Heading Toward a Two-Man Race to Take on Trump

(Bloomberg) --

Joe Biden delivered.

Biden reclaimed his perch as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, setting up a potentially nasty showdown with Bernie Sanders over whether a centrist or a progressive should take on Donald Trump.

Biden's Super Tuesday victories exceeded expectations, Justin Sink explains. He won across the Deep South, showing his appeal with black voters, and claimed victory in Minnesota, a predominantly white Rust Belt state that is in Trump's cross-hairs in November's presidential election.

The former vice president also won among rich, educated suburbanites in Virginia and North Carolina who waffled for months over which candidate to support. He scored upsets in delegate-rich Texas and in Massachusetts.

Lackluster performances from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren are fueling questions about whether they will soon bow out.

There's still a long road ahead for the Democrats. Sanders won California — the biggest prize of the entire nominating race — and Biden's weak fundraising and trademark gaffes remain hurdles.

Still, in politics winning along the way is important. And in the pivotal primaries in 14 states, Biden did just that. The decisive message from Super Tuesday is this: Democratic voters singularly obsessed with defeating Trump may have found their candidate.

(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News)

Global Headlines

Travel curbs | The European Central Bank became the latest to restrict non-essential travel due to the spreading coronavirus, as Japan's Olympics minister said it would be possible to delay the summer games to later in the year.

• Trump's response to the outbreak and the damage it's inflicting on global markets is most notable for what he hasn't done. Click here to read more. 
• And here for how the virus is disrupting the $1.7 trillion global tourism industry.

No respite | Hours after Trump spoke by phone with a top leader of the Taliban, the U.S. conducted an airstrike against the militant group, which was attacking Afghan forces in Helmand province. Trump said both sides on the “very good” call had reiterated a commitment to reduce violence made in a peace agreement signed last weekend. After 43 separate Taliban attacks yesterday and several today that killed as many as 20 Afghan soldiers, the U.S. vowed to defend its partners.

Sessions stumbles | Jeff Sessions, Trump's first attorney general, faces a fight in his bid to reclaim the Alabama Senate seat that was lost to Democrat Doug Jones in 2017. Sessions and Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, each won about a third of votes in yesterday's Republican primary, short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff on March 31 to become the party's candidate.

Tough talks | The killing of at least three Turkish soldiers and wounding of 15 others in clashes with the Syrian army stoked tensions between Turkey and Russia ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting tomorrow in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. Turkey is battling a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in Idlib province, the country's last opposition stronghold.

Kyiv shuffle | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's popularity has taken a hit as the economy struggles, but Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk is paying the price. Honcharuk, who at 35 was Ukraine's youngest-ever premier, is the chief casualty of a cabinet shuffle in which the finance minister is also going. Parliament meets today to approve the changes, with Honcharuk's deputy, Denys Shmyhal, named to replace him.

What to Watch

• U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson should look beyond big transport projects in the March 11 budget to ensure billions of pounds of planned extra spending boosts the whole economy, a think tank said.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's path to forming the next Israeli government became harder after near-final election results showed his lead narrowing.
• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear its first abortion case today since Chief Justice John Roberts became the pivotal vote on the issue,  possibly foreshadowing a fight over the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
• Malaysia delayed its parliament sitting by more than two months, leaving former leader Mahathir Mohamad to wait until at least May 18 for a confidence vote against the new premier.

Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

And finally... For Pakistani journalists, there's one channel that doesn't hit the mute button when they report difficult stories involving their government or the country's powerful military: YouTube. The video-sharing social media giant is increasingly becoming the platform of choice for reporters facing one of the harshest media crackdowns in Pakistan's 72-year history, as Prime Minister Imran Khan faces criticism over the state of the economy.
 

--With assistance from Karl Maier and Ruth Pollard.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, Anthony Halpin

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.