I almost didn’t watch the Democratic debate in Nevada. I started watching the beginning of it just to see Michael Bloomberg, and then I couldn’t stop watching. It was probably the liveliest debate thus far.
There was something missing from it though, and I’m not talking about Tulsi Gabbard. There was a lot of arguing and personal attacks, but there wasn’t a whole lot of debating actual issues. When there were a few substantive issues touched on, such as healthcare, they turned into attacks against others.
It was really notable that there was no talk about foreign policy. China may have been mentioned a few times in relation to trade, but I don’t recall hearing anything about wars or foreign interventions.
I mean, maybe it’s important to know if Bloomberg is a sexist, but I would prefer knowing whether he wants to bomb little children in Syria.
There were six candidates on stage. I will go through each one.
Joe Biden
Sleepy Joe Biden, as Trump has called him, was just about that. He uses up his time talking about how much time he has left. He showed a tiny bit of energy a few times, but he still has trouble putting two coherent sentences together.
I believe Biden is done. We will probably have to wait for Super Tuesday (March 3) to confirm this, but I see the writing on the wall, and so should he. If anything, I was surprised he lasted as the frontrunner as long as he did.
Elizabeth Warren
Pocahontas was the attack dog on Wednesday night. She was going after everybody, but especially Bloomberg. She was over the top at times. She came across as slightly less phony than usual, at least at times, but I don’t know if it will be enough for her to recover.
I think she is hoping to do well enough that the establishment might turn towards her. She is trying to bridge the gap between the establishment “moderates” and the leftwing Bernie supporters. The problem is that most of the Bernie supporters don’t trust her, and for good reason. She talks a good game about her supposedly progressive agenda, but she will probably govern more like Hillary Clinton.
She was less tough on Bernie than last time. She was a bit critical, but she saved most of her wrath for others. Maybe she is trying to leave open the possibility for a VP spot if Bernie gets the nomination.
Warren had one nice moment in coming to the defense of Amy Klobuchar. I don’t know if it was genuine, but it was probably the nicest thing anyone did that night on stage.
Amy Klobuchar
I’m not sure if I heard this right, but I think Klobuchar said something near the beginning, when talking about sexism, that we can help solve the problem by nominating a woman. Unfortunately, it was too politically incorrect for anyone to point out that the Democratic Party already nominated a woman in 2016. Does anyone think that sexism was improved because of Hillary’s nomination?
I don’t like Klobuchar. I have heard bad things about her personally, but I don’t really know if they’re true. To me, she looks like a nervous wreck whenever she is in front of the cameras.
I actually felt a little sorry for her at one point in the debate. Some twit from the moderator panel, with a thick Spanish accent, kept attacking Klobuchar because she didn’t know the name of the Mexican president in an interview that she did.
90% of Americans probably don’t know the name of the Mexican president. It was probably closer to 95% before the debate. I don’t know the name of the Mexican president, and I follow political issues to a much greater degree than most Americans. I don’t really care who the Mexican president is. It makes almost no difference in my life. If I hear that the Mexican president has declared all drugs to be legal, then that would get my attention. Otherwise, I am just talking about the leader of another corrupt government.
Klobuchar was trying to deflect the question while remaining politically correct. This is the crutch that they all walk with. If Trump had gotten that question, he would have said something like, “I don’t care who the Mexican president is. If it’s so important to you, move to Mexico. I’m worried about America.”
If I had been in that position, I would have started quizzing the moderator. Can you name the Indian president? Can you name the leader of Bangladesh? Can you tell me the capital of Canada? Can you name two people on the city council where you live?
The moderator came across as really obnoxious. I don’t even think Klobuchar would have offended most Latinos by firing back at her. This was when Warren came to her defense, and the crowd seemed to appreciate it. Klobuchar showed great weakness with this question, but it didn’t have to go that way.
She also sparred with Mayor Pete. In response to one of the attacks against her, she said, “Not everyone is perfect like you Pete”, or something to that effect. I thought that part was ok.
Overall, she didn’t do great because she still looked like a nervous wreck. I doubt she will gain any more traction after her decent showing in New Hampshire, but she may stick around for a while.
Pete Buttigieg
Mayor Pete was not the likable small-town mayor this time. He changed his role a bit. He was the unlikable small-town mayor. The role of attack dog just didn’t work that well for him. I put his chances lower after this debate. For anything he lost, Warren probably gained. Even though she was in attack mode, it came across as slightly less obnoxious with her.
The main thing Pete had going for him is that he is young and likable. I don’t like him, but I can see where others might see him that way. He almost seemed kind of normal as compared to the rest of them. What he lacked in Washington DC experience, he gained with his lack of experience, if that makes sense. There is something attractive about an outsider. There are a lot of rumors about him having ties to the CIA, but most people don’t know that. They just see him as a mayor from outside the swamp that is DC.
I think Mayor Pete ruined his own reputation. He was a bit too aggressive, and he didn’t really pull it off. I don’t count him out yet just because most everyone else is so bad, but I do take him down a notch after the debate.
Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg got absolutely hammered by everyone. They came out swinging, and he was not prepared to defend. It is quite stunning that he spends hundreds of millions of dollars on commercials, yet he doesn’t come prepared for the debate.
He had trouble with all of the questions about his personal character. He had trouble with explaining (justifying) his stop and frisk policies as New York City mayor.
On the issue of tax returns, he was only slightly better, but still bad. Again, Trump handled this question much better, and he refused to release his tax returns. I would just say that it’s none of your business. But he is constrained by political correctness.
The worst moment was when Warren was hammering him on non-disclosure agreements for female employees. Bloomberg said, “None of them accuse me of doing anything other than, maybe they didn’t like a joke I told.”
Why would he say such a thing? How stupid is this guy? Did he not prepare at all?
I’m sure he is a liar like the rest of them, so why didn’t he just lie? He could have just said that he and his team are reviewing the agreements and will release them as long as there is nothing that could potentially harm his business. Instead, he gets caught like a deer in the headlights. He looked incredibly weak.
The only decent moment Bloomberg had, at least from my perspective, is when he was defending capitalism against Bernie’s socialism. This was his best moment, but it happened late in the debate. It does not come even close to offsetting all of the damage that he took during the first half of the debate.
Bernie Sanders
Then there is Bernie. He was the shining star on the debate stage. He did go after Bloomberg too, and Bernie tends to stay away from the personal attacks.
Bernie is still the most charismatic by far. He also focuses on the middle class instead of getting bogged down in these petty little things. He is certainly politically correct, but he spends more of his time showing empathy for the average person. His solutions may be horrible, but like Trump, he knows how to connect with many people.
He is easily the frontrunner at this point. I now put his odds around 50% against the rest of the field. I think the only way the establishment can take this away from Bernie is if he doesn’t get a majority of delegates and they have a brokered convention where they nominate someone like Bloomberg or Hillary. I don’t think most of the Bernie people would support the Democratic nominee in the general election if that happens.
It was interesting near the end of the debate when they were asked what should happen if nobody gets a majority of delegates. All of the candidates, except for Bernie, said that the rules should be followed, which means a brokered convention. Bernie said it should be the one with the most votes.
This just tells you that they are trying to set something up where they have a brokered convention. They just have to make sure that Bernie doesn’t go on a big enough run where he is actually able to get a majority of delegates.
If the DNC and the establishment snatch this one away from Bernie, it is going to get really interesting. I am no Bernie fan, but it is fun to see him driving the establishment nuts. It is entertaining to watch the establishment squirm. If it is Trump vs. Bernie, their collective heads might explode. They aren’t going to know whom to criticize more.