Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden hopes to capitalize on a blowout victory in South Carolina’s primary (JIM WATSON)

Houston (AFP) – Democratic White House candidates made a final push for votes on the eve of “Super Tuesday,” with Pete Buttigieg’s withdrawal giving centrists a sudden opening to challenge leftist frontrunner Bernie Sanders on the biggest day of the primary campaign.

Joe Biden hoped to capitalize on a blowout victory in South Carolina Saturday, while New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg, competing in his first primaries, spread his message to voters in a lavish multi-state ad blitz.

But Sanders — flush with money for ads, an extensive organization, and momentum in the polls — focused on delegate-rich California, the biggest prize of the 14 states holding nominating contests on Tuesday.

“In November Donald Trump is going to learn we are a democracy, not an autocracy, because we’re going to vote him out of office,” he tweeted Monday.

Polls show Sanders, whose ascent as a self-described democratic socialist has disconcerted the party’s establishment, is leading the Democratic field nationally by 10 percent on average.

The race, however, has taken an unexpected twist with Buttigieg’s announcement Sunday evening that he was withdrawing his candidacy.

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana had strong showings in predominantly white early voting states but proved unable to draw black and Hispanic support in later states.

“The truth is that the path has narrowed to a close — for our candidacy, if not for our cause,” the 38-year-old told supporters in his home town.

Buttigieg did not mention Sanders by name in his speech, but he has repeatedly stated he believes the 78-year-old senator’s “inflexible” political approach would fail in a match-up against Trump.

“We need a broad-based agenda that can truly deliver for the American people, not one that gets lost in ideology,” he said.

His departure narrows the crowded field of centrists in the race, giving that wing of the party an opportunity to consolidate behind Biden, the newly resurgent establishment favorite.

But it was unclear whether Buttigieg voters would swing behind the 77-year-old former vice president, with polling website Morning Consult predicting his exit could deliver a two-point boost each to Biden, Bloomberg, Sanders and fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren.

– Resurrection –

Still, Biden fortunes have been resurrected by his win in South Carolina, where blacks turned out in force to give him a crushing 48 to 20 percent victory over Sanders.

“Super Tuesday is about momentum, and we’ve got it,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, told CNN on Monday.

The win has brought Biden’s badly needed money — five million dollars in a 24 hour period, according to the candidate Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Just days ago the press and the pundits declared my candidacy dead,” Biden told a crowd in Norfolk, Virginia, which votes Tuesday.

“Now, thanks to the heart of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, I’m very much alive,” he said.

Biden, who was to speak at a rally in Houston later in the day Monday, has said his strength with blacks, Hispanics, women and suburbanites will come through in the coming contests.

Also stalking moderate and independent voters is Bloomberg, who spoke Monday in Washington at the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, at which he promised to keep the US embassy in Jerusalem. 

Bloomberg has spent a reported $500 million dollars of his own money saturating the airwaves with TV spots, including a three minute ad on Sunday.

“No other Democrat has created more than 450,000 jobs. No other Democrat has my record of standing up to the gun lobby. No other Democrat has my record of fighting climate change. No other Democrat will defeat Donald Trump,” he boasted on Twitter.

Though he touts his experience as a former New York major, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Bloomberg has yet to fully recover from a disastrous first debate performance.

National polls show him averaging 15 percent, in third place behind Biden (20 percent) and Sanders (28.5 percent).

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.