On February 18th, 6 people held a sparring match in Las Vegas. You may have heard of it. It was the Democratic Presidential Debate.
Harsh words and quippy one liners; Wednesday’s debate was full of intense policy deliberations and fierce discussion between the democratic candidates. Some of the intense rivalries became very apparent. Senator Klobuchar went head to head with Mayor Buttiegeg who went up against Senator Sanders who went up against Mayor Bloomberg.
Oh, and while we’re talking about Mayor Bloomberg; Everyone, and I mean everyone, took a swipe at him. He could barely hold his own against the 5 other candidates looking to score some easy points. Senator Sanders did it by criticizing his wealth, Vice President Biden did it by attacking his former policies as NYC mayor, and most notably Senator Warren did it by bringing up sexual harassment and gender discrimination allegations made against Mayor Bloomberg.
It didn’t take long for Senator Warren to take a big swing at Mayor Bloomberg. Once the debate had started, within minutes, she was going at him full force. There was nothing he could do but stand there and roll his eyes every now and then. One of her most blistering comments was “I’d like to talk about who we’re running against, a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians, and no I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.” This was received well by the crowd and the former mayor never truly recovered from this.
As the debate went on, more of the candidates realised how easy it was to attack Mayor Bloomberg.
There may not have been a clear winner of the debate, but there was most definitely a clear loser. Mike Bloomberg.
He tried his best to fight back, but in my opinion, he failed miserably. The scathing remarks from his fellow candidates presented him as a bumbling old billionaire with nothing better to be doing with his time. And I think this debate should serve as a reminder that just because a candidate like Mayor Bloomberg can pour hundreds of millions of his own dollars into snazzy campaign slogans and advertisements, doesn’t mean they will be a successful debater when they are out there on the stage.
I believe that this debate played a major part in Senator Sanders’ victory in Nevada over the weekend. He performed well and he is now beginning to reap the rewards of his success.
All in all, this debate was a key turning point in the process of selecting a 2020 Democratic Nominee to face off against President Trump in November.
And tonight, in South Carolina, the candidates will face off in another debate before the South Carolina primary. Can Mayor Bloomberg recover? Will Senator Sanders continue to gain momentum? Find out tonight on CBS. (6:00PM-8:00PM MST)
Photo Credit: Drew Angerer
