Finally!

Super Tuesday is underway in all 16 states and territories.

Here is my "what to look for" list:

1. Is the "Biden Bounce" real?

Or have the centrists pulled his campaign out of the ditch. The former VP added critical endorsements and his support among African-Americans remains strong. Yet polling indicates a mixed bag as drop-outs increased his support but Sanders is experiencing the same bounce in critical states such as California (494 delegates) and Texas (261). Now this might portend another development...

2. Is the Bloom off (or will the Battle of the B's ever materialize)?

The post Super Tuesday delegate projection prior to the centrist exodus looked like this:

Sanders-415

Biden-322

Bloomberg-208

As I type this sentence, The billionaire former mayor still has 0 delegates. Yet he is a self-made billionaire who can fund a campaign with the interest from his money market account. However, pulling the needed 1991 delegates to win the nomination remained a massive long shot especially when adding in the expected defections. And those defections are happening.

So what now? Bloomberg' best, greatest hope was building momentum and support among Democratic leaders. This required branding himself as the best reasonable alternative to Bernie who could take on Trump. The Biden surge mutes this message.

3. The 15% Floor suddenly became less daunting for the leaders

This requires a brief Dem primary/proportional election refresher course. The Democrats hold proportional primaries in every (primary) state which means the delegate pot is split according to voter share and not winner take all. However, every state mandates hopefuls pull at least 15% of the vote or they get bupkus. This should no longer be an issue for the 2 front-runners.

4. Follow the $$$

Yes Biden is working overtime to convince primary voters he is the candidate Trump fears. Yet he is also playing a "prove it" game with big $$$ donors. The results will play out over time but look for his fundraising to pick up with a string showing

Also, you will see that heading again within several contexts.

That is it for now. Stay tuned....