The resurrection of former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign was all but guaranteed on Tuesday night when he won a majority of delegates in the states of Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, and Idaho. And the voters who helped Biden’s upset in Michigan: Women, specifically white women.
NPR reports that while exit polls showed Biden 47 percent of men in the state to Sanders’s 48 percent, he absolutely dominated with women, besting Sanders by nearly 20 points: 57 percent of women in Michigan voted for Biden, 37 percent for Sanders. And despite all of the media hype over Biden’s success with black voters, it was white women who ultimately cemented his victory, as he won their support by double digits, per NPR.
Biden’s hold on the women vote was even higher in Mississippi and Missouri: 83 percent and According to NBC exit polls, in Mississippi, 83 percent and 64 percent respectively according to NBC exit polls.
That Biden is apparently emerging as the women’s candidate despite supporting a health care policy that would still leave millions of American women uninsured, backing only 12 weeks of paid family leave (Sanders supports six months), and having no childcare plan is disappointing. Also disappointing: the fact that the legislation that he helped pen and continues to champion—the Violence Against Women Act—disproportionately ended up beefing up criminalization efforts more than it helped protect the most vulnerable women in America. But none of this is entirely surprising. The endorsements by influential Democrats as well as a media industry enamored with a comeback narrative have pushed Biden as the electable candidate against President Trump. His momentum is unquestionable, and that might be all he needs to win the Democratic primary. Not policies—just that elusive electability factor.