Joe Biden is riding high in South Carolina. With Super Tuesday in just days, it might not be enough

Despite the optimism surrounding Biden’s chances in South Carolina, there are questions about whether the campaign will gain enough momentum to power it through Super Tuesday, which takes place in just five days.

The available evidence suggests that Biden remains outgunned in advertising money and outmanned on the ground in the 14 states that will vote March 3, allocating a third of the nomination’s total delegates.

Of all the candidates on Tuesday’s debate stage, the Biden campaign was the last to devote serious advertising resources to the states. The campaign announced its first major Super Tuesday spending on Wednesday, saying it will spend six figures on ads primarily targeting black voters.

In comparison, Sanders has spent $13.5 million on airtime in the states, with seven figures each in just Texas, North Carolina and Colorado, according to Politico.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has spent $3.5 million on television; former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has spent $1.6 million, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has spent more than $900,000, according to Politico.

The race’s two billionaires, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, have spent even more. Bloomberg has dropped $172 million on television and radio while Steyer has spent $35 million, data from ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics show.

In addition to his heavy spending, Sanders is currently ahead in most of the Super Tuesday states for which enough polling data is available to say. If he decisively wins on Tuesday, he could gain an unstoppable lead.

Biden’s disadvantage carries over to staffing, where an NBC analysis of payroll data shows that Biden has a team about half the size of the ones campaigning for Bloomberg and Sanders. Warren’s campaign is the biggest in the field.

But those considerations haven’t seemed to dampen enthusiasm among voters in South Carolina, who are quick to note that only three states have voted so far, representing just a tiny fraction of the race’s delegates.

Tomi Greene, a 70-year-old black woman, said after an event in Charleston this week that she had cast her ballot for Biden early. The event, a civil rights breakfast hosted by activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, was attended by all the major candidates except Bloomberg.

Greene said the other candidates seemed to be there to debate each other but that Biden didn’t have to do so. She noted that Biden spent most of his time on stage praising Clyburn, who would endorse him that morning.

“He really doesn’t have to rally that hard, because the others are basically newcomers, you know what I mean?” Greene said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/27/joe-biden-riding-high-in-south-carolina-but-super-tuesday-is-bigger-test.html