What Joe Biden still needs to prove

He seems to be winning by default, not skill or argument. Can Bernie Sanders turn this around?

Joe Biden.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

The results from the second round of Democratic presidential primaries this week didn't bring an official end to the race for the party's nomination. But the massive setbacks for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) might just as well have ended his hopes for a first-ballot win, or even holding former Vice President Joe Biden off from winning a first-ballot majority himself. Despite having won Michigan four years ago against Hillary Clinton, Sanders lost every county in the key Midwestern state this week — and every county in Missouri and Mississippi, as well.

Even more ominously, the race's final contest in Washington state turned out too close to call by the next afternoon. In 2016, Sanders got 72 percent of the vote in the progressive-friendly state and the lion's share of its delegates. By the end of the count, Biden might have a lead of nearly 200 delegates — perhaps insurmountable in Democrats' proportional-allocation primary system.

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Edward Morrissey

Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.