Clyburn Says It’s Time to “Shut This Primary Down” If Biden Still Leads
On Tuesday, voters went to the polls in six states to pick the Democratic nominee for president. Polls have yet to close in Washington, Idaho, and North Dakota. But in Missouri, Mississippi, and Michigan, former vice president Joe Biden easily scored expected wins against Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, with black and older voters propelling him to victory.
Biden's campaign has had a resurgence since he scored a coveted endorsement from representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, helping to give him a decisive win in the state, his first primary victory in all three of his runs for president. Speaking to NPR on Tuesday night, Clyburn said, "I think when the night is over, Joe Biden will be the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination," adding, "If the night ends the way it has begun," then it's time to "shut this primary down," apparently meaning that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) should choose to cancel future debates. According to NPR reporter Miles Parks, Clyburn's reasoning is that the longer the primary lasts, the more likely a frontrunner like Biden "gets himself into trouble."
Leading up to Tuesday's primaries, Biden held 670 delegates, a solid but not insurmountable lead over Sanders's 574. The 352 delegates up for grabs Tuesday are enough to make up that difference, especially in Michigan, with 125 delegates, which Sanders's campaign considers a must-win. According to RealClearPolitics, Biden held an average 22-point lead over Sanders before voting began in Michigan. In 2016, Sanders won in a major upset in Michigan against Hillary Clinton, as well as in Washington, Idaho, and North Dakota. He won by less than 2 percentage points, despite trailing by an average of 20 points in polls leading up to the primary—Clinton went on to lose Michigan in the general election by 0.23 percent.
Clyburn may be right to worry about Biden "getting himself into trouble" the longer the primary goes on. Hours before polls closed on Tuesday, Biden told a Michigan construction worker, "You're full of shit," when the man accused Biden of not supporting the Second Amendment, and then told him not to be "such a horse's ass." Biden has had many contentious run-ins with voters over the course of his campaign, including one where he angrily poked a man in the chest and told him to vote for someone else when he questioned Biden's climate-change record in Iowa. Similarly, when an immigration activist confronted Biden about the Obama administration's aggressive deportation policy, Biden told him, "You should vote for Trump." He's made bizarre claims, like telling supporters he was arrested in the 1970s while trying to visit an imprisoned Nelson Mandela during a trip to South Africa—his campaign was forced to admit that wasn't true. In another heated exchange, Biden challenged a man to a push-up contest to see who was more fit. He's also defended segregationists like Strom Thurmond and told a room full of wealthy donors that "nothing would fundamentally change" if he became president. And in a pre-recorded interview on MSNBC Sunday, Biden claimed that he voted for the Iraq War in 2003 in an effort to prevent the war from happening.
This week, the DNC announced it was changing its debate format ahead of Sunday's debate in Arizona: The candidates will be seated, and instead of taking questions from a moderator, they will answer questions submitted by voters. There will also be no live audience present.
Newsmakers
That's No Joke. Consider: He is the most quietly effective politician in D.C. (Don't laugh.) The "Most Influential Vice President in History." (Seriously, stop laughing.) One of our nation's most senior statesmen. (Look it up!) So why is the man who could be the next president also the butt of so many jokes? Jeanne Marie Laskas gets to know the most misunderstood man in Washington.
Originally Appeared on GQ
