Bloomberg seeks reset after rough debate debut as Democrats sprint to Super Tuesday

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Bloomberg seeks reset after rough debate debut as Democrats sprint to Super Tuesday

By Amanda Becker and Tim Reid

 

All of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, try to speak at the same time near the conclusion or the ninth Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates debate at the Paris Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., February 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake

 

WASHINGTON/LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contenders began a frantic dash for votes on Thursday, as big-spending billionaire Michael Bloomberg sought to move past a bruising debate debut and several of his rivals jockeyed to be the moderate alternative to liberal front-runner Bernie Sanders.

 

There are just two days to go before the presidential caucuses in Nevada. Afterward, contests loom in South Carolina, followed by Super Tuesday on March 3, when voters cast ballots in 14 states, including California, Utah, Colorado and Texas.

 

The blistering attacks against Bloomberg on Wednesday night over his record on race, history of sexist comments and use of his fortune to push his way up in opinion polls - could damage his argument that he has the best chance of beating Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

 

The former New York mayor, who entered the race late and will not be on primary ballots until Super Tuesday, has tried to position himself as a moderate alternative to Sanders, a senator and self-described democratic socialist. Bloomberg spent $220.6 million on his candidacy in January and $409 million to date.

 

Bloomberg's campaign moved to stem the fallout early on Thursday by announcing endorsements from members of Congress from New York, New Jersey and California, after saying on Wednesday night he was "just warming up."

 

In a nod to Senator Elizabeth Warren's charge that Democrats nominating Bloomberg to challenge Trump would be exchanging "one arrogant billionaire for another," he told a rally in Utah: "We could not be more different; I bill myself as the un-Trump."

 

Elizabeth Warren continued the trend set by Wednesday's (February 19) Democratic presidential debate later in the spin room, taking aim at Michael Bloomberg again in feisty comments.

 

"Look, the real winner in the debate last night was Donald Trump," Bloomberg added.

 

Warren, who landed early jabs during the debate related to Bloomberg's use of nondisclosure agreements for women at his company to settle lawsuits and his support while mayor of stop-and-frisk policing policies that ensnared disproportionate numbers of blacks and Latinos, remained on the offensive.

 

"I have really had it with billionaires ... who think their money buys them something special, so they can call women 'fat broads' and 'horse-faced lesbians,' that when somebody complains, throw a little money on it, and then put a gag in a woman's mouth," Warren said while campaigning in North Las Vegas.

 

Bloomberg said at the debate there were "very few" nondisclosure agreements and "none of them accuse me of anything." He said they were made consensually with the expectation they would stay private.

 

RISING STAKES

Wednesday's was the most-watched of the nine Democratic presidential debates so far this cycle, with about 20 million tuning in on NBC and MSNBC and 13.5 million on streaming platforms, the networks said.

 

For Warren, it was an opportunity to try to steady her campaign after disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. Her campaign said it set fundraising records by bringing in $425,000 during the first hour of the debate and $2.8 million over the course of the day.

 

Democratic strategist Ian Sams, who worked on Senator Kamala Harris' former presidential campaign, said Warren's performance showed she "will not be going quietly into the night" and the money will keep her competitive through Super Tuesday.

 

Sanders, whose campaign said it raised a record $2.7 million on Wednesday, also faced some incoming fire on Wednesday night. But the debate did not settle the question of which moderate candidate is best-suited to take him on, strategists said.

 

"When you are the front-runner, and no one does anything to stop you, it's a good night," said Tad Devine, a former adviser to Sanders, who worked on the now-shuttered Andrew Yang campaign.

 

It "raises the stakes enormously," however, for Bloomberg, who is blanketing states with advertisements but has yet to show he can engage directly with voters and the media, Devine said.

 

Pete Buttigieg's campaign warned in a strategy memo early on Thursday that Sanders must be stopped before he amasses an "insurmountable delegate lead," arguing that Bloomberg's performance showed he was ill-equipped to do so.

 

Initial results from the Iowa caucuses, the nation's first nominating contest, gave Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a one-delegate lead over Sanders. The two rivals won an equal number of delegates from the second contest in New Hampshire, although Sanders got more votes overall.

 

Nevada's caucuses will be the third contest in the state-by-state race to find a challenger to Trump. South Carolina holds its primary on Feb. 29. Sanders leads most recent opinion polls in both states.

 

Buttigieg has a town hall meeting and a fundraiser scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles. Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, a onetime front-runner, campaigned in Nevada and will participate in CNN town halls. Senator Amy Klobuchar is in Colorado.

 

(Reporting by Tim Reid and Simon Lewis in Nevada, Ginger Gibson, Jason Lange, Amanda Becker and John Whitesides in Washington, Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Trevor Hunnicutt and Joseph Ax in New York; Writing by Amanda Becker and John Whitesides; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-21

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[HuskerDo]

Bloomberg showed last night that he is not electable nor are any of the Dems. Trump will rule another four years and the country will be better/stronger for it. 

[Cryingdick]

29 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

Bloomberg showed last night that he is not electable nor are any of the Dems. Trump will rule another four years and the country will be better/stronger for it. 

 

Well if it can't be Bloomberg, the dems can be happy they were able to show they as a party are in complete harmony, unity and solidarity. Before the debate there was some concern the party might shatter into tribal factions So it could be that Mike is the great cool headed unifying force they were looking for. 

 

I think the dems must be much more certain they can pull this off more than ever before. It was a graceful display of how they are able to put their personal agendas aside and as always they kept it classy. 

[Tug]

1 hour ago, HuskerDo said:

Bloomberg showed last night that he is not electable nor are any of the Dems. Trump will rule another four years and the country will be better/stronger for it. 

Oh I don’t know about that I think mike would be a vast improvement over trump but I know all trump supporters want Bernie cause he’s so easy to attack I’m not at all surprised mike was attacked all those folks want to be pres and the resent mike I think he would make a competent president a vast difference between mike and trump like night versus day

[DoctorG]

Trump is a NY Democrat turned Republican and Bloomberg is a NY Republican turned Democrat. You choose!

[earlinclaifornia]

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Well if it can't be Bloomberg, the dems can be happy they were able to show they as a party are in complete harmony, unity and solidarity. Before the debate there was some concern the party might shatter into tribal factions So it could be that Mike is the great cool headed unifying force they were looking for. 

 

I think the dems must be much more certain they can pull this off more than ever before. It was a graceful display of how they are able to put their personal agendas aside and as always they kept it classy. 

Big difference from trump claiming everything is sweet. Infrasructure, his healthcare and the wall Mexico will pay all completed promises. See you back here on election eve.

[Cryingdick]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

Big difference from trump claiming everything is sweet. Infrasructure, his healthcare and the wall Mexico will pay all completed promises. See you back here on election eve.

 

You can't seriously think that was anything more than a dumpster fire at the debate. For a moment I thought Bloomberg was going to peel off his human mask revealing he is a reptilian and lashing his tongue and make hissing noises. 

 

I had never paid much attention to Bloomberg before but I can't think of anybody in sufficient numbers his cold, callous, manners would appeal to. He is like Trump with more money, less character and no humor. 

 

He made Warren look powerful as she towered over him with her accusations. 

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Trump is a NY Democrat turned Republican and Bloomberg is a NY Republican turned Democrat. You choose!

The one that seems to have some integrity. And that is not Trump.

[ratcatcher]

3 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

I think the dems must be much more certain they can pull this off more than ever before. It was a graceful display of how they are able to put their personal agendas aside and as always they kept it classy. 

Classy? Like rats fighting in a sack.  

 

[Cryingdick]

9 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Classy? Like rats fighting in a sack.  

 

 

Maybe your sarcasm meter isn't working but yeah nice video lol

[phkauf]

22 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You can't seriously think that was anything more than a dumpster fire at the debate. For a moment I thought Bloomberg was going to peel off his human mask revealing he is a reptilian and lashing his tongue and make hissing noises. 

 

I had never paid much attention to Bloomberg before but I can't think of anybody in sufficient numbers his cold, callous, manners would appeal to. He is like Trump with more money, less character and no humor. 

 

He made Warren look powerful as she towered over him with her accusations. 

I lived in NYC during the Bloomberg years - the guy on the debate stage is the same as when he was mayor. Zero charisma, thin skinned when questioned, and generally irascible. He built an amazing business from nothing (I worked in finance and used the Bloomberg system daily - it changed the way people work), but it's HIS company and nobody questions him or his directives. Same attitude when he was mayor, during which time he did some great things but in the process <deleted> A LOT of people off. He won the mayoral elections the same way he's running for president - throw an insane amount of money around to buy endorsements and media to shape an image. His opponents were like mice to an elephant.

I think Mike is very, very smart but personality is not too far from Trump. No doubt in my mind he would be a better manager, but he's not likable and has a hard time relating to ordinary people - which in my opinion makes him unelectable. An aside, I worked with the person who fired him from Salomon Brothers - in his words, "Mike was an a$$hole".

[ratcatcher]

3 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

It was a graceful display of how they are able to put their personal agendas aside and as always they kept it classy. 

It appears my sarcasm meter was not functioning.Sorry *****

[JingerBen]

27 minutes ago, phkauf said:

I lived in NYC during the Bloomberg years - the guy on the debate stage is the same as when he was mayor. Zero charisma, thin skinned when questioned, and generally irascible. He built an amazing business from nothing (I worked in finance and used the Bloomberg system daily - it changed the way people work), but it's HIS company and nobody questions him or his directives. Same attitude when he was mayor, during which time he did some great things but in the process <deleted> A LOT of people off. He won the mayoral elections the same way he's running for president - throw an insane amount of money around to buy endorsements and media to shape an image. His opponents were like mice to an elephant.

I think Mike is very, very smart but personality is not too far from Trump. No doubt in my mind he would be a better manager, but he's not likable and has a hard time relating to ordinary people - which in my opinion makes him unelectable. An aside, I worked with the person who fired him from Salomon Brothers - in his words, "Mike was an a$$hole".

Spot on.

Native New Yorker here.

I can never remember such a pathetic bunch of Dems.

This feeble and inept opposition will assure a long reign for the Great Trump - or Trump the first - however history will style him... and you can bet your boots that he will be remembered as larger than life.

...and the roller coaster ride continues.

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

Edited February 21, 2020 by JingerBen

[248900_1469958220]

Oh man....what a sh*tshow. Is this the BEST they have got? You dont have to like Trump to see that he is going to be able to tackle these lightweights pretty easily.

[blazes]

"Horse-faced lesbians" ---- it will be mildly interesting to see whether people hearing that phrase in future will think first of Bloomberg or of Warren!

 

(Reminds me of a story by Dylan Thomas, where he mentions a "duchess-faced horse".)

[Chiphigh]

It is hilarious to get lectures on virtues and morals from the left while watching this clown show. 

[Chiphigh]

6 hours ago, stevenl said:

The one that seems to have some integrity. And that is not Trump.

Again more virtue signaling. 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Chiphigh said:

Again more virtue signaling. 

So asking for a bit of integrity from a president is virtue signalling.

Please learn more about the expression before using it incorrectly.

[Chiphigh]

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

So asking for a bit of integrity from a president is virtue signalling.

Please learn more about the expression before using it incorrectly.

If you want me to explain it to you, I can. 

 

The left constantly touts their virtue because of who they support and pretend they have the moral high ground because of their ideological preference,all the while telling others that they do not possess integrity because of who they support. 

 

It happens on this forum every day in multiple subjects 

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You can't seriously think that was anything more than a dumpster fire at the debate. For a moment I thought Bloomberg was going to peel off his human mask revealing he is a reptilian and lashing his tongue and make hissing noises. 

 

I had never paid much attention to Bloomberg before but I can't think of anybody in sufficient numbers his cold, callous, manners would appeal to. He is like Trump with more money, less character and no humor. 

 

He made Warren look powerful as she towered over him with her accusations. 

I did say before the debate that Bloomberg has the charisma of a wet paper bag, so not surprised he got a roasting. I am surprised no one in his campaign told him not to participate,

 

I'm hoping Warren gets the nomination. The debates would be awesome.

 

Is there going to be a Republican selection, or is Trump the candidate by default? Can't see a potential challenger getting much in the way of donations.

[stevenl]

40 minutes ago, Chiphigh said:

If you want me to explain it to you, I can. 

 

The left constantly touts their virtue because of who they support and pretend they have the moral high ground because of their ideological preference,all the while telling others that they do not possess integrity because of who they support. 

 

It happens on this forum every day in multiple subjects 

Thanks for the explanation, maybe next time look in a dictionary first.

[Tug]

10 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You can't seriously think that was anything more than a dumpster fire at the debate. For a moment I thought Bloomberg was going to peel off his human mask revealing he is a reptilian and lashing his tongue and make hissing noises. 

 

I had never paid much attention to Bloomberg before but I can't think of anybody in sufficient numbers his cold, callous, manners would appeal to. He is like Trump with more money, less character and no humor. 

 

He made Warren look powerful as she towered over him with her accusations. 

Oh I donno he kinda looked like a manager not used to beeing challenged that beeing said he dident look incompetent certainly not a people person more of a facts kinda guy now on the other hand the reptile and towering over comments are straight out the 3 grade elementary school play book of course I could lower my comments to the trump play book level and say warrens horse face lesbian comment was self projection lol he would be soooo much better than trump 

[Tug]

2 hours ago, Chiphigh said:

If you want me to explain it to you, I can. 

 

The left constantly touts their virtue because of who they support and pretend they have the moral high ground because of their ideological preference,all the while telling others that they do not possess integrity because of who they support. 

 

It happens on this forum every day in multiple subjects 

Naaa it’s just so obvious trump is corrupt and incompetent that not to call it out is to be derelict in our duty as citizens to protect our constitution that’s not right or left that’s concern and freedom of speech but go ahead if it makes you feel better stay in your safe spot you have the right me I think it’s bs

[khaowong1]

11 hours ago, JingerBen said:

Spot on.

Native New Yorker here.

I can never remember such a pathetic bunch of Dems.

This feeble and inept opposition will assure a long reign for the Great Trump - or Trump the first - however history will style him... and you can bet your boots that he will be remembered as larger than life.

...and the roller coaster ride continues.

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

Amen brother, Amen. 

[Cryingdick]

6 hours ago, Tug said:

Oh I donno he kinda looked like a manager not used to beeing challenged that beeing said he dident look incompetent certainly not a people person more of a facts kinda guy now on the other hand the reptile and towering over comments are straight out the 3 grade elementary school play book of course I could lower my comments to the trump play book level and say warrens horse face lesbian comment was self projection lol he would be soooo much better than trump 

 

Have you ever looked at your record of puerile one liner insults? Go back to some of your posts and read them out loud looking in the mirror. Literally 90% of what you post is puerile, incoherent, attacks and you use the words ham fisted way too much.

[Chiphigh]

12 hours ago, Tug said:

Naaa it’s just so obvious trump is corrupt and incompetent that not to call it out is to be derelict in our duty as citizens to protect our constitution that’s not right or left that’s concern and freedom of speech but go ahead if it makes you feel better stay in your safe spot you have the right me I think it’s bs

It isn't obvious that Trump is corrupt or incompetent unless you are a biased leftist. It is amazing to see that people on the left want to call out those things for a first time president with zero history of political corruption while ignoring the corrupt self serving career political class enriching themselves for decades. 

 

So you are not concerned with a communist being the front runner in the democratic primary? 

 

FOUR MORE YEARS 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Chiphigh

[Tug]

6 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Have you ever looked at your record of puerile one liner insults? Go back to some of your posts and read them out loud looking in the mirror. Literally 90% of what you post is puerile, incoherent, attacks and you use the words ham fisted way too much.

Ahh I used that one twice but I’ll try to use it more often lol look trump earns the derision

 

31 minutes ago, Chiphigh said:

It isn't obvious that Trump is corrupt or incompetent unless you are a biased leftist. It is amazing to see that people on the left want to call out those things for a first time president with zero history of political corruption while ignoring the corrupt self serving career political class enriching themselves for decades. 

 

So you are not concerned with a communist being the front runner in the democratic primary? 

 

FOUR MORE YEARS 

I disagree it’s painfully obvious trump is corrupt to anyone with a clear head that goes way beyond political party that speaks to the preservation of our democracy as far as Bernie Sanders he is not my choice but I will vote for him over trump in a heart beat and depend on our system of checks and ballences to keep him from going to far

Edited February 22, 2020 by Tug

[Somewhere In Time]

2 hours ago, Tug said:

I disagree it’s painfully obvious trump is corrupt to anyone with a clear head that goes way beyond political party that speaks to the preservation of our democracy as far as Bernie Sanders he is not my choice but I will vote for him over trump in a heart beat and depend on our system of checks and ballences to keep him from going to far

This is an unfortunate comment. 

 

It sadly shines light on those whose personal bias toward an individual mask any reasonable attempt to type a lucid, compelling perspective.

 

SIT   

[earlinclaifornia]

American is ready for that HARD Left turn thanks to trump.

[HuskerDo]

On 2/21/2020 at 7:14 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I did say before the debate that Bloomberg has the charisma of a wet paper bag, so not surprised he got a roasting. I am surprised no one in his campaign told him not to participate,

 

I'm hoping Warren gets the nomination. The debates would be awesome.

 

Is there going to be a Republican selection, or is Trump the candidate by default? Can't see a potential challenger getting much in the way of donations.

"Is there going to be a Republican selection, or is Trump the candidate by default?"....

 

Trump has 98% of the Republican base in his back pocket. Why would anyone be so insane as to challenge him? He was elected for what he said he'd do for the country and he's delivering on most. A booming economy, new trade deals in place with China, Mexico and Canada, lowest unemployment on record nearly across the board, the stock market at new highs, etc. What's not to like?

 

Too bad he can't be the Prez longer than 8 years.