Welcome to The Lift from Eat the Press, I'm Carrie Dan. The world today looks very different than it did, let's say, a week ago. Last Wednesday, the results of the primaries, in what we call it, above-average Tuesday, were probably above the fold in most major newspapers. Joe Biden's big win in Michigan, it wasn't even close.
Yeah, remember that? Can Sanders go on? Will delegates in Washington state help him? Or is it over?
Yeah, if you feel like all of that was a lifetime ago, you are not alone. And one week later, last night, there were even more primaries, although you could be forgiven for being distracted or even confused about them. After all, it wasn't clear until the very last minute whether or not Ohio was even going to have a primary on Tuesday, spoiler alert, they did not, and where contests did happen not very much changed. As expected, Joe Biden decisively won all three contests held on Tuesday in Florida, Arizona, and Illinois, extending his delegate lead over Bernie Sanders even further.
And of course, all of that just underlined the same question everyone had about Bernie Sanders last week, which is what happens next. On the one hand, the primary process is basically frozen with a next set of big contests already postponed or likely to be on the primary calendar. Neither candidate can campaign in anything that looks like a traditional way. And what Sanders does or doesn't do right now is honestly less of a concern for almost all Americans than just them figuring out how they're going to work and provide for their families and stay healthy today.
So in some ways, the pressure on Sanders is way less than it would have been in a regular world to make a decision about his future in the race. On the other hand, the worst thing anyone can do at a time like this is look like they're putting their own personal political interests ahead of the current crisis. And Sanders realistically has a hard time laying out a path to the nomination. With more than half of the delegates already having been out for grabs, he is behind Joe Biden's lead is growing, the math is just getting tougher and tougher, and perhaps most importantly, Bernie Sanders isn't growing his base at all over his 2016 numbers.
Now, if Sanders says he's talking to his supporters and assessing what to do next. And on Wednesday, he denied rumors and one quickly debunked reports that he's actually leaving the race. Now, all along, Sanders has had some leverage here to try to push Biden to adopt more progressive positions using his supporters and the delegates he does have to ratchet up the pressure. But the political landscape is shifting so fast right now that what looks progressive might well be our new normal in just a couple months.
I mean, people dismissed Andrew Yang's idea of giving big checks to every American as wildly unrealistic a few months ago. And now the federal government led by Republicans is floating exactly that. And our health care system is definitely going to look very different by the fall. We just don't know exactly how yet.
What we do know is this, keep washing your hands, keep socially distancing, stay safe, call your loved ones, support your neighbors. That's a lid for us. Did you wash your hands yet? Go do it if you haven't.
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