The 2020 primary season is in full swing, and the Democrats are down to the wire with their chance to win over voters. Six candidates qualified for the ninth Democratic debate: former Vice President Joe Biden, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN), Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA), and the newest participant, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The addition of Michael Bloomberg is a result of his sky-high campaign spending totals, which allowed him to secure a fourth poll to qualify him for the debate. Businessman Andrew Yang and philanthropist Tom Steyer were missing from the stage; Yang suspended his campaign after a poor performance in New Hampshire, and Steyer didn’t qualify.

This debate took place in Las Vegas, Nevada; a notably more diverse state than Iowa and New Hampshire. Many Democrats criticized the two earliest states for ignoring the diverse makeup of the Democratic party, so having a platform in Nevada allows the candidates to reach out to voters that are more representative of the party. MSNBC, NBC, Telemundo, and The Nevada Independent hosted the debate.

Winners

Elizabeth Warren

Warren speaking with attendees at the Clark County Democratic Party Kick-Off to Caucus Gala

Source: Gage Skidmore

The clearest winner from last night’s debate is Elizabeth Warren. After taking some devastating hits in both the ambiguous Iowa caucus and the (comparatively) decisive New Hampshire primary, Warren saw her polling numbers take a serious downward turn. A strong performance in Las Vegas was what could have helped her gain crucial momentum heading into Nevada, South Carolina, and Super Tuesday– and she delivered.

From the get-go, Warren was on fire. Her first comment of the night directly addressed Micahel Bloomberg’s sexist past of calling women “fat broads” and “horse-faced lesbians,” likening the former mayor to Donald Trump. She railed against Bloomberg on his support of stop-and-frisk, calling him out when he apologized for the outcome of the policies rather than their racist intent. On Bloomberg’s history of harassment and discrimination against women in the workplace, Warren hammered down the final nail in his coffin by addressing his refusal to release women from non-disclosure agreements. Bloomberg, the textbook example of a billionaire that Warren’s campaign is fighting against only reinforced the senator’s presence on stage.

Watch how Elizabeth Warren opened tonight's Democratic debate — with an attack on Michael Bloomberg.



Read more from the most contentious #DemDebate yet. https://t.co/aERVQUyCKY pic.twitter.com/EbH1oMpGXB — The New York Times (@nytimes) February 20, 2020

But Warren’s wins weren’t isolated to her attacks against Bloomberg. She also delivered characteristically effective defenses of her policies, like the wealth tax and Medicare for All. This debate showed viewers what Elizabeth Warren really stands for, despite the fact that it was bogged down by superficial party infighting. At the end of the night, Warren emerged victoriously and made it clear that she isn’t going anywhere without a fight.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders was in a favorable position headed into the debate. He won the New Hampshire primary with Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar trailing behind, but that set him up for attacks in the debate. As a frontrunner, Bernie Sanders received the brunt of the attacks that weren’t directed at Mike Bloomberg, but unlike the former New York mayor, Sanders successfully countered them. His consistent promotion of the Medicare for All healthcare policy allowed him to reiterate the same points he’s been making since the start of his campaign in the face of Pete Buttigieg’s criticisms.

Some spats with Joe Biden and Mayor Pete were also entertaining to watch and didn’t harm Sanders. When he labeled climate change as an “existential threat,” he also appealed to his younger base. On the issue of billionaires, Sanders also got a chance to reference one of his main talking points.

These are the policies his supporters know and love, which is exactly the audience he needed to appeal to. Going into the night with a 10 point lead in national polling, an astounding debate performance wasn’t as important to Sanders as it would be to a lower polling candidate. This wasn’t his best debate of all time, but it was one you’d expect from a frontrunner.

Honorable Mentions

Amy Klobuchar

Coming off her surge in the New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar had the momentum she’d been fighting for with her previous debate performances, which unfortunately translated to a weaker night in Nevada for her. Bloomberg’s presence offered a contrast to Klobuchar that definitely amplified her usual Midwestern pragmatism pitch for some of the debate, and like the other candidates, she piled on the attacks against him.

“Are you trying to say that I'm dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete?”



Watch Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg go toe-to-toe in last night's Democratic debate in Nevada https://t.co/G5euYQHPJQ pic.twitter.com/VjgCSCV0vB — POLITICO (@politico) February 20, 2020

However, Bloomberg wasn’t enough to distract the moderators and other candidates from going after Klobuchar. When moderators questioned her on the time she forgot the President of Mexico’s name, she struggled to deliver an effective answer, allowing Pete Buttigieg to step into the debate. This crumbled the foundation of Klobuchar’s campaign, her extensive experience in politics. Combined with a rough response to her history as a prosecutor, this moment made Klobuchar have a subpar night. The Nevada debate was a disappointing follow up to the momentum she’d been gaining.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden’s debate strategy has usually been to ride the coattails of his polling, but with a sharp drop in his support, he couldn’t rely on his numbers to get him through the night. His performances are never remarkable, but the common enemy of Mike Bloomberg helped him out. Biden’s speaking was more polished than it had been in previous debates, especially in contrast to Bloomberg’s weakness, and he had some decent moments when attacking the mayor for his lack of transparency with racism, sexism, and finance.

When it came to the limited discussion of actual policies, his answers weren’t anything special. They all lead back into the cornerstone of his campaign: his work during the Obama era and in the Senate. In the last moments of the debate, Biden met a unique and unexpected obstacle when a late protest emerged. Immigrant advocacy group RAICES took credit for protesters chanting about Obama-era deportations, the current detention of children in cages, and the debate about DACA recipients. When he was given time to make his closing remarks, he awkwardly tried to respond to the protest by attacking Bernie Sanders with seconds left on the clock. It was an uncomfortable closing remark that was reminiscent of his prior debates. Without the high levels of support he’s enjoyed in the past, Joe Biden’s debate performance was just fine.

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg is always polished during the debates, but that doesn’t always mean he has strong performances. He enjoyed some success when he went after Bernie Sanders, a strategic move that no one else really made. However, he went after Sanders on healthcare, the policy that dominated the debate. While the issue is important, it’s brought up at every debate, making the argument between Sanders and Buttigieg repetitive and jaded. Sanders is also accustomed to the common criticisms of his signature campaign promise, so Buttigieg’s attacks were less impressive.

Mayor Pete did successfully push the main message of his campaign, that there’s a middle ground between the status quo and the far-left revolution, demonstrating his takeover of the moderate lane. He also benefited from the tension between him and Amy Klobuchar, considering the fact that she had a shakier night than usual. In the end, his performance wasn’t anything special, but it wasn’t his worst.

Loser

Mike Bloomberg

Wow. Getting all five of the other candidates to agree on something seemed like a feat that only the desire to take down Donald Trump could accomplish, but another billionaire New Yorker seems to have worked a miracle: Michael Bloomberg. His dramatic rise in the polls and appearance on stage are direct results of his spending habits, and that raised many questions about the ethics of his campaign. His attempts to align himself with the moderates didn’t pay off, with him receiving numerous attacks from Biden, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar, who evidently did not want to be associated with him.

However, progressives Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren delivered the most brutal takedowns, calling into question every aspect of his candidacy. On finance, the environment, and his problematic past, Bloomberg fumbled his words and couldn’t deliver a coherent answer. His feeble attempt to defend stop-and-frisk devolved into him apologizing for the outcome of the policy, not its racist intent. When questioned about workplace harassment and discrimination against female workers, his answer brought up how his company hires women and the NDAs women have signed. “They’re legal agreements, and for all, I know the other side wouldn’t want to get out of it.” In reference to women and non-disclosure agreements, he went so far as to dismiss allegations by saying “Maybe they didn’t like a joke I told.”

Bloomberg’s strategy has never been to appeal to voters on the debate stage or even to try to win delegates in the early states, but that isn’t an excuse for his egregious performance. As a speaker and a debater, he’s no better than a watered-down version of Joe Biden at his worst, and his incoherent answers leave his platform unclear to viewers.

Conclusions

Rather than focusing on policy issues, the Nevada debate highlighted the brutal divide that’s plaguing the Democrats right now. While yes, Michael Bloomberg’s presence did unify the other five candidates, it also distracted them from discussions that may matter more to voters. Previous topics like foreign policy, the military, and the economy were left behind to give attention to party infighting and takedowns of Bloomberg. This reveals that even in the middle of the primary season, Democrats are seriously disorganized, and raised questions about their ability to unify behind whoever ends up the party nominee.

Clear disdain for Michael Bloomberg’s problematic history hasn’t stopped him from using his personal wealth to buy his way up to national polls. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren’s ultra-progressive promises have highlighted the rift between the center and far-left lanes, and the two sides seem to grow further apart every day. The moderates have also been a mess since Joe Biden’s numbers took a downward turn, opening the door for Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg’s feuding. The candidates took the Nevada debate as a chance to air out these grievances rather than to solidify their strategy against their real competition: Donald Trump. The chaotic state of the party is just making them more vulnerable as November approaches. The next Democratic debate will take place on February 25th in Charleston, South Carolina, hosted by CBS and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. Like Nevada, this state is more diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire, so the subsequent primary on February 29th will also provide results that are more inclusive of racial diversity. Be sure to join The New Voice’s political desk for more live coverage of the Democratic debates.

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