Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Tennessee all have in common — former Vice President Joe Biden claimed victory in those states last night.
But there's something else they have in common: Biden spent little to no time at all campaigning in any of these states ahead of the March nominating contest.
Biden never visited Arkansas, Minnesota or Oklahoma since launching his campaign in April 2019. Biden visited Tennessee one time in May for a fundraiser and visited Massachusetts only for finance events, not holding a single campaign rally in the state.
In the Super Tuesday states, which have been projected thus far, Biden only held rallies in North Carolina and Virginia.
Before the week leading up to March 3, Biden held only one rally in North Carolina in October. He joined former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe for a Get Out the Vote event there, but it was not a campaign-sponsored event.
Biden held one campaign rally each in North Carolina and Virginia the weekend ahead of Super Tuesday. Granted, the enthusiasm of the crowds was unmatched to anything Biden had seen in the early states, especially Iowa or New Hampshire, and at least one thousand people came to each event. Compare that to Iowa, where Biden held over 120 public events, including four bus tours.
After his campaign shifted into a new strategy in the state in November 2019, it poured much of its resources and even more of the candidates’ time spent holding events where at times he struggled to fill a room with more than one hundred people. He ultimately came in fourth place in the Hawkeye State.