Not long ago it seemed Bernie Sanders would again carry Michigan in his campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Remember, the Vermont senator and avowed Democratic socialist defied a double-digit deficit in the polls to win the Wolverine State during his 2016 campaign against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.
This time around he seemed the favorite, especially when the field of Democrat contenders was split several ways. Then came South Carolina, followed by Super Tuesday and the eventual departures of Senator Elizabeth Warren and ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
To say the dynamics of the race have changed over the past week or two would be an understatement.
Tomorrow’s primary election in Michigan — four other states are also voting — could be the last stand for Sanders.
Make no mistake. The powers-that-be have rallied around former Vice President Joe Biden’s candidacy out of sheer desperation in an attempt to save the Democratic Party from the kind of electoral disaster that awaits it if Sanders is atop the ticket as the presidential nominee.
You name them and they have endorsed Biden. Countless surrogates have parachuted into Michigan’s cities. Not only does Biden want to run up the score, but party bosses want to put the last nail in the coffin of Sanders, who spent the weekend stumping for votes in Flint, Grand Rapids, Detroit, and the nearby suburbs of Ann Arbor and Dearborn.
All this has moved the needle. Hugely. For proof just look at the polling.
Biden has an almost unbelievable lead of 24 points, according to the latest poll from the liberal Detroit Free Press. Biden was also well ahead of Sanders in three other recent polls, including Monmouth University and Michigan-based Mitchell Research.
It is entirely possible that history will repeat itself and Sanders will get another upset four years after his first. After all, Michigan has been somewhat notorious for bad polling over the past couple of election cycles.
There is also the unknown factor of Republicans meddling in the Democrat primary. This is possible because Michigan doesn’t have party registration and, as a result, any voter can vote in any party’s primary. Hence why Sanders agreed to a one-hour town hall on Fox News, which is hardly known for having a viewing audience of Democrats. If the margin is, as expected, huge for Biden then this won’t be an issue but any Republican mischief could actually make the difference if Sanders finds enough momentum to mount an upset.
However, a Sanders comeback seems unlikely given how the Democratic establishment has went all-in with Biden.
Of course, the Sanders campaign insists it will continue beyond Michigan, but then again all losing candidates insist their campaigns will continue.
Dennis Lennox is a political commentator and public affairs consultant from Michigan. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter.
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