The first half of March was not kind to Bernie Sanders. Following victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, he suffered disappointing defeats to Joe Biden on March 3 and March 10 and now trails in the overall delegate count. But as he faces off with Biden tonight in the primary’s first one-on-one debate, Sanders has a critical opportunity to turn everything around.

The United States, suddenly upended by a pandemic, is crying out for the type of drastic public health action that only Sanders promises to bring. This is his moment. In order to seize it, he must abandon the collegiality he’s shown Biden thus far and expose the former vice president for what he is: a feeble, confused, unelectable candidate whose platform is woefully insufficient to handle the crises we’re facing, much less defeat Donald Trump.

Sanders’s supporters seemed demoralized after his losses on Tuesday. Cable news was all but calling the race for Biden, and establishment hacks like James Carville and David Frum were openly calling for Sanders to drop from the race. Exit polls showed that while primary voters were more inclined to agree with Sanders on the issues, they overwhelmingly saw Biden as the more electable candidate. A question echoed over social media as a sort of resigned chorus: Does Bernie still have a chance?