Biden dominates Sanders in a three-state primary sweep

Democratic Presidential frontrunner Joe Biden. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Tonight, former Vice President Joe Biden sweeps Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries as CNN projects him to win in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona and delivers a total shut out of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

With guidelines recommending that Americans practice social distancing, some considered today's state elections absurd as they jeopardized public health.

Nevertheless, Biden scored big, dominating Sanders in all three states as previous polls suggested he would. 

Biden's base remains consistent as moderate Democrats, blacks, and voters over 65 support are unwavering. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden leads Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) 1,147 delegates to 861 delegates respectively according to NPR’s delegate tracker. Photo by NPR

Biden is now fast-tracking toward the nomination. NPR projects that Biden has currently collected 1,147 delegates, as he is the first to cross the 1,000 delegate threshold.

Biden needs 1,991 delegates to clinch the nomination, and Sanders' chances are looking more mathematically improbable by the day.

Biden, obviously thrilled about tonight's success, yet concerned about the public health, addressed his supporters via a live stream. 

"It's important for us to get through this crisis, protecting both the public health and our democracy," Biden said.

"Our campaign has had a very good night. We've moved closer to securing the Democratic Party's nomination for president, and we're doing it by building a broad coalition that we need to win in November."

Biden, hoping to ensure that Sen. Sanders' supporters are part of his coalition, offered an olive branch of which to climb.

"Senator Sanders and I may disagree on tactics, but we share a common vision for the need to provide affordable health care for all Americans, reduce income inequity that has risen so drastically, to tackling the existential threat of our time, climate change," Biden said.

It is unclear what Sen. Sanders now feels about the viability of his campaign. Still, as the Sanders campaign scrambles to remain viable, the Biden campaign continues to ride the momentum he gained from his South Carolina primary victory.

Please follow Aaron Kershaw on Twitter at @polygraphtics