After having had his candidacy written off as nothing but a vanity project for an ageing vice president just days ago, Joe Biden has turned his presidential prospects around with decisive wins across more than half a dozen states on Super Tuesday and cemented himself as America’s comeback kid (at least for moderate Democrats).

The results out of Super Tuesday were no small feat for the 77-year-old: heading into Tuesday it was a pretty big unknown whether the roughly $500m Michael Bloomberg spent of his own money on adverts and staff might prove a satisfactory substitute to voters for the decades of public service Mr Biden and others had to offer.

For a lot of pundits, it seemed like it might. The New York Times ran op-eds praising his time as mayor of New York City (even as he was bashed on the campaign trail — and by that newspaper itself — for the highly contentious policies like "stop-and-frisk" he championed that targeted black and brown men in the liberal city). Some pundits suggested having a guy who can throw billions down to beat Donald Trump might be the safest route forward. Polls showed him doing well across Super Tuesday states.

But, in a country where money is often its own potent miracle-maker, Mr Biden managed to notch up wins in states he didn’t even visit ahead of the Tuesday votes, and after months in which his campaign struggled with fundraising and infrastructure. Super Tuesday turned a fractious race into one in which Mr Biden and Bernie Sanders are virtually the only two candidates with any shot at the nomination.

Apparently you can’t use a virtually limitless fortune to just buy up adverts during the Super Bowl, field offices across the country, catered rallies and endorsements from local leaders whose causes you’ve underwritten, and then expect it to turn into wins. Well, unless you’re only gunning for American Samoa.

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As results were tallied Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning — showing Mr Biden winning at least eight of the 14 states, and Mr Sanders winning at least three — that reality appeared to dawn on Mr Bloomberg as well.

Reports indicated that he was planning on rethinking his campaign (translation: drop out?) on Wednesday, even as he claimed the over $500m he spent had helped his campaign to accomplish the impossible.

“As the results come in, here’s what is clear: No matter how many delegates we win tonight, we have done something no one else thought was possible. In just three months we’ve gone from 1 per cent in the polls to being a contender for the Democratic nomination for president,” Mr Bloomberg told cheering staff and supporters.

But the businessman’s definition of defying the possible has cost him big. For 2020 candidates in general, including Mr Trump, Mr Bloomberg has spent the most, pulling from his vast personal fortune.

"The biggest loser tonight, by far, is Mini Mike Bloomberg. His 'political' consultants took him for a ride. $700 million washed down the drain, and he got nothing for it but the nickname Mini Mike, and the complete destruction of his reputation. Way to go Mike!" tweeted Mr Trump on Tuesday evening.

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While estimates have put the total at over $500m, an analysis by the Centre for Responsive Politics pegs the exact number at $464m. Mr Trump, in second, boasts having raised $218m. And beyond that, Mr Sanders has raised nearly $133m, making him the third highest fundraiser.

Mr Biden, meanwhile, was fifth in fundraising, with just $68m available to his campaign, according to the analysis — less than 1/7th the cash spent by Mr Bloomberg.

Of course, that is all going to change for Mr Biden. Fundraisers are lining up to push him forward as he looks to take on Mr Sanders in what will undoubtedly be a long and vicious fight over the next few months.

Instead of being the poor old vice president who maybe missed his chance, he’ll soon be the money-flushed candidate of the Democratic establishment.