Super Tuesday, last week, resulted in an extremely unexpected turnout — the re-invigoration of Presidential Candidate Joe Biden’s campaign, the stagnation of Bernie Sander’s dominance in the Democratic primaries, and the upset of Elizabeth Warren.

More of the same occurred during Super Tuesday II, a dominant outing by Joe Biden accompanied by a disappointing turnout for Bernie Sanders accentuated by his loss in the Michigan primaries, where he had won the democratic primaries in 2016. Behind by around 154 votes, Sanders still very much remains in the race for the Presidential nomination despite the seemingly inevitable loss ahead of him. As such, one important question must be asked about the two candidates as voting around the nation continues:

Between the two juggernauts of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who has the best chance of defeating President Trump?

My gut reaction to this question is that Biden has the best opportunity to replace Trump for the sole reason that he garners a tremendous number of moderate votes, which ultimately are the votes that determine who will preside in the Oval Office. But this question requires more scrutiny than just an impulsive feeling.

This is because the importance of this question cannot be understated. As Americans, it is rather obvious that no other President has insulted our nation’s integrity as much as President Trump has. Whether it be his Twitter rampages, his utter ignorance of pressing social and economic issues, or the treasonous action of asking a foreign power to meddle with U.S. political affairs, Trump has been an absolute disgrace to our nation. We cannot allow the re-election of a man who embarasses the fundamental principles that our nation was built upon. Trump faces no competition in the Republican Party, thus it becomes the responsibility of the Democrats to place a competitor who can end Trump’s bid for a second term.

The Democratic Party must unify behind a single leader and a single idea. Otherwise their bid for Presidency will fall through.

This may seem feasible for the Democrats to do except for one small caveat: The party does not have one single platform but rather a collection of varying platforms with different ideologies and visions. As a result, the Democrats are often split on who to nominate due to the fact that everyone is split on certain issues, that is to say, split on how strongly each issue should be treated. The nomination race between Biden and Sanders highlights this core problem in the Democratic Party.

Looking at Sanders, it would be an understatement to say that he is one of the most Socialist politicians to ever run for Presidency. While compared to other nations, his policies may not be as revolutionary, to Americans, the policies he wishes to enact would be. Sanders has three major plans which he seeks to install into the US: free tuition to public colleges and trade schools along with student debt relief, a single payer healthcare program, and a Green Deal which seeks to replace all existing primary energy sources to alternative options.

Fairly enough, Sanders does present policies which most U.S. voters today would have never seen before. His rather “extreme” progressive goals would only serve to improve the nation’s infrastructure and social circumstances but the major issue with Sanders is that he is extremely ambitious. Yes, he has the near unanimous support of millions of college students across the nation as well as the support of independents but his relatively extreme policies cannot be rationally implemented over the course of his potential eight-year Presidency. Added on to that, most voters are moderates and are sufficiently satisfied with their current situations which is where Biden gathers most of his voters.

The Democratic Party must unify behind a single leader and a single idea. Otherwise their bid for Presidency will fall through.

Biden, unlike Sanders, isn’t as ambitious with the policies which he has promised voters that he will attempt to implement. Like Sanders he promotes a policy of free college tuition but for only the first two years, the protection and advancement of the pre-existing Obamacare system, and he promises to encourage the transition of major energy sources into more eco-friendly sources such as nuclear and solar power. 

Notice the difference between Sanders and Biden?

There really isn’t one. The difference between the candidates isn’t as glaring as many presume to be.

The only real difference is the aggressiveness of the policies which each candidate would like to implement. But to the DNC, this makes all the difference. Voters aren’t as keen on voting for someone who comes off as a near revolutionary. Biden has an appeal to the moderates which Bernie doesn’t. And the vote of the moderates, meaning the vote of the majority, thus will go to Biden. Voting for one or the other will ultimately result in the same end.

So who has the best opportunity to challenge Trump? Biden does and other former presidential hopefuls in the party seem to agree. Buttigieg and Bloomberg, among many others, all have endorsed Biden’s bid for the Presidency. Biden is gaining traction and building momentum, but it is being slowed down by Bernie’s campaign. 

If there is any hope for removing Trump, Democrats must unify behind a single candidate. For the sake of our nation, the Democrats must vote unanimously in favor of Joe Biden to prevent a repeat of the 2016 election.

Anuraj Nair is a columnist for Oswego East High School’s online news magazine the Howl