And now the cage match begins. Joe Biden ran the table yesterday, winning in so many states that all of a sudden he is starting to look like Joe Inevitable, except in Bernie Land. Bernie Sanders will have a formidable position in the race once the California returns come in, but with Biden winning literally all over the country, the prospect of a Sanders presidency has dimmed more than a little bit.

And then, of course, with Michael Bloomberg not only quitting the presidential race, but also announcing his support of Joe Biden, the idea of Biden being the Democratic nominee in Milwaukee in July is looking more and more realistic, which cannot be good news for Sanders. And Trump cannot be too happy either.

And, it would appear that someplace along the line, some reality was slipped into the coffee mugs of the various Democratic candidates and they suddenly realized that they were all a part of the Democratic Party Circular Firing Squad – perhaps someone at DNC headquarters read this column of mine from January 14^th –

And a word about Michael Bloomberg. There are a number of things that can be said about the former mayor of the City of New York, but one that is very true is that he is a pragmatic realist. He entered the presidential primaries because he was concerned that the Circular Firing Squad was going to leave Sanders as the last man standing. Standing until he became a sacrificial lamb at Trump’s altar.

Clearly, the rising Biden tide was going to make it virtually impossible for him to win the nomination, Bloomberg made up his mind to make what had to be a hard decision – but the right decision. By ending his campaign and supporting Biden, not only rhetorically but also with the mega dollars that only he can wield, the prospect of a Biden nomination becomes more real by the moment.

Questions remain, however. Will Sanders prioritize defeating Trump over advancing his revolution? Or will Sanders provide a 21^st century illustration of what the word “Pyrrhic” means.

And in the near future we may all look back and realize the enormous role that Congressman Jim Clyburn played in the Biden imitation of Lazarus. Congressman Clyburn was probably always going to endorse Biden, if he was going to endorse anybody, but he held on that endorsement until the precise moment when it could do the most good for Biden, leaving the other candidates bereft of any chance to counter that endorsement.

The result was obviously not only a massive victory in South Carolina, but Clyburn also provided Biden with an unrebuttable boost going into Super Tuesday, and we see how that worked out. Clearly, when it comes to political timing Jim Clyburn may have no equal.

And one more thing, when Biden starts thinking about a running mate will he remember that the earliest iteration of potential Democratic nominees was the most diverse in the history of the party, and in the history of the nation. Now, we are soon to be left with two white men from which to choose. As one of those white men, Biden is in a position to insure that the first non-white Vice President will be elected on November 3^rd.

Biden made history once as the Vice President to the first Black president in the history of the United States. Let’s see if he can do it again.