Crucial moments on the 2020 election trail
Photos: AP Images
It happened on April 25, 2019. The former vice president, then already 76, released a video declaring his candidacy for president of the United States. In his announcement video he cited what he claimed was Trump’s reaction to the neo-Nazi riots at Charlottesville as his reason for entering the race. At that point there was still a plethora of talented and charismatic candidates in the race, from Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke to Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker. While his opponents treated the elderly Biden with respect, they clearly expected to steamroll him in the primaries in a generational change of the guard.
Some may not remember what exactly happened on March 3, Super Tuesday. For one, it came at the same time the coronavirus broke out across the United States, which claimed the lion’s share of media attention. Secondly, the same week also saw elections in Israel. The Democratic primaries didn’t receive the media and public attention they would have in an ordinary year. But Super Tuesday was essentially
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, after a meeting at the White House, Tuesday, June 30, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)the moment the Democratic Party closed ranks behind Biden, with all but one of the moderate candidates dropping out to endorse him in the days before Super Tuesday.
It all happened so fast. Two weeks earlier Biden was still reeling from dismal performances in Iowa and New Hampshire, and seemed on the verge of going down as the biggest paper tiger in political history. But on Super Tuesday he came back to sweep ten of the 14 states contested, effectively ending the campaigns of Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren. With that, Biden opened a lead over Bernie Sanders that the latter couldn’t overcome.
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