News Information and Media Site: Biden rising ... and Pence talks coronavirus

From NBC's Ben Kamisar

If it's Sunday, is Joe Biden the comeback kid?

The Biden camp is riding high after an overwhelming victory in South Carolina, where he won with 48 percent to Bernie Sanders' 20 percent.

Thanks to an impressive showing with voters of all stripes, Biden is now within spitting distance of Bernie Sanders in the delegate chase, with Super Tuesday and its mass of delegates looming.

But the unknowns still dominate the discussion of the Democratic primary fight.

Some of those unanswered questions include:

Can a Sanders alternative clear the rest of the field, and is there enough time for that candidate to beat Sanders?
Is Biden's South Carolina performance a harbinger of a strong Super Tuesday to come, or will the coalition that won Sanders Nevada by a decisive margin be his firewall?
Will any candidate wrap up the nomination before the Democratic National Convention?

With Biden on the upswing, Pete Buttigieg told "Meet the Press" his campaign is pressing on. But he wouldn't name a state in which he thought he'd do well on Tuesday.

"Every day we're in this campaign is a day that we've reached the conclusion that pushing forward is the best thing that we can do for the country and for the party."

—Buttigieg on "MTP."

Biden sounded like he is ready to take the fight to Sanders, panning the senator's ideas as "very controversial" and telling "Meet the Press" he can win the nomination before the convention.

"[Americans] are not looking for revolution, they are looking for results."

—Biden on "MTP."

But the anti-Sanders lane remains crowded, with only Tom Steyer dropping out after South Carolina and Michael Bloomberg joining the ballot in Super Tuesday states.

And it's Sanders who is in the driver's seat in the two largest Super Tuesday states — California and Texas. Recent polls of the Golden State all give Sanders the edge there, and he has a double-digit lead in the new NBC News/Marist poll of Texas.

All that sets the stage for a pivotal Super Tuesday, one where we'll start to get a handle on many of the race's unanswered questions.

Click on the photos of Biden and Buttigieg to watch their full interviews.

Pence talks coronavirus

The biggest story on the minds of many Americans isn't what happened in South Carolina— it's coronavirus.

Vice President Pence, the administration's point-person on the virus, joined "Meet the Press" to discuss the administration's response to the worldwide outbreak and the risk to Americans.

Pence said that the "risk of infection to people in this country remains low," even as the weekend brought the first coronavirus death in America.

Click on the image below to watch the full interview with Pence.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Post-game analysis

DATA DOWNLOAD: What to watch for on Super Tuesday

The Democratic nominating race is, at its core, a delegate fight.

So while winning states can give a campaign a jolt of momentum, it's important not to forget how the game is really played — particularly on a day like Super Tuesday, when there are lots of places up for grabs.

The biggest delegate prizes on Tuesday, California and Texas, are home to a slew of predominately Hispanic counties, along with some important suburban and urban ones too.

Then there are states like Alabama, Arkansas and North Carolina, where a candidate that performs well among African Americans and rural voters will be rewarded.

Click on the graphic below to read more from Dante Chinni about how the delegate fight might play out on Tuesday.

ICYMI: A consolation prize

Saturday may have been a rough night for Sanders, but he has more than $46 million reasons to feel better tonight.

The Vermont senator's campaign says it raised $46.5 million in the month of February alone, filling its coffers as the Democratic nominating map opens up.

The massive haul is a reminder of the power of Sanders' grassroots supporters (even while rivals like Biden and Elizabeth Warren announced big fundraising months of their own, Sanders blew them out of the water).

And it's more than just a symbolic show of strength — that kind of coin will help Sanders make the kinds of investments he needs (both on the ground and on the airwaves) to go the long haul.