What Went Down At The South Carolina Primary

And unlike the conventional wisdom, the FiveThirtyEight model always thought Biden was a more viable alternative to Sanders than, say, Buttigieg or Klobuchar, even after his losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. Having a relatively broad coalition helps, and Biden and Sanders have the two broadest coalitions in the party.

Sarah, lucky for Biden, Iowa was a mess. But also I think the amount of frustration voters and candidates aired over the role such white states play in the process could have primed folks not to care all that much about Iowa and New Hampshire.

Ha, I’m not here to wage another caucus versus primary fight (not tonight, anyway). But I do think you’re right that it muddled things, Kaleigh, and didn’t have as much of an impact as in previous years. That said, to go from fourth in Iowa to fifth in New Hampshire and then a distant second in Nevada to now an overwhelming (maybe!?!) first in South Carolina? That’s kind of a wild roller coaster to me.