Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Leading Democrats suddenly see their primary as a clear, two-person race — with Mike Bloomberg as the likely odd man out.
Why it matters: The Biden team feels like "a clear choice" is emerging between him and Bernie Sanders, a campaign aide told Axios' Alexi McCammond.
The state of play: South Carolina was a wake-up call for the establishment, Axios' Margaret Talev emails.
- The Rep. Clyburn surge (tons of voters told exit pollsters his endorsement affected their vote) shows endorsements still matter. Terry McAuliffe follows.
- President Obama let it be known he called Biden, even if he won't endorse yet.
- Harry Reid jumps on the train.
- Pete Buttigieg wants a future so he drops out and will endorse Biden early enough to not get blamed if Sanders runs away with it.
- Amy Klobuchar may lose Minnesota anyway plus could be a good VP choice if Biden survives, so she endorses too.
Bloomberg, campaigning in Virginia, addressed the Buttigieg/Klobuchar endorsements:
- “I thought both of them behaved themselves, is a nice way to phrase it, but they represented their country and their states very well. ... And I felt sorry for them, but I’m in it to win it.”
Flashback: The nascent Never Trump movement split votes well past Super Tuesday in 2016, with Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio hanging on in hopes of winning their states.
- That denied Sen. Ted Cruz or another candidate a chance to unify the non-Trump vote.
The bottom line: The non-Bernie/Warren wing of the field is coalescing around Biden before Super Tuesday, rather than when it's too late.
Go deeper: Biden racks up endorsements one day before Super Tuesday