Joe Biden has permanently left the Democratic presidential race this Wednesday, leaving for Hillary Clinton a sizable lead and dashing the hopes of many Bernie Sanders supporters.

A day after candidate Jim Webb dropped out of the nomination, the previously undeclared vice president announced he won’t run. Biden’s support was hovering around 17 percent, much below Clinton and Sanders, and due to Hillary’s recent bump in the polls, Biden opted out.

Biden first considered entering the race because of his son Beau, who urged him to run before tragically dying of brain cancer in May. Biden also had a strong voter support, but it was clear from the start that Clinton could defeat him in the primaries.  He also had less campaign money, and didn’t have the minority support that Clinton had.

As the Democratic race drew closer to the elections and as Biden missed the first debate, it was starting to become clear that it was too late for him to join the race.

Biden did have a reasonable amount of support. At a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Biden walked through the crowd as supporters chanted “Run, Joe, run”. Two weeks ago, he said that he was “more likely than not” to enter the race, and, apart from Sanders and Clinton, both of whom praised his decision to not run, he was the only potential president perceived as “serious” by Democratic Party members.

As former Vice President, he would have good name recognition, connections in Washington, and advice from a two-term president to draw upon. However, all that voter backing has to transfer to someone else.

In addition to her edge in the first debate, Biden not running has greatly improved Clinton’s numbers in the polls. As a more moderate Democrat, most of his supporters will most likely decide to back Clinton instead of the extremely liberal Sanders.

A poll from RCP  shows her leading Bernie by 22.1% for the Democratic nomination. If the polls continue to work in her favor, it seems that she will defeat Sanders in the primary and will go on to the general election in November 2016.

With only five contenders left,  and only two of them with a sporting chance, the Democratic nomination draws closer. On the other side, the Republican race is still crowded, with 15 nominee hopefuls in the mix, and Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina catching up to front-runner Donald Trump. This should be an interesting race.