US Election: Candidates to confront President Trump gradually emerge

The situation of the "two-horse" race

When Joe Biden officially entered the race to win the Democratic nomination to enter the final round against the Republican nominee, many people considered Joe Biden to be a promising candidate with moderate qualities and many years of political experience, including 8 years as Vice President for Barack Obama. Although he failed in the early election round in some states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, Joe Biden quickly regained his form in the two important election days of "Super Tuesday 1" and "Super Tuesday 2" with an overwhelming number of votes won in extremely important states such as Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Idaho, Washington...

Mr. Joe Biden (left) and Mr. Bernie Sanders in the televised debate last weekend. Photo: Financial Times

Before the “mini Super Tuesday” election on March 17, the Democratic Party only had candidate Bernie Sanders who had enough potential to compete with Mr. Joe Biden. But the results in the three states of Florida, Illinois and Arizona widened the gap between the two candidates. Accordingly, Mr. Joe Biden continued to win overwhelmingly in Florida with a rate of more than 67% compared to 23% for Mr. Bernie Sanders, 59% - 36% is the corresponding rate for the two candidates in Illinois. With 249 delegates pledged to Mr. Joe Biden in all three states, the game is almost over for Mr. Bernie Sanders, leaving the only chance to enter the final race on November 3 for Mr. Joe Biden.

Analysts are confident that, if there are no sudden events, the race to the White House will take place between former Vice President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump, because up to this point, Mr. Donald Trump still receives absolute support from Republican members and has surpassed the necessary delegate threshold.

After the important victory on “Super Tuesday”, Joe Biden has considered the longer road ahead, ready to enter the final battle with Donald Trump by attracting voters who support candidate Bernie Sanders. In the Democratic primary, Joe Biden’s victory was decided by the group of voters who are traditionally loyal to the Democratic Party, highly educated whites, women, African Americans. But now Joe Biden needs to attract young voters, reformers, Latinos - the group that supported Bernie Sanders. Surely Joe Biden and his campaign team understand the importance of unity at this time, because that is the strength that the Republican Party has firmly grasped since the election began.

While the Republican Party “united forces” to help Donald Trump win a second term as President, the Democratic Party did not. At the beginning, the Democratic Party had 27 candidates, and by “Super Tuesday 1”, there were still 5 candidates. Therefore, the support for Democratic candidates was clearly divided compared to the Republican Party. Therefore, in a speech on March 17, Joe Biden especially emphasized unity, saying that he and Bernie Sanders may have different tactics, but both of them share a common vision, which is to unite the Democratic Party, and further, unite the entire United States, thereby solving problems considered to be threats to the country.

Joe Biden is almost certain to become the Democratic Party's nominee in the final round of elections. Photo: CNN

Warning signs for Donald Trump

Throughout the Democratic primary, the message that has been widely circulated among voters is to focus on which candidate is most likely to defeat President Donald Trump, rather than on any specific policy issues. And the biggest bet so far has been Joe Biden. Many have pointed to Biden’s cancellation of a campaign rally in Philadelphia to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and his strategy for dealing with the pandemic that he outlined in Sunday’s televised debate, as a way to show how he has handled the issue better than President Donald Trump.

While Mr. Joe Biden called for immediate implementation of free testing and treatment for patients infected with the virus, paying wages to workers who are laid off due to business closures, providing food for children when schools are closed... Meanwhile, President Donald is said to have reacted quite slowly, from downplaying the severity of the epidemic in the early stages, to not conducting widespread testing, and most recently, clearly showing xenophobia by calling the virus the "Chinese virus".

The Democratic primary results in a series of key battlegrounds not only further solidified the confidence in Joe Biden in the final race to the White House, but also sent signals that could make current President Donald Trump’s campaign team wary. Among the many “battleground states” where Joe Biden won, the situation in Michigan on “Super Tuesday 2” was closely studied as a prime example of how Joe Biden could find a way to defeat Donald Trump.

Michigan is the state where Donald Trump defeated his opponent Hilary Clinton by more than 11,000 votes. In the Democratic primary, Joe Biden beat Bernie Sanders with 55% of the vote. Notably, many of those 55% came from the group that supported Donald Trump in the election four years ago and is believed to have played a very important role in his final victory: white people without a high level of education.

Democratic voters are betting on Joe Biden to defeat incumbent President Donald Trump. Photo: CNN

Therefore, the victory in Michigan not only adds to Joe Biden's number of delegates needed to become the final candidate of the Democratic Party, but also reveals a feasible election strategy for Joe Biden's team, which is to focus on conquering the group of voters who previously supported Donald Trump, especially the white working class in the industrial regions of the Central and Western United States. By not alienating the group of voters who were the foundation for Donald Trump, Joe Biden further strengthens the message of unity within the Democratic Party and unity of America that he mentioned after the election on March 17.

Of course, no one can predict the outcome of the November 3 general election from the Democratic primary alone. But once the primary sends important signals, the side that grasps the signals faster and has a better strategy will be the winner. Therefore, many people believe that if Joe Biden’s campaign can find a way to “block” the group of white working-class voters in states other than Michigan, the door to the White House will be much wider open for him.