Did Sanders like Biden too much? Welcome to the Maclean's Politics Insider: America 2020, launched for readers who crave U.S. political news during primary season. If you want to receive this new newsletter, take no action, it will arrive in your inbox every weekday at noon. If you'd rather not receive it, please unsubscribe here. Why Warren might not endorse Sanders: Though Elizabeth Warren suspended her presidential campaign last week after her disappointing Super Tuesday, she has yet to endorse a candidate — even though she was often labelled part of the Bernie Sanders progressive wing of the party. Two reporters from the New York Times found that although Warren has talked to Sanders several times in the last week (and only once to Joe Biden), she is still unlikely to endorse him — or anyone. While the two are not as friendly as they used to be before the primary, the main reason is that she just doesn't think he can win the nomination, and it may not be worth hurting her standing in a party that is coalescing around the likely nominee: Since her exit from the race, his path to victory has looked unlikely. [Insiders] doubt that Ms. Warren, even as the most prominent former candidate to have not backed another primary contender so far, could reverse Mr. Sanders’s fortunes at this point, and fear that she risks squandering valuable political capital if she tries to do so and fails. It was also not clear what difference Ms. Warren might have made in addressing Mr. Sanders’s glaring vulnerability with black voters, with whom Ms. Warren had shown little sway herself. Sanders wouldn't go after Biden: Before February 29, Bernie Sanders looked like the sure winner of the Democratic nomination, barring a Bloomberg surge. After the primaries on March 10, he found himself with almost no chance of winning. Could things have been different? Rosie Gray of Buzzfeed reports that some of Sanders' advisers had spent months urging him to be harder on Joe Biden , who, after all, was ahead in the polls for most of that time. Sanders was reluctant to do this, because he liked Biden personally: two aides told Gray that Biden was one of the few establishment Democrats "who were nice to Sanders before he mattered." After Super Tuesday, Sanders finally began attacking Biden's record and past positions in a systematic way — but by then, it was too late. Biden's COVID committee: The COVID-19 outbreak has forced cancellations of campaign events and is gradually becoming more of a presence in the candidates' speeches — particularly since the candidates themselves are old and especially vulnerable to the virus. Joe Biden's campaign announced on Wednesday that it is creating a special "Public Health Advisory Committee" on the new coronavirus, whose panelists (all of whom are known to Biden from their days working in the Obama administration) will advise the candidate on the steps the campaign should take to combat the spread of the disease. It may be especially important for Biden to show primary voters that he takes the pandemic seriously, because according to a poll taken by The Economist, 61% of Democrats are personally worried about catching the coronavirus, compared to only 37% of Republicans. Russian interference is still a thing: According to anonymous U.S. officials, Russia is gearing up to top their much-discussed interference in the 2016 election. Four years ago, Russian intelligence operatives used social media to spread racially inflammatory "fake news" and disinformation. Now they're trying for the real thing, "prodding white nationalists to more aggressively spread hate messages," and also "trying to push black extremist groups toward violence." Now that social media companies are more vigilant about such things, these efforts are now more likely to take place in private groups or anonymous boards like 4chan, which reach fewer people but are more difficult to monitor. — Jaime Weinman | 
