Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden are facing a moment of truth in Michigan Tuesday.
After the 2020 Democratic field consolidated last week into a two-man race between the septuagenarians, both campaigns are eyeing a trove of delegates from Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington on Super Tuesday II. But Michigan and its 125 delegates is the top prize.
“It’s a critical state,” Jordan Uhl, a progressive activist and prominent Sanders supporter told The Post. “Michigan is a working-class stronghold. It’s also a swing state. This can prove electability in swing states. It’s a better metric of how a candidate might perform in the general as opposed to North Dakota. A lot of different voting blocs live there.”
For Sanders and his army of Bernie Bros, the state carries heavy emotional weight. Sanders won the Michigan primary in 2016, overcoming a double-digit polling lead from Hillary Clinton. Though the delegates were virtually split even, the moment renewed momentum for his campaign after Clinton smoked him on Super Tuesday.
Trump went on to squeak by Clinton in the all-important swing state in the general, by less than one quarter of 1 percent.
Sanders’ campaign did not respond to request for comment from The Post, but his actions suggest they take victory in the state very seriously.
The senator canceled a rally in Mississippi this week — a concession to Biden’s dominance among southern black voters — to instead redouble his efforts in Michigan. The polls, however, have been forbidding. The latest survey, from WDIV/Detroit News, found Biden leading Sanders by 6.7%.
Team Biden is aiming for a rust-belt kill shot, after his impressive Super Tuesday performance. On Wednesday Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered her endorsement for Biden.
“We need a president who will show up and fight for Michiganders, and @JoeBiden has proven time and again that he has our back. I am proud to both endorse him and announce that I will be joining his campaign as a co-chair,” she said in a tweeted statement.
“It’s about results and not revolution, we are incredibly confident,” a Biden aide told The Post. “In a swing state, in a place where health care is so important, in a place where the auto bailout is so important. We are incredibly confident Joe Biden is going to perform well on Tuesday.”
