Sen. Bernie Sanders has signaled his imminent departure from the nomination contest. His sooner-than-expected exit frees presumptive nominee Joe Biden to fire up his general election campaign to defeat President Trump in November. Contact: Carter Christensen, [email protected], 202-525-3931 Winning where it matters: Joe Biden’s task in the fall campaign by Will Marshall, PPI President (Paul Sancya/AP) Sen. Bernie Sanders has signaled his imminent departure from the nomination contest. His sooner-than-expected exit frees presumptive nominee Joe Biden to fire up his general election campaign to defeat President Trump in November. Except that the coronavirus pandemic has put presidential politics in suspended animation, along with the economy and almost every other aspect of normal life. We don’t even know if the remaining primaries will happen, or whether it will be safe for delegates to assemble at a national convention this summer. There will be a presidential election, however, and at this point it seems likely to unfold in only a handful of closely contested states: Florida, Ohio and the three rustbelt states that put Trump over the top in the Electoral College, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. New Hampshire, Arizona and North Carolina, also look to be in play. With actual campaigning on hold, Biden strategists should be thinking geographically and crafting a message for winning where it matters. First, the Democratic advantage on health care — so critical to the party’s midterm 2018 gains — apparently has been dissipated by Sanders’ push for Medicare for All. By better than two-to-one (69-31%), battleground voters favor changes that build on the existing public-private health insurance system to a single, government-run health plan. That’s true of Democrats too, who favor the former by 18 points. READ THE FULL PIECE HERE ‌ ‌ ‌ Progressive Policy Institute | 1200 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Suite 575, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | About Constant Contact Sent by [email protected] in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!