Pete Buttigieg was half right.
"We could wake up two weeks from today, the day after Super Tuesday, and the only candidates left standing will be Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg, the two most polarizing figures on this stage. And most Americans don't see where they fit in if they've got to choose between a socialist who thinks that capitalism is the root of all evil, and a billionaire who thinks that money ought to be the root of all power."
Pete Buttigieg, last night's debate
He was wrong in his descriptions of Sanders and Bloomberg, but right in saying they will be the two left standing.
Sanders doesn't really think capitalism is the root of all evil. Buttigieg was unfair to him. Some of Sanders' supporters argue that proposition, but Sanders does not. He wants to control capitalism and divide its rewards differently, toward more equal ends, but does not think it evil per se, nor does he want to destroy it.
And Bloomberg doesn't really think money ought to be the root of all power. Bloomberg respects democratic traditions and power. He uses money to influence democratic institutions within laws established by democratic processes, which processes are influenced by money, yes, but money is just a tool to influence the real root of power, which still rests with the people.
Pete Buttigieg is correct saying they are polarizing figures. He gave Americans a preview of how each of those two figures can be described--caricatured--by their detractors. Both Sanders and Bloomberg are clear about who they are, Sanders the uncompromising progressive Democratic Socialist, Bloomberg the fabulously wealthy capitalist with a socially liberal agenda. They don't try to be acceptable to everyone, and they aren't.
Sanders won the night. Warren won it for him.
Sanders won because he will almost certainly be on the stage in two weeks as predicted, as will a damaged Bloomberg, whose momentum was interrupted. Warren focused her attacks on Bloomberg, not Sanders, in a very strong showing. She was fierce. The net result will be to elevate her and keep her in the race. It will be for naught. Unless a health event removes Sanders from the field, Sanders, not Warren, will carry the progressive flag. Sanders' support is secure. He has his faction. He earned it and has kept it.
Warren's extraordinary night reveals that the alternatives to Sanders are not head and shoulders above each other, with the result that Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Warren will all go into Super Tuesday splitting the vote. Everyone looked good. Klobuchar was convincing in saying she was electable, Buttigieg spoke eloquently, Biden looked fully competent, Warren looked tough. No one lost except Bloomberg, and Bloomberg losing does not matter. He is invincible. He earns money faster than he is spending it, even now.
The debate confirms that Democrats are doing in 2020 what Republicans did in 2016, nominate the factional candidate with the disruptive message. Trump had a right nationalist message that appealed to 30% of Republicans. There were multiple alternatives who split the vote among them. The voters were offered a buffet, not a single choice. Then, with the nomination won, Trump consolidated support.
Given last night’s performance, Warren will now stay in, as will Biden, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg. The buffet wins it for Sanders.
Given last night’s performance, Warren will now stay in, as will Biden, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg. The buffet wins it for Sanders.
The irony is that if Bloomberg weren't in the race, Buttigieg or Klobuchar might have emerged as the moderate alternative to Sanders.
Bloomberg in real life is not as powerful a candidate as is Bloomberg in the ads.
10 comments:
I tend to agree. Sanders was able to hold the spot as statesman while the others bickered. Bloomberg got in some good punches but he looked churlish doing it. Sanders hit him with the cheap shot remark which was fair and Warren rope-a-doped him all night.
She can be impressive but no one really beats Sanders ground game at this point. Bloomberg isn't even trying which may be wise since he can spend any amount he wants to create a ground game out of thin air.
Mayor Pete is not correct, as you point out, in his broad brush strokes and I don't know that he's right about either of these men being polarizing. Bernie seems to unite millions of people who staunchly defend him. Maybe if the DNC took its medicine from the 2016 debacle and the Iowa mis-fire, he could be seen as the uniter I suspect him to be. But the DNC is so damn afraid of him they can't seem to see straight. Maybe let the people elect a president? Novel idea and perhaps so yesterday, but it's worth a try.
It occurs to me we have an ideological lineup in this primary from right to left.
Bloomberg...Buttigieg...Klobuchar...Biden...Warren...Sanders
One can sort of pick how much 'liberal" they want in their cornflakes, from none to "I can't taste the cornflakes!"
I think it's great that Sen. Sanders is getting the approbation he is due, but...I'm having a hard time visualizing him in the Oval, (Maybe one of the Bros can help me out?), or for that matter any of the others with one exception.
This country needs to elect its first woman president. Sen. Warren has shown repeatedly that she has the qualities that are needed in this time as a chief executive, most recently last night as she artfully exposed Bloomberg as unacceptable.
Bloomberg is not just spending - he's spending on a sophisticated direct messaging campaign. I'm getting text messages from his campaign with personal-sounding appeals with questions. So I bit and asked some questions. I got instantaneous well crafted answers from "Liz" the chat-bot. brilliant.
As you've noted, more people read or watch what the watchers of the debate say about the debate, than actually watched the debate. Also few people have the time or inclination to seek out alternative views. Once you're part of a tribe....
Last night was a good debate, finally. And now my Plan B candidate is Bernie, not Mike. Bloomberg is so pre-debate! But to be fair to him, I thought he did fine considering his legacy issues. He got spanked but was fairly graceful nonetheless. And he is still a relevant candidate; disgruntled Republicans will cross over for Mike.
Both Sanders and Warren performed really well. And Bernie's response to the socialist issue was spot on. He's making that word acceptable. I do think that term, socialist, is going to define the election, so clarifying its implications is Bernie's main job. He owns it and owned it last night.
Game on! Socialists VS Authoritarians. Human Scum VS the Deplorables. All is good in today's episode of "As the World Burns!". The soap opera without any soap. Keepin' it dirty in the good ol' US of A.
Go Liz!
Just consider how many middle-of-the-road democrats will sit-out the next election if the ticket is Sanders/Warren. People won't vote before they vote for socialism.
None of the "above" would be my gut reaction to the presidential list that spewed invective on their fellow Democrats in the Nevada showdown.
All of them are carrying too much baggage as a result of their inane comments to questions concerning past actions. While the Democrats fight among themselves over the nomination they are ignoring more qualified Democrats who would match up with Trump more favorably, for instance the Democratic governor of Montana, Steve Bullock, a man who possesses all the qualities and ethical
correctness so lacking in the goon who now occupies the White House. A true patriot would forgo seeking the nomination to make certain that the goon is not reelected for another agonizing four years.
Bob Warren
I don't agree that Warren did it for Sanders. I think she did it for herself. She is still in this race. So sad that you may be right that Sanders will carry the progressive flag to the convention.
I still feel that Warren is the best unifying candidate. She rocked the Nevada debate!
IMHO, Warren had a really good night, Bloomberg bombed, Buttigieg squandered any momentum coming out of IA, NH, Biden continued his Obama mantra, Klobachar couldn't turn on the charm this time, and Bernie continued on his roll to the nomination.
Btw, for those folks so concerned about Bernie's health: Tom Hartmann read Bernie's lab results today; he blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose levels, etc. read like a 30 year-old's. And...speaking of health: A study done in The Lancet says we will save 450 billion dollars a year on total costs if we adopt Medicare for All: "The analysis, conducted by researchers at Yale University, the University of Florida and the University of Maryland, found that transitioning the U.S. to a single-payer health care system would actually save an estimated $450 billion each year, with the average American family seeing about $2,400 in annual savings... also found that Medicare for all would prevent about 68,000 unnecessary deaths per year."
Andy Seles
One big difference between Trump with his 30% in early primaries among the GOP in 2016 and Bernie with his similar 30% among the Dems in 2020: polls show consistently that Bernie is the most respected candidate by all Dems. That was never the case with the Donald. I've seen numerous polls that show that the net 'likability" (subtracting those who dislike from those who like a candidate) give Sen. Sanders the highest score.
This 70 year old became a small-dollar donor for Bernie when he was in the House of Representatives. And I'm still a proud donor. I think my contributions bring down his average bc they're mostly less than $18.50.
P.S I also am a huge fan of Elizabeth Warren and loved the rumor that Bernie would make her Sec'y of the Treasury.
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