GREENVILLE: Former vice president Joe Biden is seeking a decisive win in South Carolina’s Democratic primary election on Saturday to resuscitate his presidential hopes, while Bernie Sanders aims to cement his status as front-runner for the party’s nomination.

The nominating contest in South Carolina, the fourth state to weigh in on which Democrat will face Republican President Donald Trump in November, is taking place just three days before the Super Tuesday elections in 14 states, which will award one-third of the available national delegates in a single day.

South Carolina, where African Americans account for 60 per cent of the Democratic electorate, is seen as a final stand for Biden, the one-time front-runner who faltered in national polls after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sanders aims to cement his status as front-runner for party’s nomination

His second-place finish in Nevada’s caucuses a week ago — while still far behind Sanders, a US senator from Vermont — provided his campaign fresh momentum, and polls show he is well positioned to win South Carolina.

For months, Biden’s campaign has argued the state would serve as a “firewall” given his strength among African-American voters, and Biden himself has suggested anything less than a victory would imperil his campaign.

“He’s going to show them what he’s got,” said Allison Pryor, 57, a retired parole officer from Charleston who said she planned to vote for Biden.

But with Super Tuesday looming, even a comfortable victory in South Carolina might not be enough for Biden to blunt the momentum of Sanders, a self-identified “democratic socialist” whom Democratic Party leaders worry might be too left-wing to beat Trump.

After South Carolina, Biden will also face competition from billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has blanketed the country with half a billion dollars in advertising. Bloomberg skipped the first four states and will be on the ballot for the first time on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2020