HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Joe Biden expressed confidence Monday that he would win this weekend’s South Carolina primary as he and other Democrats fight to loosen front-runner Bernie Sanders’ grip on the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
Opening the most critical week of his campaign, Biden said he would win “by plenty” in Saturday’s contest in South Carolina, the first state with a sizable black population to weigh in on the Democratic race.
No state holds more sway over the former vice president’s political future. Biden is betting that a strong showing among African American voters will give his campaign the needed boost to recover from disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month. His allies acknowledge he must win South Carolina to have any chance of reviving his campaign.
Even in this state, the focus is shifting to Sanders. The self-described democratic socialist scored a commanding win in Nevada over the weekend, giving him two consecutive victories after a tie with Pete Buttigieg in Iowa. Sensing the prospect of a knockout punch in South Carolina, Sanders is ramping up his own outreach in the state.
His rivals moved quickly to try to blunt his efforts.
Speaking to more than 100 at a breakfast on Monday in Hilton Head, billionaire San Francisco activist Tom Steyer warned “we can’t nominate someone who is going to divide us.”
Steyer has spent more money than his seven rivals combined on television advertising in South Carolina, potentially peeling off support from Biden and Sanders.
The fiercest attacks on Sanders came from another billionaire, Mike Bloomberg. The former New York mayor won’t be on the South Carolina ballot, but has publicly warned that Sanders could amass an unbeatable delegate lead on Super Tuesday...
