, has become a vigorous and fresh figure (even though he is 77), whose confidence and confidence in his ability to win are back.

Last Saturday, Biden in the state of South Carolina defeated Sanders by an unexpected 28.5 percent gap, demonstrating his ability to attract a sizeable proportion of African-American voters (representing about 60 percent of all Democratic members in that state). This impressive success was seen by the party establishment and its senior leaders as indicating its ability to win a segment is also evident in the rest of the southern states, whose composition is similar.

Thus began an accelerated recruitment process for the former vice president, with a whole trail of office and business fillers (present or past) accompanying each station and site that Biden commanded in a show of support and backing in his candidacy. The decisive victory in South Carolina allegedly revealed impressive electoral potential, and convinced the party leadership despite its failed campaign at the start of the race, and despite the weakness of its corporate and logistical system, Biden's dampness and his stakes at this point are justified and deserved.

The results on Tuesday proved the stakes paid off. Moreover, in the last few weeks, the Democratic establishment's consciousness has seized the worrying recognition that Sanders has gained momentum and positioned himself as the leading candidate. Mainstream officials understood that if elected as a candidate, Sanders would become a particularly easy target for Trump, who has already begun to portray him as a figure whose social and economic stances go beyond the foundations of American heritage and political culture, and are outside the realm of consensual discourse.

Sanders remains on the sidelines

The effort to mobilize the flag and unite the ranks of the pragmatic and moderate Biden candidacy, whose relations with the tight financial elite and its stance on a wide range of revolutionary economic and policy issues and are at the heart of national consensus, did not even pass the three candidates identified as the "central way" - Pete Bottage, Sen. Amy Clobcher and Michael Bloomberg. The three released statements of support in Biden this week, leaving him in practice without rivals belonging to the moderate Democratic stream.

So, while Sanders is continuing his journey toward the most radical and militant margins in the movement - when last Monday he shared the speakers' stage at an election rally in St. Paul, Minnesota, with none other than Ilhan Omar, one of the most radical wing of the Democratic faction in the House of Representatives - Through the King and continues, with the full backing of the entire party leadership, to proceed safely as he clings to the political center. The fact that, like the Clinton couple, Biden managed to rake in a notable segment of the African-American voice in the South, while at the same time gaining considerable success among white, educated and affluent publics (especially over the age of 45), indicates his ability to break beyond the boundaries and limits of a specific, defined audience.

The next few weeks will make it clear whether Biden's success on Big Tuesday has made a springboard for him to gallop toward the appointment. The perfectly clear fact now is that for Trump, Biden's strengthening is quite disturbing.

After all, the president has long recognized him as the most dangerous opponent for him in his fight to win another term, and the Ukraine Gate affair gives evidence of that. For, unlike Sanders (who, with all the enthusiasm of many of America's younger generation, has so far failed to expand his support base), the power of the former vice president has paved the way for not only the heart of the educated and affluent white middle class, but also - And most importantly - waging a tight-knit battle with the White House over the voices of the blue-collar class in the Midwest, which brought Trump victory in 2016.