Biden has shown he can beat Sanders. Whether he can now defeat Trump depends on Bernie

Three septuagenarians were vying for the presidency but now there are just two, writes Andrew Buncombe

The pair will need to work together to defeat the president (Getty)

There may very well be a joke in which three men aged in their seventies walk into a bar.

“Which one of you wants to be president,” asks the barman. “I do,” the three septuagenarians reply in unison.

“You can’t all be the president,” says the barman. “We’ll let the people decide.”

That has sort of been the political drama playing out these past few weeks as the Democratic Party sought to identify a candidate to take on Donald Trump, 73, in November.

For a while, it appeared that white-haired Bernie Sanders, 78, was going be the one. Now it seems the fight will be led by the thinning 77-year-old Joe Biden.

In one sense, Sanders has been thrown out of the bar.

After Biden saved his campaign with a knockout win in South Carolina and a strong Super Tuesday after dismal performances in the first three states to vote, his victories on “Big Tuesday” have provided him with a massive dose of momentum as he takes his sometimes physically and mentally creaky campaign forward.

Sanders is not out yet. Theoretically, there are enough states and delegates for him to turn things around even at this stage.

Yet, bar-room wisdom suggests he probably knows his time is up.

With massive pressure from Democrats to unite behind a candidate and prepare the party for what will be an ugly street fight with Trump, Sanders may well decide not to hang around until next Tuesday when the states of Illinois, Ohio, Arizona and Florida hold their votes.

“I’m not a masochist who wants to stay in a race that can’t be won. But right now, that’s a little bit premature,” Sanders said at the weekend. “Let’s not determine what will happen on Tuesday and what will happen in the future.”

Not everyone thinks Sanders will be so quick to pull out. He is due to go head-to-head with Biden this Sunday in a one-on-one debate. Will he think he could use that to turn around his campaign?

If Sanders requires the kind of space to consider his next steps – as was granted the likes of Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren when their possible routes to success looked perilously narrow – he should be granted it.

Four years after the “crazy commie from Vermont” gave Hillary Clinton and the Democratic establishment a real run for their money, Sanders has worked to push front and centre the issues he believes are of most interest to the American people: access to healthcare, well-paid jobs, a sane approach to the climate crisis.

Whether or not he wins the nomination, it will be impossible to remove from the political conversation such issues as the federal minimum wage, criminal justice reform, and universal healthcare.

That is not his achievement alone, but his two presidential runs have made them part of the mainstream discourse.

And his ideas and his passion have found a place in the hearts and minds of millions of ordinary Americans, not least young people who are not thrilled about their future or that of the planet.

That is why the role of Sanders will be essential if Biden is to defeat Trump. Four years ago, it was estimated that as many as 12 per cent of people who voted for Sanders in the primaries refused to support Clinton in the general election, and instead voted for Trump. Given that Trump only sneaked to victory by 77,000 votes scattered across Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, who knows if those disgruntled “Bernie Bros” pushed Trump home.

Democrats cannot afford to let that happen again. The prime reason that Biden appears to be on his way to the nomination is the hatred many in the party feel for Trump. Talking to Democrats at rallies across the country over the past 18 months, their primary objective has been to defeat the president.

It is essential therefore that Biden does everything to win Sanders and his enthusiastic and energised supporters to his side. It may require a lot of talking, a lot of concessions on policies, or even the guarantee of a job in the administration if he wants one.

Whatever it takes, Biden must do it. He could start by buying him a drink.

“Barman!”