Sunday, March 1, 2020

It's March BAY-BEE!! Madness may prevail on and off the court


We finally are at the great month of March, and it feels like a whole lot is going to happen that'll clear things up in a very uncertain time where there are quite a few contenders, but no one established as the one to beat. And not just in college basketball, but also the Dem primary.

The great Charlie Pierce precisely pointed out on the eve of Joe Biden's large win in South Carolina that media would overtstate the importance of a state that only accounts for 2% of the total delegates Biden needs to clinch the Democratic nomination. And Pierce adds that few people really know how things will develop in the next few days, no matter how sure they seem as they throw their opinions against the wall.
It’s a bright, beautiful primary day here in the home office of American sedition, and people seem most convinced that Uncle Joe Biden has finally found a “path” to the nomination that doesn’t lead to the Sarlacc pit. The next five days, in which a whopping share of the delegates can be won, either will bring some clarity to this race, or leave it in a hopeless muddle. I’m inclined to the latter speculation, and not just because I’m a big fan of chaos.

Elizabeth Warren could finish second in both California and Massachusetts, which would be good and very bad for her. Tom Steyer, who's pumped so much money into this state they should name a bridge after him, may turn out to be a one-state wonder (and wasn't even that, as Steyer dropped out after failing to get ONE delegate in SC), and Michael Bloomberg’s wallet remains more impressive than the candidate ever was. If Biden gets a big win here, the only story coming from an elite political media that has been dying of thirst for it over the past three months is going to be The Biden Bounceback. But Biden’s chances three days later are far murkier. I am told that his presence in California is minimal at best. So, what do we learn if Biden doubles up Sanders here, but then goes to California and doesn’t even land a single delegate? Surging can’t be entirely in the eye of the beholder. It remains the William Goldman election: nobody knows anything.
But let's face it, all these February contests in unrepresentative, small states are good for are related to fundraising and media narratives. It has little to do with how these candidates are connecting with the voters in the majority of the country.

Many more of those voters will get a chance to have their voices heard in the next 16 days, and we'll see who is left standing by the time the race hits Wisconsin in early April.

But hey, at least we're finally going to get some definitive results. And it's coming in one of my favorite times of the year, a month where ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, BAY-BEEE!!!



Now excuse me, but I gotta make my way downtown this PM to check out our 53 degree weather, and see if my alma mater can make it 6 in a row on the court.

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