If Warren and Sanders want to beat Biden, one of them will need to drop out

Splitting the progressive vote will guarantee defeat

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Scott Olson/Getty Images, JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images, AndreyPopov/iStock, azgek/iStock, javarman3/iStock)

Since declaring his candidacy for president on April 25, former Vice President Joe Biden has taken a commanding lead in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Indeed, despite much carping from critics about how he was a paper tiger whose polling would crumple the moment it came into contact with reality, Biden's announcement bump has been sustained and substantial. On the eve of his entrance into the race, he led Bernie Sanders by an average of just over 6 points, with Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke bunched together in the mid-to-upper single digits. But while Sanders' numbers have eroded along with the others, Biden has surged, opening up nearly a 20-point gap in polls.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.