After a long, chaotic and controversial battle, Wisconsin is holding a primary vote today, Tuesday, April 7. For progressive Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, it could be his last stand. Sanders, the favorite of younger voters, built a grassroots campaign that he has described as a “political revolution.”
Unfortunately for the Sanders campaign, older voters in the primary largely favored former vice president Joe Biden. Biden, a centrist candidate, was able to build a coalition of Democratic Primary voters, many of whom want a return to Obama-era “norms.” They rejected Sanders’ call for sweeping changes and embraced Biden’s milder calls for “normalcy.”
On Super Tuesday, Biden scored a series of wins across the country that served as a near-knockout punch for the Sanders campaign. Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi and Michigan all went for Biden, handing him a massive lead in delegates and demoralizing Sanders’ supporters. Wisconsin’s vote today will be one of the last major chances for Sanders to seize momentum back from his opponent.
After Wisconsin, the only other state voting before the summer is Ohio. Ohio, after a delay, decided to hold their primary by mail in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wisconsin, meanwhile, is still holding in-person voting. A controversial Supreme Court decision upheld the move, while allowing thousands of ballots that can’t be counted until after the election day to be tossed out.
Progressive voters are mostly younger and more energized than their moderate counterparts in the Democratic Party. Many young progressives don’t even identify as Democrats, instead preferring to look at a candidate’s progressive bona fides as the deciding factor of who to vote for. Biden, on the other hand, doesn’t have a massive amount of enthusiasm backing his campaign.
Many critics have argued that Biden will be unable to energize an electorate that has been exhausted by three years of defeat after defeat at the hands of Trump’s Republican party. Younger voters view Trump’s victory in 2016 as the fault of the Democratic Party for running the divisive Hillary Clinton as their nominee for president.
Sanders, who has hung his hat on his trademark policy proposal of Medicare for All, advocates for humane politics. Millions of Americans worry about things like Humira medicare cost and how they will pay their bills. Sanders’ policies appeal to them because he promises sweeping change.
Many of the same voters who swallowed their pride, put aside their values and voted for Clinton in 2016 were diehard Sanders supporters. Those same voters likely feel like this election is bearing out to be a repeat of 2016: a centrist candidate, unable to energize the progressive vote, is going to narrowly lose in the Electoral College despite winning a majority of the popular vote.
The Biden campaign has been trying to make sure this doesn’t happen. They’re reaching out to numerous progressive organizations to build a coalition. Republicans tend to present a unified front during elections. Democrats, on the other hand, have the hard job of getting numerous factions to all play nice. Not to mention, they’re fighting an uphill battle against voter suppression, gerrymandered districts and the Electoral College’s arcane rules.
The 2020 election is pivotal, and, no matter who wins, it’s sure to be a nail-biter.
