Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden , who is seeking to deliver a knockout blow to rival Bernie Sanders on Tuesday as six States vote, received another boost on Monday when former presidential hopeful Cory Booker endorsed his campaign.
The U.S. Senator from New Jersey, who ended his own White House bid in January, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Biden would “restore honor to the Oval Office.”
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Mr. Booker’s endorsement — one day after another onetime candidate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, did likewise — means Mr. Biden has picked up the backing of two black former presidential contenders as he seeks the party’s nomination to take on Republican President Donald Trump this fall.
Wave of endorsements
Mr. Biden over the past nine days has powered to the front of the contest for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican President Donald Trump on November 3. A wave of endorsements by his former rivals has made him the clear standard-bearer for the Democratic Party’s moderate wing, while Mr. Sanders represents the party’s more liberal elements. A win in the Midwestern “rust belt” State could give the former Vice-President an insurmountable lead in the number of delegates needed to win the nomination at the party’s July convention.
Mr. Sanders, a U.S. Senator from Vermont, may need a victory in Michigan to recapture momentum after Mr. Biden showed surprising strength in last week’s Super Tuesday contests. An opinion poll from the Detroit Free Press published on Monday found Mr. Biden holding a 24-percentage-point lead over Mr. Sanders among Democratic voters in Michigan.
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One of the most talked-about moments of Ms. Harris’s campaign was her blistering attack on Mr. Biden during a June presidential debate. She called his remarks about working with segregationist Senators hurtful and questioned Mr. Biden’s 1970s opposition to school busing.
Mr. Sanders scored a surprise upset in Michigan four years ago in the Democratic primary against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton. Ms. Clinton would later lose the historically Democratic State by a narrow margin to Mr. Trump. On Sunday, he sought to close that gap with an endorsement from the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader and 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential contender. Mr. Jackson said the Senator’[s progressive agenda offered black Americans the best chance to catch up socially and economically.
