THE LEDE

So we’re almost to the South Carolina primary, and we’re inching closer to Super Tuesday. The overwhelming feeling is that the cake feels kind of baked. Bernie Sanders is the frontrunner, and after Tuesday it’s going to be really, really hard for other candidates to catch up to his delegate count. That’s just math. “If he has a three-figure lead, there is no catching up,” Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager in 2016, told Ruby Cramer. “It’s too late after Super Tuesday. Even if the field drops down to two people, that person still has to be beating him by 10 to 20 points in the remaining contests.” 

What…was that? 

Tuesday’s debate was kind of a mess. There was a lot of yelling, little real substance, and the format was all over the place. Katherine Miller put it thusly: “Occasionally, in life, you can reach a point where you can no longer tolerate the sound of human voices. That point often coincides with presidential primary debates in late February — when days seem both 68 hours long and disappear, and most people in, around, or observing campaigns develop a radiant, ambient stress that never leaves.” Did we learn anything new here? 

Please let me know what your personal motto is. Mine is “You miss out on 100% of the dogs you don’t pet.” 

READ RECEIPTS

Texting with Amanda Loveday

Amanda Loveday, a political operative based in Columbia, South Carolina, is currently helping run Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC. She is the former executive director of the state’s Democratic Party and used to work for Rep. Jim Clyburn, who endorsed Biden officially on Wednesday morning. We chatted about what that endorsement means and a personal favorite topic: the best places to eat in South Carolina. 

ON THE TRAIL WITH BUZZFEED NEWS

New from Henry Gomez this morning: Here's the Buttigieg campaign plan to survive past Super Tuesday.  

A really great story from Ruby Cramer and Molly Hensley-Clancy: Some things have changed for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. She’s attacking Bloomberg, accepting help from a super PAC, and having more fun. But she’s also running out of time. 

Here’s another Super Tuesday race to watch, from Kadia Goba: Jeff Sessions is trying to get his old seat back. But he’s contending with Roy Moore and other opponents (not to mention a lack of support from Trump) to do it. 

The coronavirus outbreak and the presidential primaries are on a collision course, Zahra Hirji wrote. There’s not a whole lot of concrete plans in place to deal with that reality. 

Here’s a scoop from Ryan Brooks: Black and brown New Yorkers who lived under Michael Bloomberg are urging voters to reject him.

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