But something happened; something unexpected, completely unexpected happened:  the surprising outcome of the primaries in South Carolina. Joe Biden didn’t just win the primaries; he won by a crushing defeat over Bernie Sanders, almost 30 percentage point. That outcome, that incredible win changed everything. In a flash, everything you thought was going to happen after the South Carolina primaries became fiction. Joe Biden came back from the dead. All remaining candidates – minus Bernie (and temporarily Elizabeth Warren) – dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. Money began to flow into the Biden’s campaign; renewed hope of Biden’s nomination lit up social media; the Democrat leaders once again felt alive.

Sure everyone expected Biden to win South Carolina but no one expected him to win by the large margin he did. In fact, a few days prior, political commentators joked about Jim Clyburn’s wish on an interview with CNN that Joe Biden would win by double digit. The South Carolina primary was a game changer. Bernie was disappointed; Biden was revived; polls taken immediately after the SC win showed Bernie’s lead on the national stage over Biden was shrinking.

However, political strategists continued to believe Biden’s delegate count would trail Bernie’s by at least 100 after the Super Tuesday primaries; not a bad place to be at this stage in the primaries. For Biden, Super Tuesday was a ‘do or die’ moment; surprisingly, instead of having to catch-up with Bernie in the number of delegates needed to win the nomination, it is Bernie who will have to catch-up to Biden. After all the primaries in the Super Tuesday had been reported, Biden was ahead of Bernie by a whopping 90+ delegates.

The primaries are over!

It is finished for Bernie.