I am a moderate Democrat and I have no intention to vote for Bernie Sanders. To me he seems like a pompous, rude, air-headed radical. Interestingly, when I say this to Sanders supporters they inevitably reply with, "Well if Trump wins another 4 years the blood is on your hands". No Sanders supporters-- the blood is on YOUR hands because you were too politically conceited to modify your stance by including moderates. Get over yourselves, culture warriors. Most of America is moderate.
12
If Americans want to know the result when Bernie wins the nomination, all they have to do is check the recent results in the UK. A socialist named Corbin won the Labour Party's leadership race and was soundly defeated by a Trump-like clone from the Conservative Party named Boris Johnson. Good luck if Trump wins a second term because Democrats don't realize this is the election that determines if the U.S. remains a democracy. Take your head out of the sand and choose one of the moderate candidates.
7
Didn't realize that the conventional wisdom was that Bernie was "unscathed" by the debate on Wed. Even in reporting like this it seems we can't get away from insertions of opinion, another consequence of our social media-drenched environment. Bernie is never "unscathed" when he repeats some of his (certifiably) crazy stuff.
This "comment" section is the place for insertion of opinion. For this article I also submit that desperation is hardly a sign of a viable campaign, Mayor Pete. You might not have all the money you need to do what you want, but you have to accept the fact that sometimes more attention--more advertising--means fewer votes. Accept what resources you have without all the pleading. For one, I don't have the money.
5
@Tom
I meant to say that sometimes more attention doesn't have to mean fewer votes
1
Piling on? Let’s not forget columns like this one and the onslaught of other disgraceful and fact-less attacks against Sanders by the Times and much of the MSM!
5
I’m a Swedish socialist, who voted for our social democrats, and I’m telling you, this guy Bernie isn’t one of us. He’s a straight-up communist.
We tried ”workers ownership” funds here in Sweden in the 80s. It was an absolute disaster, where we lost a major part of our industry that fled abroad, including IKEA, Tetra Pak and H&M. The reform was quickly reversed in the early 90s and -outlawed- to ensure the same mistake could never be repeated again. Just look it up, ”Employee funds” on Wiki. The Swedish page is more extensive. How can you not see this?
Do you really think the richest people in the US are willing to pay 8% of their fortune per year, just to remain US citizens? Are you mad? These people don’t even have that amount of cash. It’s all bound up as stocks in their own companies. Do you think Elon Musk will be happy to sell off 8% of Tesla each year, just to live in the USA? Think again.
If you elect this guy, you better build that wall fast. Not to keep people out, but to keep people in.
I voted for the Swedish social democrats, but the political program of this guy scares me to death. He’s not a scandinavian socialist. He’s just using us Scandinavians as a disguise for politics that’s, quite frankly, communism.
We have a very non-progressive tax system. Our welfare is funded by a 48% base income tax, including social fees, and a 25% VAT on all commerce. We have twice as many billionaires per capita as the US, and it didn’t hurt us.
38
@I’m a Scandinavian Socialist As a Greek, I agree. Bernie says "Denmark" but his written plan screams Venezuela. It would have been rejected by the EU Commission as a communist plan.
10
@I’m a Scandinavian Socialist
Finally, someone who echoes my same exact sentiments. Bernie is hands down a communist who pivoted to democratic socialism to hide his true intentions.
9
@I’m a Scandinavian Socialist - Really?
In today's online world, it's hard to tell who is who anymore.
Russians are posting online as concerned Americans, as are, apparently, Bloomberg paid operatives. Bloomberg also called Sanders a communist the other night, so there seems to be a disinformation theme here.
I will take Mr/Ms Socialist's word for it that he or she represents Sweden, but not sure I believe them when they say that Sanders scares them to death. Just because he or she has had a good education and access to health care does not mean Americans shouldn't have the same. What's so scary about that?
12
Buttigieg has to explain what he means when he says he has the best shot at beating Trump in November. Because of his past life choices, I think he has the LEAST chance at beating Trump in November. Let's be real about this.
2
If Sanders has a small base Mr. Bloomberg, why does he have the most votes?
28
you are confusing absolute (small) with relative (most)
6
@Dave Alberts I think the "small base" reference is relative to the national election. Sanders getting the most votes is relative to the party primaries or caucuses.
Bloomberg is saying that if Sanders has a small base in the national election, he would lose badly compared to the rabid followers of Trump.
5
Let’s not forget what the real issues are.
Trump has become a full-fledged corrupt dictator, and the GOP is supporting him.
Trump’s extreme narcissism presents an imminent danger to America and to the world. The GOP caters to Trump’s every whim.
Trump has betrayed our National Security by repeatedly and consistently aiding a foreign power, Russia. The GOP has become the Gang of Putin.
Trump sees enemies among immigrants, refugees, minorities, the Press, our government agencies, and our Allies. The GOP has endorsed all of this.
We need to get rid of Trump and his GOP apologists.
Vote Blue, no matter who!
21
Bernie is too far left to win. Recall the George McGovern debacle and loss to Nixon in 1972. 80% of the American voters reject socialism. Trump will convince us that Bernie will turn the U.S. into Venezuela, not Denmark or Canada. In any event the Congress will not agree to Medicare for all and free medical care for undocumented aliens at taxpayer expense.
Bloomberg is right on climate change getting rid of coal fired power plants, and right on gun control. Mike is helping minorities get wealthier. In America the poor want to be rich, not equally poor. Bloomberg is a good manager and knows data driven decisions are best. He was wrong on stop and frisk, but Trump and Rudy supported that policy too.
Bloomberg can beat Trump. Sanders cannot.
10
An article with the banner headline, "Democratic Socialism is NOT Communism or Socialism", with an explanation of Democratic Socialism, is sorely needed in the media.
Trump will use the words "Communist" and "Socialist" against any Democratic contender, just to scare voters. The electorate is not clear, at all, on what Democratic Socialism is.
The NYT endorsed the two women Democratic contenders for President. Assuming the NYT wants a Democrat to win, it's a good idea to educate voters and inoculate them against Trump's scare tactics.
Democratic Socialism is the form of government in the EU and Canada. It is Democratic, with representatives elected to Parliaments (the equivalent of the US Congress) in proportion to votes their party received. There are more than two parties at play in the EU and Canada.
Further, the EU and Canada are Capitalistic. The EU is the third richest trading bloc in the world. Residents do pay higher taxes, but not egregiously so, and taxes are proportional. Healthcare and higher education are free.
For the record, Sanders has always caucused with the Democrats, and in fact, has voted in support of Democratic bills more than Democrats themselves.
4
What is all this nonsense about Sanders emerging from the debate unscathed? There were many good points others made in reference to Sanders that pointed out the tremendous negatives involved in nominating him. How is that emerging “unscathed?”
Trump and his Russian troll army want Sanders nominated for a reason. I can see Trump’s attack ads now.
1. Sanders wants to maintain open borders.
2. Sanders wants to raise your taxes to pay for Medicare for All with which he wants to also cover any illegal immigrants that waltz across his open border.
3. Sanders wants the Government takeover of all electric companies.
And those are just a few. Trump knows he can scare moderates to death over Sanders ideas. Don’t nominate him. We’ll lose our Democracy.
7
We need a democracy that keeps illegal migrants out? And what about the millions of women who live under patriarchal violence and misogyny from Calcutta to Tegucigalpa to Mexico City....are you proposing no amnesty? Sanders is promoting a humane system.
3
Dear New York Times Editors,
Would you consider writing an article, with the banner headline, "Democratic Socialism is NOT Communism or Socialism", and then explain what it is to your readers?
Michael Bloomberg's called Sanders "Communist" at the Las Vegas debates. He was taking a page directly from the Republican playbook.
Trump will use the words "Communist" and "Socialist" against any Democratic contender, just to scare voters. The electorate is not clear, at all, on what Democratic Socialism is.
If the NYT is sincere about a 2020 Democratic win, as it endorsed the two women Democratic contenders for President, then it's a good idea to educate voters and inoculate them against Trump's scare tactics.
Democratic Socialism is the form of government in the EU and Canada. It is Democratic, with representatives elected to Parliaments (the equivalent of the US Congress) in proportion to votes their party received. There are more than two parties at play in the EU and Canada.
Further, the EU and Canada are Capitalistic. The EU is the third richest trading bloc in the world.
Residents do pay higher taxes, but not egregiously so, and taxes are proportional. Healthcare and higher education are free.
For the record, on Sanders, he has always caucused with the Democrats, and in fact, has voted in support of Democratic bills more than Democrats themselves.
6
@Lilou The New York Times does not want to see a Sanders presidency, period.
4
As the debates continue, we seem to sink deeper into Trump's influence. It was painful to watch, and the candidates seem to have taken notes on how to personalize insults and attack. Even the sophisticated past presentations of Mayor Pete fell to the wayside.
Much of the responsibility lays, I believe, on the shoulders of the moderators who seem to encourage raw meat questions to inflame rather than educate. The debate turned into jaw-dropping attacks vs and anxious defenses rather than a measured, rational discussion of the issues, or even the disparity between the Dems and the life we are living under Trump.
I am old enough to remember the sharp contrast of Nixon vs. Kennedy. When in high school, our English teacher introduced us to debate and civics (an already a dropped requirement subject) by having us be either candidate. I was grossed out by having to represent Nixon, as Kennedy was my guy. But I learned how to present FACTS, a political viewpoint, and how to influence others with words. I don't believe the debate we watched on Tuesday represented any of those basics.
I also, put some of the responsibility for this free for all that did nothing to educate the voters on the media and pundits. I understand the theory of "If it bleeds, it leads", the necessity of networks/press to rely on ratings (and our fast paced lives that restrict our own research), but these debates are now not doing anything to educate, and everything to overload on vitriol.
7
I cannot believe the level of support for Bloomberg in this particular comment section especially after yesterday debate. Writing that he did well mean either that the debate was not watched, a wildly strange concept of electability or simple paid support for him.
He will bury the Democratic Party if nominated. There is no chance at all that he can win against Trump. This is beyond impossible. What is possible is that the part of the Democratic Party cream has decided that they would rather live with Trump then Sanders as there is again no slightest possibility that Bloomberg can stand his own against the current president.
The debate gave a slight taste of what he will face when affronted with Trump and he was annihilated in a mater of seconds.
Commenters complain about the accusations hurled..
Come on, these candidates has spend months of harsh traveling, fund rising, meeting people, giving speeches, do you believe they are not entitled to be enraged at Bloomberg who throw a billion and doesn’t make an effort to meet even one voter? Carefully sculpted adds participation is all he did till now, his record is beyond pale, his presence is as absolved of charisma, passion and convictions. This is the man you want as a president? On some ways he is worst then Trump.
As for the moral ground usually so dear to the Democrats, he is not only buying the nomination, he is tearing the party while doing it. Your party. Which will not survive if he steal the nomination.
2
Bernie deserves the nomination and despite the naysayers, he will win. He is the people’s choice, not the Democratic Machine’s, and not that of Wall Street. But that is exactly why! We NEED revolutionary thinking to bring us back to a country where caring for your fellow man is popular. Where lobbyists no longer write our laws. Where Citizen United je removed. Where secretly funded advocacy groups are abolished. Where health care and social benefits that care for the entire population are possible. Where education for those capable and gifted doesn’t bankrupt them nor straddle students with debt for a lifetime. Where training and retraining is implemented to accommodate those who lose their jobs. Where our infrastructure including roads and bridges benefit. Where immigration policies are humane and kind. Where corporations and the wealthy are made to pay their fair share. Where policies and activities are out in place to do what we can to preserve Mother Earth. Where businesses are restricted when their is negative environmental impact OR it doesn’t benefit society in some positive way. Unrestrained capitalism has led to incredible greed and corruption. It is time to realize that this cannot be our future.
8
This was not a debate.
This was a bunch of preschoolers tossing mud pies at each other, attempting to one up the other and stepping on each other's corpse to get ahead.
This was a pie throwing contest where the stupidest and rudest was crowned the winner by the media - yes that was Warren, who can be seen now as rude as Trump.
Maybe they should assail her no end for calling herself Cherokee for so long and getting ahead using that moniker. Yes yes, she will say that was before Trump called her out, but it's no longer the case. But then again All of them can say the same and what, they are excused? if not excused, then they can all be called out on things from long ago, right?
This had all the civility of a Jerry Springer beat down.
I guess Bloomberg lost because he did not throw enough pies?
You can color this anyway you want, the echo chambers will tell you how fantastic this was. But regular people watching this hot mess just kept shaking their heads, wondering if these folk were the Democrat's answer to Trump, and I cannot deny they have a point.
125
@AutumnLeaf Bloomberg lost because in an era of #metoo, #blacklivesmatter, and rich people with far too much power, he has an awful profile. What, he thinks he can waltz in and save the democratic party? A joke. All of these Bloomberg supporters are delusional.
10
@AutumnLeaf Remember a tree stump should be able to beat Trump. My ideal candidate a week ago was named Warren YangSteyer Buttigieg. Meaning there are several viable candidates. Including Sanders who is not so scary as the press makes him out be IF you listen to what he actually proposes.
9
@AutumnLeaf A mild surprise at the serious amount of upvotes your comment has generated been posted only 3h ago.
As for the “pie throwing” , that is such a demeaning remark that I feel obliged to remind you that the 6 candidates facing Bloomberg has spend a year campaigning their guts out , day and night while Mike got out his chèque book and went on vacations (figuratively).
Are they to be respectful of a man who paid to have the rules changed so he can classify for the contest of debate? Who has shown an utter disregard for the work needed to get there, to that stage?
Bloomberg who generously donated to the Republican candidate who Warren faced to be elected? How she is supposed to be feeling when the very same person sponsoring her Republican rival pay his way to be onstage with her to contest for the Democratic nomination and who seem to suffer a serious case of misogyny which concern her directly as a woman.
Are they supposed to ignore his record? To call him on it when the future of the country is decided and all this is a weapon in the hands of GOP once the nomination is done?
No , they are supposed to respect him because he is Uber rich and play gentle.
You should actually respect them for not bowing to his wealth and not calculating the eventual benefits they might get from him if they kept his sheltered from the harsh reality of electoral politics.
Impossible to defend point such as this unless you are insanely willing to ignore the truth about Bloomberg.
3
Just curious: who gets to decide he had a poor performance? I don't mean to sound like a Bernie Bro and cry about the Times' coverage, but I've read this in three analyses/opinion pieces in the NYT today, I watched the debate, and I flat-out disagree. He stomped Bernie. The line about which tax haven he pays his taxes in was a boomerang that hit St. bernard right in the face when Mike told him "New York City". Then the bit about being the only person who had ever started a business.
Bernie, meanwhile, os the angry old guy yelling at the kids to get off his lawn; Warren made clear she has no plan for actually getting her 3,842 policy proposals passed; Pete was stable and sober but just seems too inexperienced; Klobuchar had this weird, twitchy delivery. Biden was very solid, showed a breadth of experience and accomplishments and didn't come off at all like he was out of it.
Meanwhile Mike did fantastic. So why all the obituaries today? I'd like to know what independents thought of last night's debate. I have a pretty good guess...
22
Mike in New York. this independent thinks your assessment was spot on. wish the Dems would have had a debate with Bloomberg steyer and yang to talk about the state of the economy. solid proposals on that will crush Trump not 30 year old problems with a sexist workplace. a word to Elizabeth Warren... 30 years ago all the workplaces were sexist. Mike Bloomberg just had deep pockets and hired women who were savvy enough to sue.
6
@Mike Bloomberg did not do fantastic. His performance was cringe-worthy--and deeply alienating to anyone who isn't a paid bot or in campaign collusion. I'm an independent, a woman, a Latina, and unfortunately, was a resident during his extended mayoral term. I reply only because you asked....
5
@Judith Thinks “I'm an independent, a woman, a Latina, and unfortunately, was a resident during his extended mayoral term”
That’s funny, because my wife is a Republican, a woman, a Latina, and was a resident during his extended mayoral term, and she thinks Mike was phenomenal. He’s the only Democrat she will vote for.
Thanks for sharing though.
3
Like many, I was disappointed in Bloomberg. Purportedly he was practiced and rehearsed, but more than once he looked like a deer in the headlights. And long in the tooth.
Senator Sanders was forceful and cogent. However, I do not know if that is good because Trump is salivating at the prospect of the branding shibboleth, "socialist."
Bloomberg could have said many things like, "Look at the fine intelligent women who work on my television network from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to around the world."
"I offer a rational transition this Trump chaos to a better America. This country does not want a socialist revolution."
All of this should have been said at a higher volume and pitch. Mr. Bloomberg's voice was two notches above feeble.
Bloomberg did not seem like a politician. He did not appear spry. Having said that, he probably has a better chance of defeating Trump than the others.
We need a candidate with half-way social measures, like a public option for health care, and a guy like Bloomberg to implement it. Bloomberg is short on ideas and political dexterity. The others don't have enough practicality or youth to do the job.
Still the chaos and depravity of four more years of Trump is a much, much worse potentiality.
8
Why did the Democratic party allow Sanders to run as a Democrat? He's clearly not a Democrat.
8
@Madeline Conant I have the same question concerning Bloomberg who is clearly a Republican, record included.
3
I totally agree. They should never have allowed him to run under their banner. He’s been poison ever since. He put Trump in office by doing the Right’s dirty work for them.
2
Bernie is Trump lite ; won't release his taxes , his health record , is disingenuous won't really go into detail about how he intends to pay for the free stuff he promises . It will be a disaster if he's the nominee . The briefing the intelligence officers gave the House mentioned that they wanted to interfere by boosting Sanders and Trump in 2016 and 2020 . He has been tainted by the Russian meddling .
7
Bloomberg mentions Sanders as having a small base, but the former Mayor did not address the problem of disaffected Republicans as an even smaller and less proven new base for the Dems.
5
Bloomberg’s real effectiveness at defeating Trump would seem to hinge on his ability in the months ahead to spin out authentically and competently as an Independent or in starting a whole new party.
3
Not a Sanders supporter, but picking on him over gun control is the same cheap shot that might have cost Clinton the general election in 2016.
He represents mostly rural VT and gun owners care about their guns...a lot. There are lots of voters like that in every swing state.
Candidates who think they need to play the gun card to beat Bernie should go back to the drawing board on taxes or energy or health care and come up with something better that might matter in the future. The gun control angle is both myopic and lazy.
9
“Representing rural Vermont” was a cop out and a cowardly excuse and nothing else. Was he representing them when he also voted to give immunity to all gun manufacturers?
2
Bloomberg is everything that Trump wishes he was - Trump would be intimidated by Bloomberg - a real self made Billionaire who is not a crook. - Despite Warren's criticism, there is nothing about Bloomberg's character and issues with Non Disclosure Agreements, that would hurt him in a one to one contest with Trump.
8
All the candidates seem to be human with human flaws not unexpected in their rather illustrious careers. The media is toxic pitting them against one another like some barbaric gladiator arena for pointless perverse entertainment.
Except Joe Biden, who rightly insists Hunter Biden’s role was not criminal but refuses or is unable to see anything wrong with such a connection, the rest of the candidates do not seem to have made any major moral failings.
Bloomberg’s stop and frisk was a cruel mistake. He apologized and the judge that opposed him on it also defended Bloomberg’s intent as non malicious. He did his best to undo it in other ways. Sanders is odd. So is the current POTUS. Maybe many of your country’s pioneers are odd too, they once opposed the widely excepted slavery. Pete served his country as a soldier. It’s no small sacrifice and he remains gently humble about it because he acknowledges that others have made greater sacrifices than he.
I think the media circus is perverse and self serving. At the very least I think Donald Trump’s direct use of twitter and taking some teeth out of such a toxic arena is one good thing to come out of his presidency.
1
Bernie voted against the Brady Gun Safety legislation 5 times.
Bernie voted to protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits.
Bernie voted against comprehensive immigration reform.
Bernie wrote a really twisted rape fantasy misogynistic article in the 1970s that is just disturbing. You can find it on Vox.
Bernie has been in the Senate for 20+ years and has virtually no legislative achievements because no one agrees with him on virtually anything. He is too extreme.
Sanders said he would release his full medical records after his heart attack, but now in a Trumpesque manner, Sanders refuses to release his records.
He never stepped in to stop the Bernie Bros hateful, misogynistic, harassment and trolling in 2016 which was targeted at Clinton supporters, and is only now weakly speaking out when his aggressive supporters are targeting much needed union. Much like teh bullying by Trump supporters.
Sanders is a millionaire with 3 homes - interesting.
9
@Jess Darby One of the houses is his wife’s. The other one is in Washington where he works. The third one is a cabine in the woods.
The less wealthy senator in US vs the 8 richest ex Republican in the world?
2
Bloomberg is the only one who would have a chance in American heartland against Trump. He is self made, doesn’t shy away from saying and doing the right things for the fear of political correctness.
5
Like calling women “fat broads” and “horse-faced lesbians?” Are those the kind of right, non-PC things you are talking about? That’s what heartland voters want?
11
Really? Midwesterners know the value of community, so they know that nobody is self-made (and that it's an arrogant concept to begin with).
And why should American Midwesterners be impressed by a billionaire who glibly thinks he can use blunt force spending as his central campaigning tactic; whose attitude toward women he works with looks like "noblesse oblige" (at best); and who owns a 25 million dollar mansion in London? How is any of that relatable to most Midwesterners?
Warren, on the other hand (literally from the heartland - Oklahoma) was not shying away from keeping it real last night.
8
I so wish Bloomberg would've addressed the stop and frisk cotroversy better. It's the elephant in the room that liberals are petrified of touching. In fact the original calculus of stop and frisk was to target the highest crime perpetuating demographic in NYC at the time - young African American males - but it also reduced crime, which was by association , experienced most among African Americans. Did the policy ultimately work? Probably not. Was it used as a rationalization for racially bent cops and did it target young innocent black men unfairly? A resounding yes. But neither was the original intent of the strategy (also used in other big cities) neccesarily conceived as a purely racial strategy. By painting the controversy in absolutist either-or-terms, Bloomberg gets unfairly tarnished, and his opponents then get to check off their "racial" box without themselves, having been in the difficult position of having to reduce crime in America's largest and most diverse city.
2
Bernie beat Hillary Clinton in the key rust belt swing state primaries. He did it because he explains economics very clearly and is loyally focused on helping working Americans. His appeal is broader than NYT readers may think—y’all are mostly (doing) above average.
In 2016 a high school student told me she learned in government class that the Democrats are the party of the rich people. Maybe you have to be as old as me to remember when that wasn’t so. The Democrats have lost their way. If the Democratic establishment will do a bit more soul searching, they might see why Bernie (and Warren) are surging—because the voters are desperate for someone real.
11
@BamaGirl
Bernie hasn’t a clue about economics so he couldn’t possibly explain the topic.
2
As someone who caucused in Iowa, my most vivid memory of the evening was the Sanders's supporters who yelled loudly at EVERYONE, and disrupted conversations for other groups. We need considered conversation during these troubled times, not people yelling.
5
I don't know, what I saw was the influence of the possibility of big money for the perceived winners of the debate. It is enough to turn decent human beings into backstabbing monsters. It has nothing to do with the ability to govern. But the public likes the show. Sort of like Romans in the Colosseum, minus the lions, and no visible blood.
I doubt that anyone but Mike Bloomberg can beat Trump in the Fall (being a good or bad debater is pretty much irrelevant as to how good a President you would be). Trump would love to run against Bernie.
2
What is relevant then? Deep pockets? You and I have different values.
6
I'm a Democrat and honestly felt embarrassed last night watching the debate.
It's unbelievable that after 2016 these are the candidates for the primary. 1.Demonizing people with money ? WOW
2. Trying to convince Latinos and African Americans that the need a lot of help from a white saviour. REALLY?
3. No mention of rural whites. WHAT??
4. Bernie?
5. Biden? I'll stay at home for that one.
6. Amy ? She could not handle Buttigieg, delusional if she thinks she can go to toe with Trump... poor thing.
7. Mayor Pete? Vice President ? Anyone?
8. Bloomberg? See some similarities with Trump..and I like it!!
9. Warren? Not happening but she had my vote.
Congratulations to President Trump's reelection win. Thanks DNC for no knowing how to produce a candidate to evict him from the WH.
5
Doesn’t matter what happens.. looks like the next President is gonna be a Senior Citizen. Whoopee!
1
The part missing from critiques of Bloomberg is that he apologizes for stop and frisk because it was ineffective, not because it violates American notions of freedom, dignity and privacy. We are not selecting a CEO. We need someone who can govern within the framework of American democratic values and the Constitution.
I get the sense that Bloomberg's idea of successful government is Singapore.
Overall, commenters on here have me wondering if they wouldn't have embraced Trump, too, had he not just paid some lip service to a few of their sacred cows.
Which Democratic values does the authoritarian Bloomberg hold?
If he's the nominee, I will not be voting for him in November.
9
@BBecker And yet stop and frisk undeniably contributed to the lowering of crime in minority communities.
1
Sensible gun control, better education, addressing climate change, women’s rights (yes he champions policies for women), progressive taxation. Hits a lot of the big ones for me. And, yes there’s room for this without being anti business.
1
@Thomas, stop and frisk violated the rule of law. I understand, police states do have their defenders.
3
While he’s not my first choice it’s just amazing that so many Democrats would choose 4 more years of Trump versus voting for Sanders.
10
@Bronx Jon
Just because "they" claim to be Democrats in these comments doesn't mean they really are.
10
Why must anyone besides the voters stop Bernie? If he is what the majority of the people want, so be it. If the DNC interferes again as it did in 2016, the Party will be irreparably damaged. The Party is already signaling it is on life support by propping up one arrogant billionaire as the answer to the arrogant billionaire in the White House.
12
Nevada is of course home to Las Vegas, where in 2017 there was a mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured 413. For Nevada to choose Bernie Sanders would be unconscionable. Sanders has zero interest in gun control. ZERO! He's not a Democrat, he's just another self-centered ranting blowhard, like the one who's currently president. Nevada, don't vote for another demagogue who only pretends to be a man of the people, who lies about releasing his health records, who covered up his heart attack, and who appears unstable every time he speaks.
1
@Umberto you are being absurd. His position was sound. Do you want to sue car makers for everyone who kills a pedestrian with their car too? People are ridiculously sue happy. In a country that cannot pass reasonable gun regulation, trying to sue gun manufacturers is unprincipled and cowardly.
4
I watched the argument/fight/mudslinging/debate last night. All of it. I would not care to vote for anyone of those people. Buttigieg seemed to be the most calm. But overall, they are all pushing some variation. of socialism. This is the USA and there is no room for socialism or communism or Marxism. Sorry if my comment offends but I gave up 25 years of my life to the active Army and that is the way my stick floats.
2
@old sarge look up the New Deal.
6
Hey Sarge, if you served 25 years in the Army, you have lived your entire life in a socialized paradise, the most heavily socialized career institution in the USA. I say this as a proud military family. And my military family enjoys the quality government healthcare, pension, subsidized college, ample paid time off, and all the other socialized perks that came along with a military career. Your life is so entirely socialized you can't even see it, like a fish in water. Seriously.
Try working in the private sector where you work your butt off for $11 bucks an hour with supervised bathroom breaks while your bosses make $11,000 an hour for going out to lunch schmoozing, and are happy to lay you off for an offshore worker with no notice at any time, no pension, no healthcare. Might change your perspective a bit.
8
Bernie is our pick...DNC are you listening?
10
Not mine. I’m a Member of the party who has canvassed, phone banked and donated to many candidates. Helped turn our district blue in 2018 by supporting a reasonable, qualified, moderate Democrat. I’m not sure why Bernie supporters think they are the party? You’ll turn districts like mine red again with Bernie at the top of the ticket. After we worked so hard to take back the house.
2
@Tracy Kuehn sorry but Bernie or Bust. My family and friends are all in for Mr. Sanders. We are in our 30's and have watched one fake progressive after another roll over our wishes and now the times are a changing. The fact that Joe Biden was ever put forth and now Bloomberg; exactly represents the problems at hand in addition to President Trump.
I can't believe 4 septuagenarians (3 in their late 70s), are still being considered by so many Democratic voters for the most powerful position in the world. Plus one, Sanders, has had a heart attack less than 6 months ago! Lets' have all the candidates release comprehensive physical exams, to include mental aptitude and cognitive test results. I want generational change, I want someone much younger, who can take this country forward, someone who is still has his best years ahead of him. Mayor Pete is the whole package: youth, smarts, compassion, pragmatic, etc.
3
And Buttigieg is utterly unqualified!
8
@JT A lot more qualified, and smarter, than the current person who occupies the White House. Bernie supporters just can't admit that there savior is a man at the end of his career, and in failing health. Not exactly the kind of person to lead a revolution.
@Pete Buttigieg would be the most unqualified Democratic nominee for president in living memory. Let's not let Donald Trump lower our standards. Hard pass on former mayor Pete.
6
Mini Mike’s mega ego made him blind to his personal, business and Mayoral shortcomings. He has crossed the point where self assuredness morphs into self delusion. He was unprepared to fend off attacks and defend the business and political record he is running on. He might become a competent President, but
Trump has him in the crosshairs.
Bernie is a true believer blinded by the adoration of a cult following. His campaign when boiled down is a series of unanswered questions. Why does the rest of the world have cheaper and better healthcare? Why is life for ordinary folk better in Democratic Socialist Denmark? There are answers, but instead of achievable policy he has pinned his Presidential aspirations on demagoguery. He has mesmerized his followers Trump style, not with bigotry or fear, but with false promises.
Trump will trounce Bernie, because Trump can keep most of his promises. No wall on Mexico’s tab,but he has thwarted immigration; he acts like the strongman desired by those long ignored; he delivers to targeted constituencies such as wealthy with tax cuts, evangelicals with judges, environmental and financial polluters with deregulation; he courts black and Latino voters with low unemployment numbers and justice reform; he bails out farmers...and keeps the economy juiced wih low interest rates, profligate Federal spending and massive tax cuts.
Trump is consumed with his re-election. Bloomy and Bernie are consumed with feeding their egos.
1
Bernie is Trump in a Santa Clause costume
2
Agreed, a totalitarian from the other end of the political spectrum.
@MB he has been a senator and a legislator after having been a mayor. You are being absurd.
7
@JT
So you're waiting for free college come December???
1
If we, Americans, have learned anything from having elected Donald Trump for President, it’s that Billionaires are a separate class of people in our society. They are not subject to the risks of life in our society. Yes, they bleed if cut and put their pants on one leg at a time, but they are carefully protected from the conventional like shame and being Presidential. They are not held to normal human values by society and culture. They can be as capricious and eccentric as they feel at any moment and are de facto above the law. DONALD TRUMP IS THE FIRST OLIGARCH.
Mike Bloomberg admits to mistakes and should thus be forgiven because he says so?
This is Citizens United completely unleashed. Now, do we fully surrender to oligarchy or fight this widening income inequality and the domineering power of wealth? Bloomberg is capable of outspending all the other candidates combined. There should be a spending limit on self-funded campaigns like those of Trump, Bloomberg, Steyer, et al.
Any and all Democratic candidates are equally electable and can beat Trump in 2020. Don’t get sucked into the distraction and illusion of electability. Trump is your boogie man to scare you into sacrificing your values and back your own billionaire.
Donate to, campaign volunteer for, march for, fight for, canvas door to door for, register for, and ultimately vote for the Democratic candidate who best represents your values then do the same for the Democratic nominee. That is how we defeat Trump.
7
maybe the split in moderate america is representative of the fact that moderate liberal policies have been largely interchangeable & primarily directed toward maintaining the status quo (albeit with some meaningful improvements.) but there’s a mass of liberals who are tired of half measures and tired of insane student loan debt and dead end jobs which don’t even pay enough to cover college & rent, let alone being able to save. among the many other issues. maybe it’s time to give bernie the shot he has clearly proved he deserves...
8
Before maybe a week ago, there were hardly any posts in favor of Bloomberg. Now, after a terrible debate performance, we are flooded by pro-Bloomberg posters who claim that either he did well in the debate or that debates don’t matter. I don’t trust them. Billionaire Bloomberg buys his friends. And the Bloomberg Bots he employs seem to be nihilists who have absolutely no values other than believing without any evidence that Bloomberg is the only person who can beat Trump. Just give it a rest!
10
I’m not a bot. But worked to help flip my district blue in 2018 with a sensible moderate Democrat. We will lose these hard fought districts in 2020 with Bernie at the top of the ticket. No doubt. And I do think Bloomberg will do well in your critical state.
1
The Democrats need to answer the questions asked of them in the debate without drawing their competitors into their answer. Each can focus on their own strengths without tearing the others down. If they are going to differentiate themselves from anyone it should be from the current occupant of the White House.
2
I am really dumbfounded that there has been virtually no discussion of immigration during this period. That subject is the single thing that has elected most of the current right-wing lunatics in Europe, and it's what got Trump elected in the first time.
Bernie is going to lose and lose incredibly bad not because of medicare for all--most people LIKE free stuff--but because he will let millions of poor people into this country. To be clear: I think the -fear- of immigrants is pathetic and cowardly, but the fear that poor and working people have of being forced to compete with millions of desperately poor immigrants? Completely rational.
These democrats are walking into a buzzsaw of grievance and fear, and they are talking about completely ridiculous stuff that nobody in their right mind cares about. Giving middle and upper-middle-class folks a break on their college loans? Give me a break and get to work.
The democrat that can win is the one that can honestly say: "I will lock up in jail any business owner that hires someone not legally permitted to work in the USA."
5
You won’t find any Republican politicians who would say let alone fight or vote for that. They love cheaper, Union-busting labor whether imported or exported.
5
The article should include the media. The NYT and MSNBC appear to be attacking him to. I wonder if any big money interests are behind that.
3
While I usually vote for Democrats, the sorry spectacle last night is just another reason why I changed my voter registration from Democrat to non affiliated. These are the type of antics that turn people off from politics and perhaps keep them home on election day.
1
I prefer Warren to Bloomberg, but was dismayed by his pathetic response to her attack last night. Did he not know this sort of thing was coming? How could he be so woefully unprepared?
I prefer(red) Harris to Biden, but felt the same way when she pulled that ridiculous stunt against him in the first debate. Why didn't he call her on it?
If either of these guys winds up being our nominee, he's gonna have to grow a spine, show some spirit, something!
1
Bernie appeals to young college snowflakes who never worked in their lives and want everything given to them.. a communal hippie Utopia. Far Out Man! It may sound cool and heavy, but it will not win an election.
FOX NEWS is petrified of Bloomberg, I thought Hannity was going to have an on air heart attack the other day..
Bloomberg is the only one who can stop Trump!
#Mike 2020
4
@Aaron I’m 61, worked since I was 15 and I’m supporting Sanders.
15
Who does Bloomberg appeal to? People who are impressed by riches? Not me, that’s for sure.
7
@Aaron or college kids who resent that the Baby Boomers were able to go to state colleges without 5 figures of undischargable debt! Must be nice!
4
I wish Biden would drop out. No way. Also Bloomberg is a no go for me. I am happy with any of the others, but I will vote for Bernie.
14
Why is no one pointing out the clear violation of journalistic ethics at the debate: When Warren hurled epithets at Bloomberg right out of the box, Bloomberg was not given a chance to respond. Instead, the moderator addressed a question to someone else. That’s a clear violation of journalistic ethics. And clearly contrary to the rules followed in all of the other debates. Don’t tell me Bloomberg didn’t have a good response. He wasn’t even allowed to respond. Were the talking heads not taking notes during the debate?
6
Poor Baby Bloomberg! All of that big talk about eating Trump alive and he can’t even stand up for himself.
9
Well Dan Quayle survived the worst moment of a debate at the hands of Sen Bentsen put down "you are no JFK" and went on to win the election.
Admittedly, he was number 2.
In this frenzy of nominating process - not just 1 day is a year in politics of the past - a couple of hours seem like an eternity.
Bloomberg if he falters next Tuesday - then, I say - he is done.
As it is - the media is so hyped about these debates that, first, they said, debates are hiring; second, there are too many; third, may be DNC needs to shut down the whole thing.
But now, one debate will or can break a candidate.
As for me - as a political junkie - I say bring it on.
More debates the better - and may be DNC should even consider holding a debate for folks who have dropped out.
Well, there is no reason to doubt they cannot have a second coming.
1
I'd like to make a few points:
1. I like candidates who are calm and cool, who don't yell or interrupt, who don't come across as angry, and who don't literally or metaphorically pound the podium . Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. Bloomberg mostly did well on this front: they were cool as cucumbers. That enhances their appeal and makes them seem leadership-worthy.
2. Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren (and their staunch supporters) have got to stop acting as though the words "profit", "millionaire", "billionaire", "corporation", and "Wall Street" are dirty words. And they must stop implying that wealthy or even well-to-do people are automatically villains. This will alienate many suburban swing voters.
3. Listening to Mr. Sanders last night, not only is it clear he's a socialist, one could reasonably wonder whether he crosses the line to "communist". America is not ready for that. And, in any case, even if (hypothetically) he were elected and the D's had majorities in both the House and the Senate, the vast majority of his revolutionary ideas that appeal most to his base will never stand a chance of passing.
4. Finally, I'm not in to lame attempts at making hay out of "gotcha moments". For example, why did the debate get sidetracked for ten minutes on the topic of Amy Klobuchar not being able to name the President of Mexico? We don't play a round of Jeopardy to determine who gets to be President.
4
Elizabeth Warren was a Harvard professor but does not seem to know that JFK, FDR, and Teddy Roosevelt were all "biillionaires" of their day. Any one of them did 100 times more for working and poor people than Warren ever dreamed of accomplishing. Her random vilification of all wealthy Americans marks her as a demagogue. And that goes double from her accused sexist pal Bernie Sanders.
Led by Warren the Democratic candidates nearly all threw away any claim to being more intelligent, more eloquent, and more statesmenlike than Mr Trump. She led all but Pete and Mike down to Don's level. What an embarrassment.
7
It wasn’t rough for him; he simply chose not to indulge or imitate the hysteria generated by the other candidates.
6
Sanders appears headed for the nomination so all Bloomberg is doing by attacking Sanders is helping Trump.
8
That screaming match we call a debate was disgusting!
The debate format is unproductive and does not allow for reasoned discussion. Town halls are what we should have.
I hope Bloomberg does several of them so folks can hear smart ideas.
Mike Bloomberg is the one who can beat trump. The others simply cannot and their frenetic behavior shows that. I cannot imagine 4 years of Bernie Sanders.
The DNC needs a complete overhaul & update, or we need a third party !
8
I’ll never vote for Bloomberg. Frankly, I find his overwhelming support in this forum highly suspicious. I suspect he pays people to post in his favor. No more Bloomberg Bots who seem to be nihilists with no values other than liking a billionaire!
13
@Ben
I can assure you I am not a bot.
Trump is my first choice, but I could live with Bloomberg.
Never Sanders—completely clueless.
1
Let us not forget it was Bloomberg’s money that made it possible for Democrats to win the House in 2018. And impeach Trump. What has Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren done except make empty promises? Yes Bloomberg has many flaws just like any other rich white male of his age. However, he is capable and will deal with problems head on, starting with climate change. Being rich does not automatically mean being bad. Just look at what Melinda and Bill Gates are doing to make the world a better place. Life is full of compromises and electing Bloomberg is the sensible thing to do for every Democrat.
14
Bloomberg is right...a candidate with narrow views.. particularly whose vision is extreme and insistent on immediate change, is a threat to this country. These dems can bring the party down for years. Why does this party which has a real chance to win just throw it away. People are not looking for a revolution, they are looking for reason, rational government, keeping allies and treaties, striving to do better for the country. I hope Bloomberg wins the nomination and the dems don't stand in his way.
12
Can't believe all these starred remarks that support Bloomberg. That's not what comes across on the main story in the vast majority of comments. Last night, Bloomberg immediately tried to paper over his miserable debate performance by cheating on a manipulated twitter posting. If he has to cheat and buy the race, he's not the one anyone should vote for. Further, that anyone would vote for a man with such a streak of misogyny and racism, especially as an elected official, is amazing. The night belonged to Elizabeth Warren, who called Bloomberg out right from the start.
9
Bloomberg is the only Dem candidate who can defeat Trump. Your purety test is going to get us 4 more years of Trump.
5
The way she went after his arrogance and his out-of-touch attitude (without trashing the party itself) was refreshing.
3
It’s a HUGE base Sanders has. You can tell how absolutely terrified of Sanders the oligarchs on Wall Street are. They have enlisted listed one of their own, Bloomberg, to do nothing but attack him. Sanders will win. Sanders will beat Trump. All the other stuff people keep repeating about “Sanders can’t beat Trump” is propaganda. Not at all true. According to whom?
13
I’m not on Wall Street, I’m an MD. On my 18th birthday I woke up and went directly to the library to register as a Democrat. I’m terrified of sanders because his ideas are anathema to the American dream my parents came here for. If he wins I will try to leave - I find the direction America is spiraling is sad. Success should be celebrated, not castigated. There is a reason socialist countries and Europe have never created a Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, Tesla, 3M, etc.
These debates mean nothing. People will vote for who they want once in the booth. The pundits have no clue what they are talking about. The polls are flawed.
3
I’ve noticed a suspicious number of posters claiming that “debates don’t matter” since Bloomberg went down in flames last night. Sour grapes, perhaps?
7
I don't think either Bernie or Bloomberg can defeat Trump.
Bernie wants to take away employer provided health insurance from about 160 m.
Slightly over 50% of white women voted for Trump in 2016. To win in 2020 the Dems must regain the votes of these white women Trump voters.
Nominating Bloomberg who has made disgusting comments about women will not regain these lost votes.
2
I think Bloomberg held his own. I want to know his plans for America in more detail before I make a decision.
4
How so? I saw Warren eat his lunch.
1
Ridiculous question "Should billionaires exist?". Without ambition and aspiration, we plunge into mediocrity. If all the stars align why shouldn't people be rewarded, it is up to the government to make sure these people follow the rules.
Furthermore, whether or not billionaires contribute to your political funds, it is up to the candidate to act on it. That is a morality call, and for Bernie to blame the billionaires for political corrupt behaviour shows you the moral weakness of the political class.
Finally, Bloomberg is right on this point Bernie is a socialist who is a millionaire who owns three houses, if he truly in the spirit of his revolution surely some of his wealth should go to the people sleeping on the streets that he constantly espouses.
9
Bernie will lose to Trump and he knows it. Trump will destroy American democracy and Bernie knows that, too.
Small price to pay for the sake of his "Revolution". Right, Bern?
7
@Late4Dinner
Frankly Trump hasn’t been a bad president. He is obnoxious and crude-so what.
2
And Mussolini made the trains run on time.
5
This article begins with: "After a poor performance in a ferocious Democratic debate, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ..."
Who said it was a "poor" performance? For a straight news story, this writing has a lot of opinion in it. This is what I hear a lot from people who support Trump - that the media is biased - that they reporters don't stick to facts. If this article is an "analysis" it should be stated so. But it is not. And it is obviously not a political column. In fact, there is opinion sprinkled throughout this article. In an age when half the country believes the mainstream media is fake, this kind of writing does not help.
4
Watch the Bloomberg network if you want people to mollycoddle Mayor Mike.
4
Mike did the only thing he was to do last night. Knock Sanders. His proposals are laughable. Free healthcare for all, except in most other countries you have a public option AND a private option. I guess he’s not studying this well. Unless Sanders can figure out how to cut doctors salaries, tells the nursing union to take pay cuts, finds a way to increase Medicare and Medicaid payouts a good 30 percent AND force the majority of Americans to lose 20lbs it’s hopeless. We’re too fat and too sick to ever dream of being able to pay for this. Other countries citizens don’t have the diabetes rates we do. He proposed national rent control on Twitter. That’s a huge joke. That would crash the housing market and leave a 1970s nyc style landlord situation where no one updates or upgrades units. You couldn’t find someone worse at economic theory than sanders. His wife bankrupted the only public university in his state. Read that again. Bankrupted an educational facility. Trump will wipe the floor with his bs democratic socialism, but he’s actually proposing socialism not what Sweden has. Sweden has no minimum wage. Sweden has problems with rent control. Even Sweden had to correct his statements. Sanders is proposing more ownership of employees in companies. He wants to mandate it. You know what that does? Absolutely discourages someone from starting a company. Bloomberg may not win, but it’s time someone for the love of god kicked Sanders. The DNC needs to kick the socialists out.
25
Germany has workers sit on company boards. I haven't hear about Venezuelan style decline there yet.
12
@Location01
Also other countries our allies eg DEPENDENTS have the US taxpayer paying for their defense. That's how those countries afford their lavish social spending.
2
Right! Has Bernie ever actually "made the case for Medicare for all"? He spouts socialist theory, but it is not a plan that is laid out. It is all about "Free" and "trust me". We don't need to support this disaster that might benefit trump's re-election. The kids think they see a free ride.
5
To the anti-Sanders people:
First, nothing is "free". Everything is paid for. There are two pertinent questions:
Should the thing to be paid for be broad-based, through general taxation?
How should it be paid?
Medical Care - should we, as a society, pay for it privately or through general taxation? If the goal is to be efficient, and do it cheaper, then the answer is clear: broad-based taxation is the best.
Second, the fairest method is through progressive taxation, because the rich will live in a healthier society, less crime, less poverty, and entrepreneurs will never have to worry about paying employees health care costs.
I could say the same thing for higher education and universal child care and pre-k.
And remember, the money we spend on the above goes right back into the economy, so this "spending" translates into ordinary Americans incomes - real incomes. This will grow our economy.
So let's stop getting all worked up about supposedly "free" stuff and how we're gonna pay for it.
20
@Sirlar
You want medical care—you pay for yours and I will pay for mine.
If you want the cost of medical care to drop, get the government out of medicine.
3
@Driven
You want the government out of those farm subsidies you get too?
2
@Viv
Not a farmer, but yes.
I have a small garden so I can make it. How about you?
1
Wow! I guess I watched a different debate. I thought Bloomberg did okay. The other candidates are so full of hate. I didn’t realize that until last night. Bloomberg couldn’t do much, so he did what a grownup would do. He let them do their thing without telling anyone what he thought of them. Kind of classy, I thought. Sanders is going nowhere in most of America. Same for Buttigieg, so condescending and pompous! Warren was truly nasty. They all come off as hopelessly petty and envious of Bloomberg. A bunch of brats. Very hard to get a rise out of him. Trump won last night hands down. The Dems and the DNC are slowly dying of self inflicted wounds. I’m a liberal Dem who became an Independent because we obviously can’t count on the regular Dems to protect us from Trump & Co.
20
Bloomberg bombed big-time. He's going to pull all the strings in the DNC anyway, and his billions spell finis to American "democracy," but apparently New Yorkers like it that way. Bet he can't beat Trump though.
12
Bloomberg should hold a Town Hall.
14
I can't believe Bloomberg is paying people to post positive comments about him on the NYT website.
I refuse to believe that any of these people actually watched the debate last night and thought "Huh, this Republican billionaire who's getting hammered on his terrible record and has no defense for himself is really cut out to win the election and become the next president."
Please, please tell me that these people are all paid shills.
18
@Sam sadly, i agree with you. who needs the russians when you have a bloomberg ?
7
I find it insulting that you would think a positive comment regarding Mike Bloomberg is paid for. I can assure you that I have not been paid and I like Mike Bloomberg. I think he is not a great debater, but would make a wonderful president.
He has flaws, but he knows how to lead. He is the only one, as he said, who started a company and employs thousands of people.
Sanders and Warren were a disgrace as were Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who look like she was going to cry.
This election is too much theater and we are doomed with another 4 years of Trump looking probably.
7
@Stephanie Davee regardless, Bloomberg is not a democrat ... he is a republican, so he is running in the wrong primary.
7
Today Bloomberg released a lie of an ad, manipulating moments after his remark that he’s a businessman: “I’m the only one here that’s ever started a business. Is that fair?” His lying ad shows 20 seconds of long pauses from each of the other candidates that were removed from their original spots. We don't need another liar in the WH!
Google “Bloomberg edited debate video”. The actual debate video shows something entirely different.
13
But he IS the only one who started a business.
2
You got to admit Trump is better than anyone gave him credit. After witnessing this debate none of the democrat candidates can handle confrontation, ridicule, or criticism. They don’t know how to handle it or respond off the cuff. Too used to scripted or rehearsed pressers & speeches in safe spaces. Can you imagine Trump reading one of Bernies rape fantasy poems he used to write during a presidential debate! Trump will be savage.
3
Bloomberg is Trump with a better vocabulary.
8
Actually, Sanders is Trump with better hair
2
Nope. Check out “Bloomberg philanthropies”. No comparison between the presidential con-man and the self-made billionaire who hand mega bucks out to good causes.
2
Mike has a huge advantage. Self funded. He does not have use a debate to raise. He does not have to be a flavor of the month. He can gradually improve without worry. It is a huge advantage.
6
A benefit to whom, exactly?
Which group benefits when an oligarch buys an election?
2
Bloomberg will defeat Trump and he will be an effective president in contrast to Sanders. He may be nasty with some women and I am sure he was nasty with some men as well. He doesn’t have patience with incompetence. That is past and going forward, he may turn out to be a good President, but not sure his interests coincide with low income people, where Warren is at her best. People should say where America stands with their ballot. Trump is an aberration in the history of our country.
8
Last night was the first debate I've watched and this was my take.
Amy seems intelligent and qualified to hold the office but lacks the confidence to win. Pete has plenty of that and the intelligence to match but is too nice would get crushed by the Republican political machine. Biden is an empty suit. Sanders sounds like an angry old white guy who looks like he might die while in the White House. Warren is another empty suit. Bloomberg is the nominee.
i work in Manhattan and not a big fan of rich people nor was I a fan of his when he was mayor but as he pointed out, he made his money on his own. I think he should stress this point.
19
I liked how calm Bloomberg was through all of the crossfire. He has my vote.
20
Bloomberg has his faults but overall is a good decent human being. Still, I do not support a good manager who is trying to buy apthe nomination. and by the way, I think he would make a great Republican who, if he was a Republican President, I wouldn't be embarrassed, disgusted, and horrified by as I am now.
1
Bernie, AOC, and the socialist left that has taken over the Democratic party believe it is "immoral" to start a business and be successful.
They represent a bigger threat to America than Trump.
13
@J.
Well stated.
3
Cry Baby Bernie and his supports all want free stuff rather than working for it. I applaud those union workers in LV refusing to support a candidate who wants to take away benefits from hardworking union members.
1
I hope Sanders wins the democrat candidate, so President Trump can best him!
2
@Jean Green be careful for what you wish for. A 21st century New Deal is a very good idea for most Americans.
1
What has Bloomberg been doing that he didn’t practice emotional and verbal responses to questions he had to know were coming his way? Sheesh, what a nebbish. Many educated suburban women in Virginia who are looking for a Trump alternative watched Warren eat Bloomberg’s lunch while he stood there dumbfounded and flummoxed. Who is this billionaire candidate who didn’t prepare or anticipate?
11
Maybe he's right about Sanders. Maybe he's not. But why are we bombarded with so much coverage on Bloomberg? Is it because Bloomberg was NYC major and this is the New York Times?
Otherwise, Bloomberg is nothing more than a rich guy who bought his way onto that debate stage. He couldn't qualify for previous debates because he didn't have enough enough individual donations. (DNC, of course, changed the rules to suit Bloomberg.) He has zero delegates so far. Why is the media paying such rapt attention to every word this guy says? Because he is using billions to buy publicity for himself (including owning his own news outlet?)
This emperor has no clothes, and we'll see that on Super Tuesday.
11
The debate reminded me of the rap-offs in the movie 8 mile between B Rabbit and Papa Doc. B Rabbit had a difficult time finding his voice early on but clicked in the end. Please don’t drop The Mike!
4
Bloomberg not only looked awful and imploded last night, he's carrying water for Trump by going after Bernie Sanders. Bernie's support is soaring and polls in the battleground states show Sanders beating Trump there. Yes, Bernie can win and has widespread support.
16
There exists a dead-serious campaign to demonize Mr. Sanders and to destroy any possibility that he may occupy the White House. The people involved are very well funded and well organized. They represents the interests of a foreign government.
The risk is that Mr. Sanders would introduce the principles of morality and legality into US foreign policy in the Middle East. This would mean disaster for the programs that this foreign government has underway.
5
I was very depressed after watching this debate. Warren’s behavior last evening was frankly terrible. She came across as a nasty you know what throwing out unsubstantiated charges against Bloomberg that frankly are libelous. As a former law-professor she should know better. She certainly did not look or act presidential. Moreover, what is this obsession against being a billionaire. Bloomberg has given billions of dollars to support universities. Law School professors like Warren have been paid salaries and receive research grants from Bloomberg and other major donors. She has never worked in the private sector, has not been terribly effective as a US Senator probably because her counterparts don’t like her. She has been eating from the public sector and non-profit trough for years. Frankly other than a short stint at a startup Federal agency she has never run anything!
I think the reason for Warren’s attack was to curry favor from Sanders and his supporters to obtain a #2 spot on the ticket. There is no logical explanation as she has zero chance of being the nominee. I was hoping that Bloomberg would offer some hope to have a competitive race in November now that Biden has collapsed. Now, I am not so sure so much so that I am drinking heavily today hoping I wake up from a bad dream.
8
Poor Baby Bloomberg! He was terrible. Own it.
3
I've watched all the Democratic debates (since the 70s, actually) and I disagree that Bloomberg's performance was "poor." I thought he and Amy K. were the sane ones, and I'd love to see them on a ticket together. Bloomberg is right that much of Sanders' discourse was "ridiculous," and that there is no way Sanders will beat Trump. That's just simply the truth. I'll vote for Sanders if he is the nominee -- but sorry, he won't win. Bloomberg will.
6
Mr. Sheeky has every right to believe that Mr. Bloomberg was the adult in the room. To my taste an adult is someone who wants to make major changes in our government so that more people can share in the wealth of our country. We presently have someone in the White House who has started a bushel of businesses. It isn't working out so well. Yes, Mr. Bloomberg has been one hundred times more successful than Mr. Trump. But where is the heart of a man who hoards sixty-two billion dollars when there are half a million men, women, and children living in the streets of this rich country of ours? He pledges to give away his wealth before he dies. He better hurry. He's 78 and living with two stents.
5
@jonpoznanter
His wealth is not mine nor yours. His billions do not make me poorer not you.
I suggest you earn your own money
3
@Driven I have no need of Mr. Bloomberg's money but there are millions of people who do. There's only so much oxygen on our planet just like there's only so much wealth. When the wealth is concentrated in a small group it leads to revolution and wars. The next world war will destroy our planet.
5
You know what I would love to see? A group of Democrats that didn’t spend the entire debate arguing amongst themselves.
Attacking each other so ferociously. It reminds me of the Republican’s debates in 2016. Those debates seemed like a joke at the time. My Democratic friends and I laughed at how ridiculous the Republican candidates were at the time, with all their accusations and name calling. I saw the same thing last night at the Democratic debate.
We have only one person to worry about and that is in the current President. I made note of those Democrats who stuck to policy. And they will get my primary vote. But in the end, I will vote for ever wins the primary.
3
The DNC elites don't care if Trump or Bloomberg is president. Neither of those two threaten the elites' cushy lives (or, narrow foreign policy interests) sponsored by deep-pocket donors. They see Sanders as a threat and that is who they want to stop.
This morning the CBS staff (paid shills) claimed that Bloomberg "won" the debate!? We need a media that is not of, by and for the conspiracy of wealth.
It seems to me that Bloomberg and his ilk see the common people as herds of livestock and they try to practice their particular brand of animal husbandry on us.
I will vote for Bernie.
12
Thanks so much, Max. You just handed Trump his second term on a golden platter. You can kiss this country goodbye. And you will have helped. Hope you enjoy life in a banana republic, because that’s what we have at least four more years of coming.
2
@A Bird In The Hand then support Bernie. If he wins the plurality of delegates. Back him as the obvious lesser of two evils. - if you see a 21st century New Deal as somehow being evil at all. Put up or shut up.
3
I though Mike did an awful job in responding to the questions from particularly Warren. At the same time, the entire debate has no focus on actual policies. There was little or no discussion of how to protect the environment, insure equal access to success for all Americans, combat cybercrime, how to handle Russia Iran and North Korea, nothing. Aren't these the things that will determine a successful presidency? Will allowing some women (?) to air their grievances or not really matter when it comes to deciding how best to achieve peace in the Middle East or to fix our bridges and roads. I think that the debate was about the dumbest thing I've ever seen - the others were bad but this one took the cake.
2
I missed Tom Steyer in the debate. He’s the billionaire Democrat who campaigns hard and who can stand on a stage for two hours and keep both feet out of his mouth.
3
Bloomberg was pitiful , unprepared, he should resign and not run any longer for president . People that doesn’t knowing him well are the only ones that believe in his ads . He is a made for tv ( advertising) candidate as Trump was and still is .
Instead of wasting 440 millions dollars in advertising, he should give it away to people in need .
7
I will never vote for Bloomberg. If he is the candidate I will never vote in this plutocracy again.
8
It was a noisy and irritating debate from which candidates never told us how they would get their proposals passed while Mitch bars the door.
Klobbuchar, Warren and Sanders should never give up theiir seats, while so many Senate seats are at risk.
The above Senate candidates and Mayor Boutegie are treating this as a normal election but their opponent is not normal. We saw how their opponent's campaign was able to split the votes and embitter the Bernie supporters in 2016 so they stayed home on election day. With Putin's help, they are doing it again. These four candidates are aiding and abetting by attacking each other and Mayor Bloomberg. Voters this time should vote with their heads and not with their hearts
Then perhaps we'll all be lucky and get our hearts' wish - a president who shares and implements our values!
4
Bloomberg needs to show he can take the heat from his own party before he takes on Trump. His stance on gun rights, remarks on farmers, and backpedaling on stop and frisk has not resonated in flyover country. The constant Bloomberg media barrage is wearing thin for many right now. He’s clearly the Democrats’ best shot compared to the rest. Let’s see how he does in the primaries.
Every Democrat voter had better realize that the perfect candidate does not exist here and that defeating Trump may require them to think very carefully about which candidate is best positioned to do so. That means retreating from the left and claiming the center-left and center. No candidate, Republican or Democrat can win an election without the independent voters who vacillate every four years.
Do we think Bernie or Warren can carry Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Colorado, Minnesota, or even Virginia? That is what it will take to defeat Trump and defeating Trump should be the main goal this time around, unfortunate as it may be.
3
Indeed, he was the adult in the room. Unfazed by Warren's pitbull routine, he stood and took it. She won't be the nominee, but maybe she will garner the VP slot under Bernie. Imagine how badly we will lose with two left wing candidates on the ticket.
3
@Steve Mills or win.
3
Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) was formed in 2006 by former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg . Mr. Bloomberg's plan calls for a litany of popular Democratic proposals, including bolstering background checks, removing guns from those who may pose a danger to themselves or others, banning assault weapons and removing protections for gun manufacturers from civil suits. Mr. Bloomberg's constant work for gun safety is a big plus for his nomination. I think actions speak louder than words and I like the man.
3
Bernie has the highest net favorability rating among Democratic voters, and his net favorability among moderate/conservative Dems is higher than Bloomberg’s net favorability among liberals. If anyone is appealing to a small base it is Bloomberg
11
What little bit of the debate I caught last night showed Sanders as a "get off my lawn!" corchety old man and Bloomberg holding his tongue. Unfortunately at that point, the debate seemed to have degenerated into a WWF smackdown free-for-all.
I don't see Mike's debate performance affecting his poll numbers all that much. He is looking more appealing to moderates and independents with each passing week. If the other candidates want to get into a shouting match, it just diminishes them in my eyes, and I'm sure other independents feel the same way.
Time will tell. Any speculation about Bloomberg's chances remains just that until after March 3. For now, he looks like the adult in the room to me, staying above the fray and noise...
1
“If we choose a candidate who appeals to a small base — like Senator Sanders — it will be a fatal error,” Mr. Bloomberg said. Yes, Mike. Clearly what we actually need is a billionaire with a really small base. And sorry—but Bernie's base isn't small; you may end up with a surprise... But it's understandable that a billionaire swimming in a rich-rigged tax code might be terrified of Bernie; and hopefully Bloomberg's fear will be proven justified.
7
Just because his performance last night was horrible doesn't mean that Bloomberg isn't correct in his assessment of what will happen should Bernie be the nominee.
2
Obviously, Bloomberg is not the same as Trump. But we do have a national problem where the super-wealthy dominate the political stage, from Koch Brothers to Trump to Steyer to Bloomberg. Too many of us equate the ability to accumulate wealth with the ability to lead and govern. I think this attitude has become an unhealthy obsession, especially when coupled with a contempt for those who choose to spend their life in public service.
This is demonstrated by Trump's infamous comment when asked about John McCain's time in a North Vietnamese POW camp. Trump said, "I've sacrificed, too...I created a lot of jobs."
When we elect a president who thinks owning a big company is the same as suffering through 5 years in a POW camp for his country, it's time to re-evaluate why we are so worshipful of wealth and so contemptuous of a life of public service.
7
@citybumpkin Another infamous Trump comment about the courageous patriot, John McCain, was something like: "I prefer people who don't get caught." Hhmm.... Actually, that time, in a totally different way, Trump could have been referring to himself...so far.
I agree 100% with Mr. Bloomberg's assessment of Mr. Sanders. Bernie, out of spite, got Trump elected in 2016. He'll do the same in 2020.
4
@judgeroybean
You mean when the DNC stole the nomination from Bernie in front of God and everybody? That and the Republican Interstate Crosscheck Program?
THAT’s what got Trump elected. If you think “Bernie’s spite” got Trump elected I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.
7
@Pass the MORE Act: 202-224-3121
No one stole the nomination; just like no one will steal the nomination this year. You Bernie-ites are as bad or worse than Trumpers.
2
Frankly, for his first debate, it was what I expected. Bloomberg deserves a little slack. I didn't see anybody else up there on the platform who looked like a winner in November. Willing to give this guy a chance. And unlike some of the other newbies up there, he has an actual record and a successful international reputation to campaign on, as opposed to debate knack and regional celebrity.
11
@Drumroll
His slack was all the debates he skipped. This is the big leagues and he doesn't get to hide behind tv ads and benefit of the doubt. Trump and Putin will not hold back so primary voters need all the laundry aired before Super Tuesday.
4
Maybe Mike's staff should take some time to "play debate games with him?" As for the questions....ridiculous!! Perhaps the next panel could prepare ahead and vet some of the questions?? YES?? How would each go about repairing our splintered alliances around the world? All that Trump has broken. Specific steps, please! And what about the border? Again, specific steps?
Joe, I'm sorry for all your troubles. Perhaps you have a bit of PTSD yourself. You are 78. Take time with your family. Being president isn't everything. You can have a good life without it.
8
Michael Bloomberg hangs out with Donald Trump, Giuliani, Jeffery Epstein, Bill Clinton.. He is in Epstein's flight logs.
Michael Bloomberg. "Manhattan is a luxury and poor people don't deserve to live there."- Michael Bloomberg
Let's not forget the fines that Bloomberg issued to bakeries that donated end-of-the-day bagels to soup kitchens and to shelters. He literally issued fines for donating. He hates the poor more than anything, except maybe Bernie.
He doesn't want to beat Trump, he wants to beat Bernie.
30
Warren lost any chance of my vote after her unhinged attack on Bloomberg....that was scary...
20
@Paul
If she had not made them, the others would have. Bloomberg tried to hide until the last minute so all the obvious prodding had to come out all at once.
This grilling was certain and necessary. Pretending Hillary's baggage wasn't a serious problem did not work four years ago.
7
Warren was far from unhinged. She asked a sexist old billionaire to let women speak openly about how he treated them and he said no. That speaks volumes about his character, or lack thereof.
9
@Paul
Bloomberg supported financially the Republican candidate Warren contested with. Warren won despite that. Do you believe that after grueling year of campaigning she will have any tolerance toward an ex Republican, self professed misogynist billionaire who is paying instead of working for the nomination ?
That she will bow to his money instead bringing his luggage on the table and meanwhile doing him a favor as if she didn’t do it, Trump will?
Bloomberg who owns more then half of the US population daring to accuse Sanders of hypocrisy on his 2 and a half homes as one of them is cabin in the woods and btw the other is his wife’s one? Scary ? Yes, it is scary that a man as Bloomberg has paid to change the rules
of DNC on donations to be able to contest in the nomination. It is scary that Bloomberg has paid to change the rules to have a third term as NY mayor. What is not scary is that Warren is calling him on his record.
1
The comments in here are delusional and full of confirmation bias. Bloomberg has been republican for years and that's all one needs to know. Anyone who is able to swallow higher, compassionate values for the sake of accumulating a little more money among that political boys club of stunted, self-compromised cronies is automatically disqualified to be president. His Machiavellian end-game is unclear here, but it's likely to do with taxes, money, power and opportunity for himself and his henchfriends. His immature behavior speaks volumes. His racist past, womanizing and elitist mindset is bad enough, but his lack of compassion is scary. It's about voting for the best person people... don't game the system. That's how we got Hilary. The best person is hands down Bernie. How people can do mental contortions and Jedi justifications to embrace Bloomberg, especially after last night's snl skit of absurd ill-preparedness is beyond me. I will make more popcorn for the next debate and enjoy the coming months of MSM editorializing in the guise of non-bias coverage, as the gray lady pretends. New York elites, you are an island sinking, worlds and generations away from clarity.
23
@OK KAREN Warren was a Republican longer than Bloomberg and Bernie’s still not a Democrat.
3
The best ad that Sanders should be running now that would stop Bloomberg cold is Bloomberg’s own words when he declared that if Sanders had been the nominee in 2016 instead of Hillary that Bernie would have beaten Trump:
https://mobile.twitter.com/_waleedshahid/status/1225521979475648512
17
A primary voter for Sanders may well be a general election voter for Trump. Bloomberg is correct in his assertion that Trump and Trump supporters are hoping to face Bernie Sanders in the general election. To support that result, Trump supporters in states that allow cross-party primary voting, knowing that Trump's nomination is certain, will cast votes in the Democratic column for Sanders in order to assure an easy victory for Trump in November. This is a page taken directly from the Nixon playbook in 1972 when the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) sabotaged the campaigns of Edmund Muskie, Scoop Jackson, and Eugene McCarthy in an effort to secure the nomination for the too-liberal-to-win George McGovern.
5
You seem to think that the majority of American families are not at all struggling or suffering with expensive for profit “health care”. And that most American families aren’t worried about their children graduating college with high interest debt that will take decades to discharge.
Sanders addresses the issues that most concern most American families. He does not serve Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Big Banks.
That is very appealing to most Americans
7
This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since Bloomberg entered the race, Bernie's head-to-head polling against Trump in battleground states has been highlighted and found wanting. MSNBC's Morning Joe and Stephanie Rhule lambasted Bernie this morning. Bernie could easily win over Trump. But if the media claim he can't, and the Democratic Party wants someone to make sure their rich benefactors still retain their wealth, then he won't. This is a repeat of the 2016 primary. Unfortunately, it may also be a repeat of the 2016 general election.
15
@David
The Wall Street-loving DNC and the corporate media would rather have 4 more years of Trump and his tax cuts for the rich than Bernie.
7
@David contrary to costal beliefs socialism is NOT popular in most of America we’re getting trump for 4 more years. Trump will mop the floor with sanders I could mop the floor with sanders in a debate. When sanders is pressed his arguments fall apart. It’s a joke. Wake up
1
@Location01 ever hear of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Pell Grants? A 21st century New Deal is all that Sanders is offering. And it is way overdue.
2
Bloomberg is right. The question is whether or not the DNC will realize that in time to avert a repeat of the 2016 election.
11
When people say Bloomberg is the only one that can beat Trump, why is the objective data regarding Sanders’ electability being ignored?
An Emerson poll from yesterday showed he’s currently the only candidate that actually beats Trump 1 on 1. Even Bloomberg himself said in 2016 Bernie would’ve run away with the general election. He has the largest base (most individual contributions), most primary and caucus votes so far, most diverse coalition of voters, and has been voted the most well-liked senator 3 years worth of quarters in a row.
Emerson Poll: https://emersonpolling.reportablenews.com/pr/february-national-poll-sanders-takes-the-lead-for-democratic-nomination-bloomberg-on-the-rise
16
Bernie Sanders does not appeal to a small base, as Mr Bloomberg says. He appeals to those who want health and education systems similar to those in other Western countries.
I understand that Mini Mike said that Bernie wanted to rid the country of capitalism. Mini in intellect as well as stature.
12
Bloomberg thinks the rich should pay more taxes. That includes himself. Bloomberg just doesn’t want to rip apart the entire system that has made America prosperous. Bernie’s America would look like Spain or Greece. No thanks.
9
I assure you, health care for all will not “rip America apart”. Nor will free community college or vocational school so that every young person can get a start in life.
Nobody in Spain has to spend down their savings (as I did), go bankrupt or start a GoFundMe and beg for help to pay medical bills that their expensive for profit insurance won’t pay. Maybe your friends can afford health care. I just received my fourth GoFundMe request for the year. Medical bills.
4
I just don’t get why people seem to feel Bloomberg is so electable. I’m a progressive—I’ll vote for any of the Dems but him. I know a lot of other folks who feel this way. And after last night I really don’t buy the argument that he can stand up to Trump at all and how would this man possibly relate to folks in the rustbelt. I really, really don’t get the electability argument here.
14
Let the voters decide about electability, democratic socialism , core of the candidates etc. They won’t be gullible to fall for many techniques used by politicians to bring down opponents.
5
The USA is largely an oligarchy, not a democracy. Bernie Sanders is possibly the last chance we have to make something resembling a comprehensive democracy happen - although the system is probably already too corrupt to let that occur. The fact that Bloomberg is even being considered by the ostensibly not-Republican Party shows that the establishment is so cynical it is beyond contempt.
Establishment Democrats getting behind Bloomberg completes the circle of Democrats becoming Republicans. The differences between them have long been narrowing, and are now closed. Now they are behind a man who is anti virtually every domestic policy FDR stood for.
Sanders' socialism is Sandinavian/ Canadian normalcy, not revolutionary but just sensible and modern. The United States could be a beacon of such sensibleness, were it not for the perversely-rich and greedy who would be the only ones remotely compromised by it.
15
Bernie wins and the Democratic party is no more. Funny how both parties are done. Trump ruined the Republicans and Bernie will do the same to the Democrats. I was hoping for a centrist to win but looks unlikely. Sorry Bernie but if it’s you and the Donald, I go with the Kook I know.
5
Ruin? Do you mean if Americans have what citizens of every other first world nation have had for decades, it will ruin —the Democratic Party? So US should be more like the third world? Health care and higher education for the rich? Everybody else go into debt to big banks?
6
So many privileged people below who haven’t felt the consequences of Trump’s presidency YET. I’m for Bernie more than Bloomberg certainly (didn’t vote for Blomberg for mayor) but if Bloomberg gets the nom I will vote for him. Any nominee is better than trump who has sold this country out and will do it again.
5
We need debates that are for the people and by the people.
6
Bloomberg has the best message of needing Democrats, independents and Republicans to win.
Sanders is an avowed Socialist which dooms him.
Warren's overaggressiveness and nastiness in the debate reinforces her lack of character since she will do or say anything to advance her own interests as she did by falsely claiming to be Native American.
Biden is a professional politician well past his prime.
8
You would be surprised by how many people are not afraid of Medicare for All. They’re more afraid of going bankrupt if they get cancer.
5
Do we really need a “grownup” in the room at a political debate? We need to assess the mess.
1
While Mayor Bloomberg has his problems, his claim that Bernie "McGovern" Sanders will lose--maybe lose big--to Trump seems reasonable, even likely. Many supporters of candidates far from the mainstream make the mistake of assuming (people I know" are an unbiased sample of the electorate as a whole. And of course young Sanders supporters have no memory (and perhaps little knowledge) of the epic loss of George McGovern (also a hero of the youthful left) to Richard Nixon's re-election.
Sanders's intransigence on the question of what happens at the convention if no candidate has the necessary votes for nomination suggests a Democratic convention trainwreck rivalling 1968 (when Nixon won the first time).
8
If Americans think a billionaire capitalist is the best kind of leader in a democracy after what they've seen of another billionaire capitalist, all hope is gone.We will have the same problem with him and his business empire as we've had with Trump and his. Is he making decisions based on what's best for his business and his friends' or for all Americans? Working and middle class voters are being asked to learn what "democratic socialism" means. They should also be asked to learn what "oligarchy" means. There is no "democracy" in that.
18
@abigail49 Please inform yourself more with the difference between Trump's failures in business and Bloomberg's to compare the two, means you've read nothing about Bloombergs Bio...its not just the billionaires is it ??
1
Bloomberg is right.
And has everyone lost their memories of Bernie joining the party 4 years ago, not getting the nom, leaving the party and now returning to run again. How convenient.
Bernie can't beat Trump. Sorry it's true.
We have to fight the fight based on this unfolding reality.
We need to stop Trump.
Bloomberg is the least emotional, steadiest and definitively qualified candidate.
Could any of those folks standing on the stage govern the city of NY as he did as a Mayor. No.
He's the got the smarts and the machinations is work to take down Trump.
The DNC would be wise to let him. Our nations future rests on this.
16
@Fromjersey Our nation's future rests on unrigging a system that created Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump.
12
@Fromjersey
The same brilliant reasoning that brought us Trump in 2016. Oh right, tell me again how it's Bernie's fault that Hillary lost.
5
The DNC did Bernie a big favor by letting Bloomberg participate last night. He took all the heat that would've been directed at Bernie if he hadn't been there. He had a bad performance, but he's the only one that tells the truth about Bernie: namely, that he can't win the general election. Anyone who thinks there will be a groundswell of support across the midwest or the south for a self-proclaimed Socialist is deluding themselves. He may outperform George McGovern who only won one state. Bernie may get four or five...
11
Bernie is the ONLY one who can steal Trump voters. Bloomberg had nothing to offer. He's another Clinton. No populist message.
14
@Rick The day may come when the label "capitalist" is as toxic as you think "socialist" is now. If Bernie's movement is crushed because of scary labels, that puts us one step closer to the day when capitalism is a dirty word. Is that where you want to go?
4
@abigail49
Bernie embraced the "scary label" himself. It wasn't necessary to do that. Your logic about the transformation of words makes no sense. I have no interest in crushing anybody's "movement". The Republicans will take care of that quite easily.
2
If Bloomberg keeps attacking Sanders for being a socialist, or “communist,” he should lose and lose badly. Bernie has the high ground in that argument. As anyone who has eyes can see.
22
I will vote for Bloomberg if he is nominated but if he doesn't release his tax returns or pledge not to enforce NDA's over sex harassment settlements good luck getting people to the polls he needs to beat Trump.
6
MB is correct: Bernie would be defeated by 45.
'Free-stuff socialist' would be the 3 words that would be used by 45 to beat up Bernie...and win.
9
This election will be won or lost in 5 states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Because no Trump supporter is going to go left and no one who disdains Trump is going to move right, the election is in the hands of a very small number of centrist people in those five states.
Point to Bernie, Elizabeth, Amy and even Pete and say, "These people are telling you that they are going to do exactly what we have been telling you they would do if elected. They are going to confiscate your wealth and give it to people who don't look or sound like you."
Ballgame.
Everyone on that stage except for Bloomberg is that easy to beat. Even a 5 year old with a spray on tan can do it.
There aren't enough of you progressives to win.
There aren't enough of you socialists to win.
There aren't enough of you liberals to win.
You NEED THE MIDDLE and only Bloomberg has a chance to deliver it.
12
There is no educated middle in this country. The middle you are talkin about are people who voted for Trump based on Trump's false populist message. You don't get it. There is no educated middle ground in America. Those voters are the only ones who will switch and vote for Bernie or vote for a Democrat rather than vote for Trump.
5
@CrazyMe
Waa waa... “our cheating isn’t working fair for us.”
3
For the record, that edited video was meant to look obviously edited for effect. 20 seconds of silence in a debate? Crickets? Please. Don’t make it sound like the campaign was trying to pull one over on us.
4
Bernie cannot beat Trump. Bernie Light aka Warren can't either. It's Mike or nobody.
9
You don't understand politics in America today. The reason Trump won over Clinton was because he got enough right wing middle class blue collar workers in the midwest to vote for him based on a false populist message. Those voters are the only voters that will vote and switch for Bernie Sanders. They will not vote for Mike Bloomberg. Mike Bloomberg has nothing to offer them.
10
@Nathan
Trump got the mid west (barely) by sugar coating hate and racism with populism. Look at his rallies, and you can clearly see the hate.
3
@Nathan
Perhaps my understanding is different than yours.
Trump won because - for all his faults - he was able to tap into the angst that pervades many communities, especially rural communities and smaller towns who have watched small businesses be eaten by big box stores and have watched their children's prospects for a better life than their own diminish.
These people see concentrations of wealth creation due to tech etc. but it's not happening in their communities.
A paradigm shift is occurring and Trump tapped into those who are not part of it .... those who feel/felt overlooked. Hillary called those people 'deplorables' .... that was a killer remark, but she was a weak candidate for other reasons also.
And those middle class blue collar workers understand that 'free stuff' is not free.
1
Warren showed how Toxic she is. Mike has my vote.
16
I still like Mike! PB
11
Bloomberg- another NYC billionaire shopping for public office. If buying the leadership of a political party is a prerequisite okay. The Mikey and Donnie Show. Billionaires sharing this—neither is a producer ala Ford but rentiers ala Milliken. Neither Mikey nor Donnie makes anything of lasting value. On issues that affect oligarchy wealth, no differences. On matters of sexual predation, no differences. Call them “Short Mikey and Little Donnie”. On other matters Mikey makes ‘nicer’ noises. His marijuana and his bigoted racially discriminatory law enforcement policies suggest he and Donnie are on the same page. In 2016, a vulture capitalist former Democrat “money captured” [to coin a verb] a morally bankrupt Republican Party and bought an Emperorship err I mean “Presidency”. In 2020, a vulture capitalist, former Republican is attempting to money capture a morally bankrupt Democratic Party in order to attempt to buy an Emperorship err I mean “Presidency”. No real difference Mike keeps the mask on his inner class warfare wolf more firmly [except with the ladies]. Credit Don for dropping his mask we can how ugly US capitalism will gets when it governs what was once humanity’s better shot at a functioning democracy. An insignificant difference is charity. Mike’s charity is all tax deductible and thus costs him nothing to keep his word. Donnie doesn’t have the money which is why he didn’t make the contributions because he didn’t really need the tax deductions not having the money.
11
Dorothy: "So we'd like you to keep your promise to us - if you please, sir. Release those NDA's"
Wizard: "Not so fast! Not so fast! I'll have to give the matter a little thought! Go away and come back tomorrow!"
Dorothy: "Tomorrow! Oh, but I want to see them now!"
Tin Man: "You've had plenty of time already!"
Lion: "Yeah!"
Wizard: "Do not arouse the wrath of the Rich and Powerful Oz! I said come back tomorrow!"
Dorothy: "If you were really great and powerful, you'd release those NDA's!"
Wizard: "Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful creatures! Think yourselves lucky that I'm giving you an audience, instead of twenty million advertisements! Oh! The
Great Oz has spoken!
Oh! Pay no attention to that man behind the podium. The Great, Powerful,...-- has spoken --
Dorothy:"Who are you?"
Wizard: "Well, I - I - I am the Rich and Powerful - Wizard of Oz...."
9
Wake up Mike you are not presidential material.
15
I’m a veteran and former Republican of over 40 years. I intend to declare myself Democrat so I can vote for either Biden or Bloomberg in the primary, now leaning towards Bloomberg (give me a call Joe and we can talk). Although I would hold my nose and breath while doing it, if Sanders is the nominee I’ll vote for him. But he does nor represent the mainstream of America.
11
This is what Bloomberg should do after Warren mauled him — which, I’ve spoken to a lot of people about that, and many of them are more annoyed with her than with him — and I’m serious as a heart attack about doing this as an ad, because it would demonstrate the utter absurdity of Trump’s lies in a tangible, straightforward way that everyone can understand.
We all know that Trump is not 6-foot-3 and we all know that he does not weigh 239 pounds. That’s obvious. But it needs to be put into tangible terms.
Since Trump, who lies about his height and weight, wants to call Bloomberg “Mini Mike,” Bloomberg should have a doctor put him on an old school scale with the height marker, and he should stand there shoeless and let everybody see his height and weight. It would be even better if he could do it LIVE in front of an audience. You know, like the Biggest Loser.
The ad should say something like, “I might be a little guy, but at least I’m not lying about it. No shoe lifts, no fake scales, no oversized coats to hide, no doctors who sign off on obvious lies.”
Then, get some people who are actually 6-3 and actually weigh 239. Show how absurd it is.
It would make a tremendous impact. Then challenge Trump to stand there exactly the same way, with the same exact doctor/nurse, shoeless on the same exact scale. He won’t do it, but it will demonstrate what an idiot he is for lying about the dumbest things.
1
Bloomberg's performance last night is what happens when you surround yourself with a Praetorian Guard of sycophants, consultants, and pollsters, all intent on riding the gravy train for as long as they can. We saw the same thing in 2016 with Hillary's billion dollar debacle. Nobody on Bloomberg's team, who's seen him up close and over an extended period would think he'd do well in this format, but he still sees himself as the man he was in say, 2001 and no one is going to tell him otherwise. A rude awakening indeed, but I'm sure his toadies will find some way to sooth their paymaster's doubts.
13
If any of the following people had 60 billion dollars they to would've been on that stage: Hilary Clinton, Jon Stewart, Tom Steyer, Ronan Farrow, on and on. I mean really why don't we just elect the richest person every time? Maybe just maybe Mr. Beezos will rescue us or what about Bill Gates?!
6
Bloomberg can no longer win the nomination. What he is doing now is simply causing damage by telling lies. Sanders' appeal is not just to a small subset of the party. His is the most liked Democrat in the field. He beat Hillary in Michigan, Mike.
If Mike wants to attack Bernie's politics, bring it on. But falsely attacking him on electability, when Bloomberg, himself, has no chance of winning, is pathetic.
23
Mr. Bloomberg, we get it. You don’t like debates. But for those of who support you, please bring in strong debate coaches and let them put you through the paces. It’s not enough to throw money around, you are going to have to do some heavy lifting. Please.
14
Bloomberg is correct that the only winner of last night's debate was DJT. Everyone's performance was deplorable, and the Democrats are losing this election all by themselves as destroy themselves from each end in front of the country and the world. Putin and Russia can safely focus their nefarious attentions elsewhere.
4
In my opinion, Bloomberg is a terrible fit to president. We have 2 ideas in America now. 1. rich people are smarter therefore they should be left to run things. WRONG. 2. Rich people are great leaders. WRONG. I worked for one of the richest and he was a terrible leader. Terrible. He failed last night. He will fail to rally any support by young people, people of color and poor people. basically he is a proxy for trump. not to mention he is a former republican and turn coat- any coat that makes him money. Mr. Bloomberg, thanks for the memories- please leave the race.
16
The US is in need of dramatic change. We teeter on the edge of the far-right authoritarianism of Trump and his 1% paymasters. Bloomberg's record on redlining, stop-and-frisk, misogyny, and his club of billionaires is absolutely what this country DOES NOT need!
12
God Bless Mike Bloomberg! Having a clueless, entitled billionaire in the race is perfect practice for Bernie and Warren. Imagine what Warren would do to Trump, considering how many times she picked little Mike up and body slammed him last night!
12
Not being an US voter, seeing some of the Democrats 'debate' it leaves me wondering, is US politics akin to a MMA tournament's?
2
I'd imagined Bloomberg, perhaps more than the others, knew that defeating Trump was more important than eviscerating opponents. He's joined them instead. Pitiful.
5
Wait, he's been reduced to LITERALLY saying that he should get elected, only because the other option won't beat Trump? That's really his platform? Comical...
8
Bloomberg does not need the debates and was I his advisor would caution him to avoid them. Be that as it may, he might, going forward, want to ignore all non-policy issues stating that he was there with one objective and did not want to participate in smears or character assassinations.
'The winner last night was Donald Trump' -Mike Bloomberg Lake City, UT Feb 20, 2020
1
He's right, despite his fan base, Sanders will simply divide the country further. Why are the dems acting like the worst republicans?
2
If the moderators would ever focus on the consequences / choices of some of the major policy positions being taken by these candidates (Free College = will states provide less financial support to schools, will the federal government have a [greater] say in admissions, will colleges & universities actually do something to control wasteful spending,...] we the voters might actually learn enough to make an informed decision. But it much more entertaining to run these “debates” as gladiator events with “winners” and “losers” [the only losers are informed voters]. Total waste of time.
1
Picture it. 1972. November. We ran George McGovern. We lost 49 states. We got Nixon again and the war raged on. For the love of all that is good, Sanders would be crushed if we run him against Trump. Senator Sanders is preaching the same tired old story as he did when he was 26! Tom Perez has one heck of a mess on his hands.
4
"But the video was deceptively edited to make it seem as if his statement had left the other candidates speechless for about 20 seconds.“I’m the only one here, I think, that’s ever started a business, is that fair?” Mr. Bloomberg asks in the clip. The video then cuts to shots of the other candidates, set against the sound of crickets chirping. The shots are spliced together to make it appear as though the candidates could not respond to the question — when, in reality, Mr. Bloomberg moved on after pausing for about a second."
What's more, there were no actual crickets on the debate stage.
3
Bloomberg should bow out of race, and support Elizabeth Warren with all his money and ads, and in addition, with all that money, support upcoming democratic senate races. And how about money for housing the homeless? These are much better uses of his money than financing himself. Besides, billions shouldn't be how the White House is won. I mailed in my California ballot for Elizabeth today.
9
A rich New Yorker facing voters in far off Utah? After last night, this will be strike two. Bloomberg cannot win with clever advertising, no matter how well done. Voters need to see him on TV and in person. That's his problem. He's an A-student type, cerebral, not very exciting and his social awareness, like many very bright men, not sharp. The great hope of centrists is not what they hoped.
8
Can a socialist who wants to turn sectors of the American economy upside down win an election outside of Vermont? Bloomberg doesn't think so, especially with Trump, a sitting president, as the opponent. Yet Democrats are wild about Sanders, who isn't a Democrat. All the yelling and hand waving will go only so far when voters contemplate the reality of Sanders in the White House. I believe that Bloomberg's assessment is correct. For myself, I've voted for Democrats for 50 years, I will have hesitation to vote for Sanders. I imagine there are others like me.
6
So true, its his personality also, we need a reserved personality...an introvert, they all need to "Zip It" as my Mother said, and DO THE WORK,, get off social media TV and DO THE WORK...all this financial waste, fighting the idiot that should have been impeached GOP senators.. Your grandchildren will know of your dirty deeds... A generation of Family SHAME...
Here's an idea. In preparation for the next debate, Bloomberg should pay Tom Perez/ DNC to reverse his reversal of the grassroots fundraising rule.
That way, he won't ever have to face any more questions about anything.
Amusingly, a month ago the Bloomberg campaign praised the DNC’s decision to change the debate rules.....
“We are thrilled that voters could soon have the chance to see Mike Bloomberg on the debate stage, hear his vision for the country, and see why he is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump and bring our country together”
I wonder if they are still thrilled.
7
It is going to be hard for Warren to gain ground because AOC has made Sanders in effect the progressives' candidate. The progressive wing is based on politicians with rock star status and there are really only two, Sanders and AOC. If Biden continues to falter it would seem no candidate will win a majority of delegates and the whole thing will wind up in the convention with the super delegates playing a major role in picking a nominee. This will drive the progressives crazy and the party going into the general election could be a real mess.
2
NBC mis-sold this event as a debate, which it was not. Under the worst moderating that I have ever seen, this was a dog fight structured to generate heat rather than light that did the audience no favors in terms of enlarging its understanding of the candidates' positions. Apparently, Bloomberg did not "do well", but we had no opportunity to evaluate his policies under these conditions. Likewise, a moderator pursued Klobuchar with a sophomoric "gotcha" point about forgetting the name of the president of Mexico, which she had already explained and apologized for - we deserve much better than this.
7
If Pete's goal was to take down Klobuchar, he only succeeded in making himself look bad as well. He may speak seven languages but he excelled at pettiness last night.
And with regard to Bloomberg, he ought to know you only get one chance to make a first impression. Looking bored or like the proverbial deer in headlights was not a good first impression.
13
"Moderate" Dems and fearful Trump haters are over-worrying needlessly about the Sanders "electability" issue. They are ignoring or overlooking these two key points:
1.) Sanders' "Free everything for everyone" is a hard platform to compete against. This should be obvious, but somehow people seem to be ignoring it.
2.) The Dem's "big orange monster" (aka Donald Trump) will be to them what Hillary Clinton was to Republicans in 2016 who didn't like Trump but felt like they had to vote for him because they hated her so much. Dems and Never-Trumpers who don't like Sanders will feel forced to vote for him in order to get rid of Trump.
For these basic reasons, Sanders will have at least as good if not better a chance as anyone else in defeating Trump in Nov. No real need to be any more concerned about Sanders' ability to beat Trump than about anyone else.
Now, if a large percentage of Dems are actually concerned about the possibility of a radical Marxist/socialist becoming President of the United States, then they have much bigger problems. Perhaps they are confusing these two issues in their mind, which is causing the angst. If it's actually this much bigger problem that most bothers them, then they will ultimately have to vote for Donald Trump!
4
I think there is way too much of a tendency for the media to try and make a war out of all this. They treat each debate as if it is the Battle of the Bulge with winners, losers and in betweens. In the meantime they treat each candidate who they brand a loser as having possibly met his or her Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte would be surprised it was that easy and took only one night. `
Personally, I like calm and thoughtful rather than screechy and wavy. Sorry Sanders. And I'm pretty much done with the one foot in the grave crowd, which I myself am part of.
That's why in early voting out here in California, I voted for smart, calm and reasoned with a touch of reality. That's why I voted for Pete Buttigieg. He's all those things and more.
1
Bloomberg is only comfortable when he holds all the cards. He’s pretty much done for as a candidate.
7
Bloomberg is advertising everywhere, using a fifty-state strategy recommended by Howard Dean back in 2005 —- a TOTALLY neglected approach by Obama and the DNC since then which led to a Democratic state-level wipeout in 2010 just in time for the census. Furthermore the progressive wing of the party has shredded their political capital and credibility on extreme views and poisonous identity politics.
But, at long last, the Democrats have a candidate who is pitching messages and appeals to all Americans everywhere, all the time. He’s talking about infrastructure, health care, the environment, gun safety, small town revival and jobs — issues that Americans care about and not catering to the extreme Twitter left-wing. Bloomberg is showing the Democratic Party how to win, if they would only listen.
7
@Swing State Voter
He is advertising everywhere because he can afford to, unlike any of the other candidates except Steyer. It's very rare for us up here in Interior Alaska to ever see any presidential primary ads, but we are this year. I much prefer Steyers' ads, and give him points for going through the process for appearing on the debate stage. (Although watching Bloomie parachute in to a crash landing was rather satisfying.)
4
First, let me say I didn't have the chance to watch the entire debate, so if my comments are incorrect, I apologize. But what struck me was that Bloomberg didn't even defend himself in areas where he easily could have.In 2019 he gave $3.3 Billion to charity, which I believe was more than anyone else in the U.S. He has been a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood and women's rights, which should have been his response to Ms. Warren, but wasn't. He is a major contributor to the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, a point he should have made in his comments on Climate Change. He is known for his support of gun control causes. Perhaps he doesn't want to alienate those voters for whom these are hot-button issues, but they put him in the progressive mainstream of Democrats. He hasn't been using his money to "buy an election," he has used it to publicize his platform, and it is unfortunate that he seemed unable to use last night's debate exposure to do more of the same.
8
Bloomberg is bribing his way to relevance. He has given thousands of dollars to respective state democratic parties. He bought the NYC governor election, and now on his way to president.
4
@Ali What is the difference between using your money to try and elect Democrats in as many states as possible, and “bribing [your] way to relevance? If Bloomberg’s fortune contributes to Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, power to him.
2
They clearly do not understand that the majority of Americans will not, when pushed, vote for someone like Sanders who wants to use their money for socialistic purposes.
They are handing the present dolt in the WH the election.
12
@Bob look up the Great Society, most people like Medicaid, Pell Grants, and Medicare. Look up the New Deal - Americans love Social Security.
2
He's better off the less you see him. Should have stayed the Wizard of Oz candidate behind the scenes buying ads and bestowing gifts.
4
Where is Tom Perez? Everyone on that stage came away looking bad where is the party unity?
DNC is awol
4
Many Antonio Salieris on stage last night. No matter how hard they may try they don't have the leadership or business experience that Mr. Bloomberg has for the big game so instead they attacked. Mike kept his cool and will learn and progress because that's what he's done his whole life.
3
I agree. Why limit attacks on Bloomberg’s wealth? Why didn’t Warren and Sanders attack Steyer, another billionaire or Wang multi millionaire with zero political experience?
3
Steyer isn’t a threat to them. Bloomberg is. That’s why.
Wang dropped out of the race already
3
I also thought Bloomberg did great, never laughed so hard at a politician in my life. Elizabeth Warren dunking on Bloomberg should be its own TV show.
3
The Times kept assailing Biden at these debates when it seemed he was the front running, White, male, moderate. Every debate was about how terrible Joe did. His numbers plummeted as a result.
That was exactly why Bloomberg stepped in. He sees America as we have known it, of what it stands for in danger of destruction by Trump and, under the current hyper-partisan climate, a moderate needs to be in place. And like it or not—a traditional white male presence, at this point, is a very safe bet to win back those swing states. Bloomberg felt without Biden being the candidate we are risking another four years of Trump.
So what does all the media report? How terrible Bloomberg did at the debate. My expectations for Bloomberg on the debate stage are very low. Because you all ruined Biden with your coverage of his debate performances, I am thinking Bloomberg is the only solution.
Let me ask you this: NYTimes what do you think is the greatest existential threat to our democracy?
Don’t you think that desperate times call for desperate measures? There will be time in the future to pursue progressive agendas. But that day may never come for you if someone becomes the nominee who cannot beat Trump. Be very careful of the future you are creating for yourself: you may not like the result.
8
Bullies win. Those who scream the loudest (Warren, Trump, Sanders) excel in today's no-moderator debates.
Cut the mic off for everyone except who's turn it is. Give everyone a chance.
6
A billionaire attacking Sanders.
Kind of makes Sanders’ point for him, doesn’t it?
10
Great night for Warren. Good for her.
10
Bloomberg was the positively most outstanding candidate at Wednesday's debate. And being president is not about knowing to bark, snarl and growl aggressively, haul and whine your way around the law like Trump, or inflating oneself to a giant ugly supercat like Warren and Sanders. Bloomberg did superbly fine on Wednesday. For once there is a truly decent human being among the candidate, so stop framing him as if he were part of the pack.
6
Bloomberg is wrong in saying that Sanders has a small base. He appeals to huge segment of American Voters. Fake news.
14
@Ericka Wrong. Not fake news. The majority of America is very much in the center and are afraid of Sanders. They may dislike Trump, but will hold their nose and vote in him AGAIN if it came down to Trump vs. Sanders.
I work with many business associates and speak with people on a regular basis in the south and midwest. I can tell you this: They're no fans of Trump. Some even voted for him but dislike him now. But if its Sanders, they will either stay home or vote Trump. They only want Bloomberg!
6
@Ericka you are correct. Americans are smarter than their politicians (mostly). And we’re seeing it in the elections as Sanders has and will continue to win the majority of these contests. I’ve lived in NYC for the past 20 years and traveled all over the country, I have not met a single fan of Bloomberg. Ever. Not on Wall Street, not selling you a hot dog. They aren’t hiding in the plains of the Midwest or behind a NY times comment section either. They are a very small group of people possibly paid by his campaign trying to sow fear in voters. Americans are smarter than that. We need health care, better wages and the kind of tangible progress Sanders and Warren have at least talked about.
2
The whole debate was sound and fury signifying nothing.
I want a President who can get things done and has had a track record of doing so.
I want a President who will focus on climate change, Gun control , generating good job opportunities in depressed areas including inner cities. Who will eradicate the unfairness of the tax code by eliminating tax welfare for rich individuals and Corporations and invest the additional revenue in making affordable health care available for all.
A President who is not beholden to special interests, super PACs etc. In being free of special interests be capable of reducing drug prices to Canadian levels in the first 100 days.
I want a President who is NOT going to suck up much needed cash in Key Senate and House races .
I want a President who is a safe pair of hands for our economy and Country.
There is to my mind only one Candidate, Bloomberg.
Sadly Sanders and to a lesser extent Warren will be tagged Socialists , all Democrats will be similarly tagged and we will lose the House, Senate and Presidency.
8
Bloomberg is the ONLY Dem candidate who can defeat Trump. For those attacking him because of the NDAs paid to women at his company, I say this: Bloomberg came from an era that is very different than today. Not an excuse, but try to have understanding.
Go watch an old James Bond film or ANY pop movie from the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc... the girl says "no...no...no..." and Bond pulls her in and proceeds to have his way. Back then that was considered masculine and suave. Today, that's sexual harrassment/assault. Dems are making a big mistake trying to make each other pass "purity tests". This is about defeating Trump!
Why attack wealth? Bloomberg is self made, built a business empire from nothing! This is the quintessential american dream. This should be applauded not attacked. Bloomberg has given more to great causes than just about anyone on either side of the ticket. He also run NYC like a dream and lifted the economy, quality of life and cut down on crime. Was he perfect? No...he's human. But what he's done for women's causes, climate change, gun control, health care, infrastructure, is more than any of the candidates can hold a candle to. He's also a major reason for the Dems flipping the house! Being a good or bad debater means nothing to being a good/bad POTUS. Bloomberg2020 or bust
8
I'm having a great time today reading all the whiny comments from Bloomberg supporters saying that the debate was "mud slinging" or a "circular firing squad". Sorry folks, but Bloomberg got utterly annihilated for one reason: he's a terrible candidate. All he has going for him is a big pile of cash, but as soon as he has to actually talk to another human being he either gets completely owned or he comes across as an elitist NYC weirdo who can't personally relate to another human being who lives more than 5 blocks away from Wall Street.
I wanted Bloomberg to drop out, but now I want him to stick around. Watching Mini Mike get creamed was probably the best thing that's happened in the primary so far, and I'm definitely making popcorn before the next debate. And I'm sorry, but the fact that he paid $400 million for the opportunity to get pied in the face like a clown on national TV is exactly what the man deserves.
12
If Bloomberg's performance was 'poor' the rest of the 'performers' were abysmal. To be President it's crucial that you can still be yourself while being comfortable with the role. Warren and every other candidate except Bloomberg demonstrated last night that just the prospect of being President warps them into vicious and self-hating freaks firing all barrels into their hysterical circular firing squad, because they are focused on THEMSELVES! They are focused on themselves being the nominee and not on who among them can realistically outgun the Trump/Putin/Zuckerberg resources to win in 2020. They want to be the nominee first at the cost of their personal integrity and Trump/Putin buying the 2020 election like they bought 2016. Only Bloomberg remained clearly comfortable with himself in the Presidential arena no matter the noise from the rest of them, noise that only lost them and the Democrats votes in November and had Trump giggling as he watched - because he knows that no Democrat except Bloomberg can beat him, just as he knows that either he or Bloomberg will be President in 2021 because he knows he & Putin will CRUSH any Democrat except Bloomberg. BLOOMBERG & ABRAMS 2020!
2
It's remarkable how many articles & columns in the NYT today characterize Bloomberg's performance during last night's "debate" as "poor" (or similar terms), as if that's an indisputable fact (Frank Bruni gets the "Over the Top" award with his shark & chum histrionic metaphor).
Except for a couple of unecessary snide comments I thought he handled the situation well, he & Buttigieg looked like the only adults in the room. The others (esppecially Sanders) looked like fools at times. He's still got my solid vote in our primary next month.
I have to wonder if his time as mayor of NYC is coloring NYT's staff'view of last night. I also have to wonder what people's expectations of these reality TV "debates" are.
2
i am surprised by all the comments here that think he did well. he did not do well, it was a disaster to any objective observer not on his payroll. his arrogance was and is palpable ... he seems to think he can spend 400 million dollars, skip early contests, switch between democrat sand republican when it suits him then show up for a debate and expect to be treated, like he is used to be treated with deference, as the "boss" ? put a fork in him, he's done.
13
@Vladimir Kerchenko
Those complimentary to Bloomberg here certainly give the impression of being paid troll accounts. Or at least extremely disconnected from reality.
8
I’m unaffiliated as a Utah
Voter. Lived here for 37 years. Catholic in Mormonland. We moved here from Pennsylvania where we affiliated as Republicans. I would only vote for MIKE or Jamie Dimon. Our daughter loves Bernie. I love a “real” America and a leader who sees and has the character, fortitude and belief to take of our Nation - a melting pot of people wanting a better life for everyone. My family is Scottish, Irish and Dutch and all came here and to Canada with hope and wanting .... as does anyone who wants what is best about America. Anyone, all of us......
5
“If we choose a candidate who appeals to a small base — like Senator Sanders..."?
Who is this "WE" that Bloomberg invokes?
Democrats-turned Republicans-turned back into Democrats as the winds of opportunism shift?
Or members of Bloomberg's Billionaire Boys Club of entitlement and political prominence purchased with lucre?
Go Away, Bloomberg. YOU'RE the one in error! In fact, you ARE part of the error!
7
Point of fact: Bernie is an independent-turned Democrat-turned independent-turned Democrat, each timed to suit his needs. Sounds like the socialist millionaire with 3 houses is just as opportunistic as the self-made billionaire who came across as tone-deaf.
2
I keep hearing the media lament about how the candidates should have behaved last night. I thought it was a good, solid debate. Is this going to be a revolution or trade off or something in between? I don't know but we need to figure it out, and if we are going to figure it out the media needs to stop telling them how they should be behaving, they need to take this exam on their own. And stop telling us how you think we should think they should be behaving. It's not about how they should behave, we need to look at how they are behaving. Demeanor tells us quite a bit and we're going to get what we pay for in the end so we what we need now is a good look under the hood. I think we got that last night. I thought Elizabeth Warren stood up loud and strong and made her point rationally like she always does. I thought Mike Bloomberg kept calm under pressure and reacted with reason and certainty without being rash. Good job both.
2
If McDonald's food was good for people they wouldn't have to spend billions every year on advertising either.
Don't fall for Bloomberg's misleading advertising.
Don't fall for Bloomberg's insincere scare tactics.
Vote for Sanders. Make healthy choices.
18
Policies and national electability are what I’m interested in. Not who won or didn’t win a debate. For instance, let’s say that all the NYT pundits score every debate a TKO for Warren. What does that mean if she can’t beat Trump in November. If the Democrats nominate someone whose policies are too far left, a whole lot of moderates will sit this one out. That’s a lot of half-votes by default for Trump.
3
@David - And if Democrats nominate another Wall Street-sponsored "moderate," a whole lot of further-left progressives will sit this one out. So what to do?
And why is it the default assumption that progressives should have to "compromise" and vote for the moderate, but moderates are never expected to compromise and vote for the progressive?
Poll numbers are certainly questionable in the aftermath of 2016, but for what it's worth Sanders consistently wins in head-to-head matchups with Trump. He'll almost certainly emerge from Super Tuesday as the top contender.
To be clear, I'll vote for any of the Dems to defeat Trump; but I'm convinced that only Sanders generates the kind of enthusiasm it will take to win the general in November.
Yes, his policies are incredibly ambitious, and of course they'll all get watered down in the legislature. He'll have to compromise when the time comes, but the overall direction he's proposing is the right one.
A return to the Clinton/Obama/Clinton again/Biden status-quo, which is only very slightly less amenable to the requirements of the 1% than is the outwardly uglier Trumpism, is neither appropriate nor desirable.
3
He can't print out a return from TurboTax. Gee Mike, can't you just photocopy or scan those thousands of pages in your last tax return?
Mike can dish it out, but he can't take a hit. We are supposed to be incensed that a US Senator has a home in DC, one in his home state, and a vacation bungalow?
I suspect that if I added up my net worth, it might break a million, technically making me a millionaire. That makes me as wealthy as a guy worth $60 billion?
Mike spends more on his misleading ads each day than what Sanders is worth.
14
I’ll vote Blue in the general but after last night, Warren has my vote in the primary.
3
of all the unlikely states to flip I'd say this is one for Sanders in the general. sanders will win this in the primary too
7
"Referring to the suburban moderate voters who helped Democrats win back the House in 2018, he added, “That was the coalition that propelled Democrats to success in the midterms — and it’s the coalition that we need to win in November.”"
It's a little disingenuous. We will certainly need to get some support from independent voters and such, but you really can't compare the house races in 2018 to the presidential elections this year. While geography matters (thanks electoral college) in presidential elections, it matters 1000 times more in elections that are based on nothing but geography.
1
Bloomberg has my vote. I don’t need the pundits to explain what I just witnessed. Warren’s cheap shots were just that. I’m tired of her sanctimonious attitude. At least Bloomberg accomplished something in his professional life. He is self made and was a two term successful mayor. All the rest are professional politicians. None of them have managed more than 20 people at best. Where does it say that electing a President is best achieved from someone in the Senate? And a mayor from South Bend doesn’t cut it. Perhaps he should run for Governor in Indiana first.
9
The Republicans (this includes Bloomberg) don’t want to see ordinary people thriving because it threatens their death-grip on society. If there is any needed indication that Sanders and his movement are the needed cure of the moment, it is the fearful bleating of oligarchs clutching at their hedge fund wealth.
7
A person's judgement is a critical factor in judging a Presidential candidate. The judgement of Warren and Sanders should be called into question for their unhinged assaults on Bloomberg.
Here's why: Bloomberg is on record and committed to spending huge amounts on a national campaign directed at getting rid of Donald Trump. That commitment includes investing in down ballot Senate contests on behalf of Democratic incumbents and challengers. Bloomberg is the only individual in the United States with the resources and commitment to take this challenge on; the DNC does not have the competence to mount a successful challenge, nor does Sanders or Warren or any of the other candidates.
I don't believe Bloomberg will bow out in light of the criticisms leveled at him. But if it keeps up, what's to prevent him from concluding that his money is going to waste if the Dems choose a candidate like Warren or Sanders, both of whom are far away from the moderate center, where the election will be won or lost.
To me, that would be a complete disaster.
2
Frankly, who cares about debate performance? It is all about issues, policy proposals and experience running things.
2
Bloomberg really blew it. He is a prime example of destructive wealth distribution in America and he should’ve taken a stand against it. He also should have apologized for stop and frisk and not try to weasel his way out of it. In his heart, Bloomberg is not a real Democrat because he does not believe in balancing the scales between the wealthy and the poor. I was hoping that he would be our candidate, but it is clear now that he cannot. And if he takes down the other moderates in the Democratic race, he will be the one responsible for Trump winning.
3
He could not respond effectively because sexually harassing female employees and subjecting dark skinned citizens to searches without probable cause are indefensible. The ads showing him with Obama are taken out of context. Running those ads although he did not support Obama in 2008 and privately attacked him is unethical. He is vulnerable because he's done several bad things. I'd hate to be the one having to coach him for the debates. The sooner he is gone, the better for the more deserving candidates and the country.
4
Bloomberg lacks the panache, but has the cash.
He’ll still be the nominee because $60 billion can buy a lot of second-round super delegates at the convention.
Heck, it’s enough to also buy Bernie Sanders himself, and still have enough left over to buy a small country or two.
Bloomberg’s debate performance was a catastrophe. And he couldn’t care less.
3
I thoughts he did well.
19
I like Bloomberg. His comment about the other candidates being “communists” however was a trope from a collective meme that was stuck in his head that escaped under pressure. Too bad for the dude, it did not serve him well.
4
“If we choose a candidate who appeals to a small base — like [Donald Trump] — it will be a fatal error,”
Thought every other GOP candidate during the 2016 primary.
6
What in the world are Sheekey's qualifications? Because that is the mot pathetic attempt at spin I've ever read. His candidate was eviscerated on stage and Sheekey says "he was the grown-up in the room"? More like the corpse in the morgue.
12
As a New Yorker who saw Bloomberg mess up so much of the city and accomplish nothing except enrich his real estate buddies, I was delighted to see Warren take him down. I will never vote for Bloomberg under any circumstances. His so-called competence is such a silly myth.
33
@Le
Michael Bloomberg wasn't simply thrown out of the ring, he was catapulted unceremoniously out and into a trajectory towards the sun, where his demise will not even be noticed.
Whatever the intent of the Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden Democratic Party by picking Bloomberg as the back-up for Biden, it failed spectacularly; embarrassingly.
Anyone not seeing the light at this stage in this game is simply willfully obtuse; our Democratic Party is being who they have always been, which of course is the protector of the status quo they do desperately want to maintain.
Regardless, last night we saw a brilliant dawn break across our land, we saw it unapologetically light up Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as our champions, showing us that either one will be our 46th President and the other our Vice President.
Our beaten-up, and beaten-down nation, so badly done in by Trump and his Republican partners is being called upon to not stay down for the count, but spring back up and show all the doubters that we are alive, we believe in decency, we believe in respect, and we are about to reclaim our place as the champions of the poor, the middle-class, and all of the people.
To watch the pretenders on that stage last night get exposed and made nearly irrevelant was divine.
9
Are people just pretending Warren wasn’t a LONG time Republican, much longer than I’m comfortable with. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/elizabeth-warren-republican-electability/603178/
And about Bernie “I have 3 houses” Sanders’ multimillion dollar net worth: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2019/04/12/how-bernie-sanders-the-socialist-senator-amassed-a-25-million-fortune/
Sick of both Warren and Sanders’ hypocrisy. How either of them are considered “authentic” is beyond me.
14
@Jolton ...Cut Warren some slack. She grew up in Oklahoma.It takes a little time and exposure to recover from that.
2
@Jolton so if you make millions selling books about your increasingly popular ideas built off New Deal liberalism, that is somehow not good enough? This is public knowledge and you pretend he is corrupt. Your bad faith is obvious.
@Jolton Huge typo, I hope, in your piece about Sen. Sanders. Your "25-million-" is actually "2.5 million" in the Forbes headline for an interesting article. No "hypocrisy" in Bernie. An Illinois native, I have found him consistent and authentic since he was an undergrad activist protesting school segregation in Chicago in 1963. I believe you have a responsibility to proofread what you post. I will hope you didn't think you could just get by with it to hurt Bernie.
Oh! Great debate performance! You should be...a professional debater. Now you want to be president? Please.
3
The attack on Bloomberg for being rich--not inherited rich but self-made rich--is simply ridiculous. Isn't Bloomberg's successful story what America is about? What is wrong with the Democratic Party?
635
@Avi I wish he would highlight that more effectively as well as all the high paying jobs he's created at Bloomberg LP
42
@Avi
Avi claims that Bloomberg is "self-made rich".
Self-made?
Right.
Mr. Bloomberg has amassed his $60 Billion fortune all by himself....just as Bezos has amassed his absurd $100 Billion fortune all by himself...just as the Walton family has amassed their Billions all by themselves.
Anyone claiming they are "self-made" is a greedy and arrogant out-of-touch elitist who views workers as nothing more than an expense line in a financial statement.
It is well past time for the revolution Bernie Sanders offers.
It is well past time for the workers of this country to finally get a raise and begin to Reverse the obscene bottom-to-top redistribution of wealth that has occurred over the past four decades.
226
@Avi It's not that he's rich and it's certainly not that he worked hard.
It's that his net worth is $64.2 BILLION DOLLARS.
Who could ever need that kind of money? In what world should anyone ever be able to amass that kind of money?
It's staggering inequality, which is a substantial problem in this country. Not just morally but even for the structure of our economy. Bloomberg exemplifies the problem.
Now I know, who better to fix it than someone that knows how the game is played? But you know who sold that same bill of goods in 2016? Donald Trump.
52
I didn't think his performance was all that poor. He chose not to engage on the misogynist hearsay. I suspect that was a strategy. Time will tell if it worked or not.
14
He admits he paid off a trail of women and made them sign nondisclosure agreements. It's not heresy since he admits it.
4
Sheekey is right- he was the grown-up in the room. The attacks on him were sound bites that have no place in the debate. The other candidates fell [almost] to the level of Trump with what amounts to a bunch of name calling that is rightfully ignored. Talk about a presidential issue, get past stop-and-frisk, have a real debate.
8
I think the writer is overreacting. I watched the same debate he did and shrugged.
Bottom line-Elizabeth Warren could not even carry neighboring New Hampshire, or even come close, for that matter.
I don't care about non-disclosures. I care about defeating Trump and neither Warren nor Bernie have a chance.
Do you really think we are a bunch of lemmings?
24
After disintegrating live on stage he goes to...Utah? Why on earth would any Democrat go to Utah for anything other than to ski? They haven't ever voted for a Democrat for president, not even close. Bill Clinton even finished a distant third to Ross Perot.
And we're supposed to believe he's the most competent candidate? Two events in Utah is, uh, two too many. And in a democracy, Mike? Sooner or later you actually have to have people vote for you instead of avoiding it at all costs. Not off to a strong start would be putting it mildly.
5
@Lou Good Utah is a Super Tuesday state. While they only have 29 delegates (small relative to California's 415), the voters in the Democratic primary will be voting for someone.
Bloomberg also has had campaign events in other Super Tuesday ruby red states (Arkansas 31 delegates; Tennessee 64 delegates; Oklahoma 37 delegates).
Right now the candidates are vying to win the primary, not the general election, so these red state Democratic voters matter for total delegate count. So what Bloomberg is doing is actually logical.
And we will know on March 4th whether the Democrats in these red states voted for someone who considered them important enough to actually visit or for one of the many candidates who never gave them consideration because of the reasoning you give.
Of note, in Obama's run for his first term as president, he visited 48 (possibly all 50) states, even the ruby red ones.
Showing up matters.
4
We are still in the primary not the general election. Utah has 29 delegates who are very likely to favor a moderate candidate.
1
I was at the Bernie Sanders rally at Tacoma on Monday. We chatted with several people line while we were waiting. Many said that they were opposed to Bloomberg because he was "born a billionaire". When I explained to them that he was born in a decidedly middle class family, and built a successful business from scratch -- no one seemed to care. One "Bernie bro" cheerfully explained that since has so much money now, we should just assume that he was born rich! The rally rang with chants of "eat the rich" -- I am not even sure what that means. And Sanders himself talked non-stop about "the billionaires" as if they are some sort of monsters. Bloomberg, Gates, Buffet -- these are people we should seek to emulate, not hate. No one in today's democratic party seems to agree ...
25
I would agree that a system that produces so
Many billionairs and has such inequality is disgusting. Great that Bloomberg spends his money on some good causes. But there is no way bying yourself the presidency is democratic.
4
@Jitu Padhye ...Sanders and his supporters are my way or the highway. Asking them to think logically is a bridge too far.
It was exactly what he expected, and it will have zero no impact l on his push to November. The others got their chance to expose whatever they could muster, the guy is pretty squeaky clean. He is the only guy that can beat Trump, he is the man at this point. Calm, collected, diplomatic. The others were ruffled, petty, angry, and desperate. Bloomberg now moves on with his strategy of mass message delivery and calling-in all the allies he has garnered over the years. This is his moment in the sun.
8
A billionaire that doesn’t like Bernie. Imagine that.
4
Mayor Bloomberg has not apparently learned the two key lessons of last night's debate:
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1. Performing in a televised presidential nomination debate is not a place for amateurs.
It took enormous skill and effort for those other candidates to get a place on that stage. Underestimate them at your own peril.
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2. Do not attack Bernie Sanders.
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If you disagree with Senator Sanders' policies, then explain why, calmly and dispassionately, maybe with wit and humour. Do not ever take a cheap shot at Senator Sanders.
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You clearly have no insight into why people like him as a candidate. When you show him sneering partisan disrespect, you lose any chance they will consider voting for you.
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In most western democracies Senator Sanders' policies are very middle-of-the-road, and have been the law for half a century and more.
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As such, to deride either Senator Sanders or his policies "radical" or "extreme" merely makes you look unfairly partisan, if not ridiculous. It is foolish to criticize as impossible policies that are already working in dozens of other countries, and have been for half a century.
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Mayor Buttigieg has also failed to learn this second lesson, and it is why his support has gone soft.
17
Leave it to the primary process to try to destroy the exact one person who is able to beat T, and select the exact one person who has no chance against T (you guess which is which). Depressing.
3
A lot of folks in denial of Bloomberg’s awful debating performance.
Not only that, Republicans are likely already looking for women willing to testify about what Bloomberg doesn’t want them to say.
The guy is a disaster. If a centrist must mordicus be forced down everyone’s throats, can’t the DNC launch Michelle Obama on the brokered convention we’re likely headed to?
3
Bloomberg took a fierce blow to the N.D.A.’s from Warren. He was similarly incapable of dealing with criticism from a multitude of folks on stop and frisk.
I would take him in a heartbeat over Trump were he to get the nomination but I do not respect this man. He only entered the race late because of all the anxiety from the electability chickens. You guys aren’t the only ones worried about the high stakes of the election. You’re injecting a heck of a lot of volatility and counterproductive second-guessing into the race.
Just when we needed to narrow the field which would have given us a feeling of more certainty and the ability to see a more definite future, Bloomberg and Patrick enter like a couple of self-righteousness, self-proclaimed messiahs to save us from so many choices by providing more.
I may not agree with all the candidates, but we have a good, dedicated, inspiring bunch this time around with the exception of Mike Bloomberg, a man who displays little humility and sincerity, who gave voice to the far-right lie that the housing crisis was caused by lending to minorities, whose dubiously-timed recalcitrance over stop and frisk doesn’t pass the smell test, and who brushed off multiple episodes of sexual harassment illuminated by their resulting non-disclosure agreements as nothing more serious than some unfortunate jokes. This man doesn’t have the character to be our nominee.
4
could you imagine Bloomberg in a debate against Trump. It would be a total disaster. I guess there are things money can't buy.
4
Sorry Mike, but just because you're rich doesn't make you President material. There are a lot of rich people out there, just like you, who have no business running for President. The current occupant of the Oval Office is proof of that. Keep your money and your politics to yourself and drop out.
If Bloomberg really thinks that Sanders is that dangerous, then he should stop doing Bernie a HUGE favor by muddling up the center lane with giant piles of cash. Bloomberg won't peel away a single vote from Bernie, but he will pull from Biden, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar.
4
Mike Bloomberg is clueless and tone deaf to the notion that the constituency of Democrats are not the people that he rubs elbows with most weekends at his golf club in Bermuda.
There are a lot more low and middle income voters in this country than well off Republicans and wealthy moderates.
Only by flipping and tricking millions of voters in to voting against their own self interests will a Mike Bloomberg or a Donald Trump be able to compete. This requires dishonesty in both cases.
Witness Bloomberg's misleading advertising. He helped NYC small business? Hog wash.
He brought New York through 9/11? Not True! He wasn't mayor until 2002.
Has Obama endorsed Bloomberg? No. But Bloomberg's advertising sure implies it.
Did he cut stop and frisk? No, he expanded it 7X.
It was cut only when it was declared not constitutional. And Mike fought that.
He helped the poor? No. Homelessness took off when he was mayor.
The public school? He helped fund Charter schools.
The kind not all kids have access to. At the expense of public, public schools.
Yes the Penguin might be a better President than the Joker. So what.
It does not mean that either crook is the best choice.
Vote for Superman. Or Superwoman.
Vote for Bernie Sanders. Or Elizabeth Warren. Or both.
Because they're not crooks!
10
Bloomberg is a REPUBLICAN. Bloomberg endorsed Bush for RE-ELECTION in 2004, and spent over $11 million to RE-ELECT Sen Toomey (R Pa) over a good Democratic candidate, Katie McGinty.
So when the highest recommended post in this article asks "What is wrong with the Democratic Party?" because they're attacking Bloomberg, it's not because he's rich, but because he's a republican. And he carries on like a republican; racist, misogynistic, and completely out of touch with the middle class.
10
And the winner is - Donald Trump!! He must have had a field da6 with these small minded, jealous, whiny - REALLY WHINY candidates. I admit I was shocked by Warren’s willingness to compare Bloomberg to Trump and demand that Bloomberg release those women from their agreements. So tacky! I thought I’d vote for her, but no way! She’s pretty desperate and reveals that she has zero class. Disappointing. Not to mention Buttigieg going after Klobuchar over nothing much. That guy has no experience, can’t get over himself, and is going nowhere.
Bloomberg demonstrated his ability to just let them rave on and get it over with. They’re SOOO jealous! They may be turning green right in front of us. This was a true spectacle. I’m embarrassed for the the Dems. If they lose, they did it to themselves. The exception is Bloomberg, who obviously has more class than the rest of them put together. Trump will be laughing all the way to the voting booth.
4
I'll take my chances with Bloomberg any day over Sanders who will cause the markets to crash, Pete who is great but not ready for prime time, Liz who is stringently well intentioned and Amy who is a hopeful VP candidate. Biden isn't even on the radar.
No one is perfect. Mike is still our best hope for a principled and experienced presidential candidate who can defeat Trump by reaching across party lines in November.
8
Bloomberg may have had a rough debate but he still has his billions and we still have Trump and considering the current state of the Democratic nomination process we may be stuck with Trump for a long time.
2
I watched the debate for a while but eventually tuned away. I just couldn't take the barely contained anger of Sanders and Warren.
Warren seems too far back to win, but if Sanders isn't the nominee, watch for the Democrat party to dissolve in internecine warfare.
4
I feel like we are living in a totalitarian state with the press in lock-step talking about how badly Bloomberg did last night. Let's see, all the other candidates ganged up on him, lied about him and his policies, and made personal attacks. And the press is joining in on bullying the new candidate. Uh, any press people want to comment on how badly the other candidates behaved last night? When Biden entered the race, the press acted like the primaries were over because there was an heir apparent. Now the press is acting like the primaries are over because Sanders is the heir apparent. Maybe the press should just report the news and stop declaring the voting process null and void - implying that the press, rather than a nice totalitarian like, say, Trump, gets to declare the winner rather than the voters. Oh, and at least a few folks think Bloomberg did a pretty decent job - he picked up 3 endorsements AFTER the debate. Honestly, the candidate I dislike the most at the moment is the press.
3
@MSC
Politicians endorsed him only because they need his money
1
The debates have proven very little. The commentators are asking questions as if they live on another planet and just visit for the debates. Example: Trump keeps touting his supposedly "booming" economy which doesn't hold up when compared with Obama's. But even more telling is that Trump's climate denial means there is not any focus on the climate meteor that is going to hit the planet and leave very few survivors of any species: even the wealthy will come out of their bunkers and realize they made a bad decision to survive only to step onto a planet that cannot any longer support life. Yet no question has been seriously asked at any of the debates challenging that Trump's economy is as fake as his hair. Example: gun issues have not been seriously discussed when most rational Americans want to see gun safety made a priority? Young people are demanding that climate and guns become the focus of our next president and yet they seem slightly referred to at the debates. And women’s issues; who has the right to tell women how they should deal with their lives when difficult medical decisions with their most trusted advisors and doctors is the only option? Which also includes the issue of the Supreme Court and Roe vs Wade. The debates have failed on many levels. Political experience leaves Bloomberg. Warren and Biden in a position to convince voters they are viable candidates. Beating Trump is issue number one to saving the planet. The debates are not helping.
2
Bloomberg probably has one of the highest IQs of the candidates remaining on the stage. I believe he is a principled manager who, if elected, would make well-informed decisions as head of the executive branch.
Unfortunately he probably has one of the lowest EQs of the candidates, and it's pretty clear that he is "rusty" from being many years removed from politics.
I hope he is able to dust off and forge ahead. I think he could be good for the country.
5
I wonder what would happen if Mr Bloomberg used his massive fortune (and 'moneyed' reputation as big businessman) to support one of the other candidates (Warren would be my pick).
He could gracefully and publicly state that the BEST candidate for the future of our nation is "...." ("Warren"). "She has the best platform, with well considered genuine policy plans with justice and reform central. I am supporting her candidacy with all my heart and fortune. The future of our country and earth depends on her success and I ask you to join me."
3
I don't think his performance was "poor" - thanks for labeling it thus in the minds of voters. In my mind, he was the only dignified candidate on the stage - and I personally won't be voting for the hysterical two - I thought their performance was more than "poor"!
3
The question is who will the DNC come up with next and how will they change the rules again as they are fresh out of Bloombergs. Time to get this thing down to whatever establishment candidate the DNC has to offer vs Bernie. Hopefully, Super Tuesday will effect that outcome. Obviously, the Bloomberg experiment is a rap. Despite throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Sanders the DNC is about to take a severe beating in Nevada and justly deserved. Utah will be no different.
3
The commentators are reading this wrong. Predictably.
Bloomberg will gain in popularity from this and Warren has attacked herself out of the race. She came across as a not very agreeable person and desperate. Clutching at straws.
I fear that some of the haters supporting her and Sanders will not vote for any other democratic candidate just like four years ago which just emphasizes the need to put forward a candidate that can also appeal to independents and the few decent moral republicans.
2
It’s amusing to watch a Republican in the Democrat debates. Let’s hope Bloomberg’s 1/2 billion dollar attempt to run as a spoiler against the Sanders’ campaign gets exposed and stopped, sooner rather than later.
4
@Skip Bonbright Skip, I would put this to you - What, exactly, is Sanders talking about that can A. Beat Trump or, B. Ever get put in place if he somehow were to be elected?
He strikes me as a very angry guy with a lot of vitriol who spits out things he things he thinks will expand his base, when, in fact, 75 percent of people who want to oust Trump are not interested in Sanders.
This is where the polls fail in translation. If Sanders has 25 percent of the support of the Democrats likely to vote, a Sanders candidacy is doomed from the jump.
The ranting and yelling. It's another version of Trump.
@John Harrington - About 26% of the eligible voters put Trump in office. (Sadly)
Nobody knows how a Klobuchar or a Biden supporter will *actually vote* if it comes down to Sanders vs. Trump for the general. Would they really sit this one out because they think Bernie's too strident in his views? Because they don't like his body language? Really? That's enough to keep the Trump horror show running?
You seem to be mistaking passion for vitriol. It's about time that working people had such an enthusiastic champion (Warren checks this box too). It's not a shortcoming.
Sanders isn't angry; he's justifiably appalled--as is a considerable swathe of the electorate.
1
I command Mayor Bloomberg for speaking calmly, in a normal sounding voice. I am so tired of candidates SCREAMING in every answer - VP Biden is the worse.
Bloomberg sounded somewhat unprepared but it could be his strategy. Trump supports value his simplistic, evasive answers and maybe Bloomberg will appeal to some of them. In fact I also like that he hasn't yet released his tax returns - play it like Trump, Mayor Bloomberg, be different.
2
Since when is keeping calm and not going off like a raving maniac a sign of "losing?"
Far from being defenseless versus the people who were attacking him, it seemed to me that he had determined to simply let them go off.
I thought it was inspired when he questioned Mr. Everyguy, Sanders, about his money. That was classic.
In the age of rage and the Trumpian tweet, a bit of comportment was, to me, quite refreshing. Of course, he can afford to show in that manner. After all, what does he really have to prove to his opponents?
4
Imagine the impact of the following approach:
“Each of us standing on this stage has come this far as the result of significant personal achievements and dedication to public service. Not one of us is perfect. Each of us has cast votes or taken actions that in the reflective view of hindsight we regret; said things that were insensitive to others; made rueful mistakes. But, every man and woman here before you tonight is, at their core, committed to shaping a better America that boosts the health and welfare of all our citizens. You will find no candidate of this party surrounded by felons and convicts. No bone spur heroes who would abandon allies, nor do the bidding of foreign governments, no obsequious narcissists sidling up to dictators while fomenting hatred here at home.
“I deeply admire every person standing beside me tonight. I don’t agree with every policy proposal or every philosophical detail. But I do trust the integrity of each individual here and harbor no doubt - no doubt - of the ability of every candidate to discharge the duties of the presidency with honor and competent leadership far beyond the current occupant of the White House.”
2
Let’s be honest, all democrat candidates performed poorly. Not a single one of them can handle Trump. I actually enjoyed watching the debate, best comedy this year.
@JOSEPH I'll wager that you have never seen a democrat who "performed" to your liking.
1
Mr. Bloomberg,
I’ve always voted as a Republican. I want someone who can beat Trump. I believe you are the only candidate who can beat him. I will vote for you.
2
Why is the word "performance" always used here? This was a planned ambush by moderators for the network. Makes Fox look reasonable.
Is that how NBC wants to make money? They egged on everyone on that stage. It was not insightful. It was inciting,..... a riot.
These are not debates at all. The only way the American public should be evaluating candidates is by reading their policy positions.
When we have each nominee, let them face-off on TV. Develop a list of questions that require thoughtful answers and provide big ideas.
Last night, I did not hear a single question about childhood education, eradicating poverty or the national debt.
Surely, anyone who thinks they are qualified to become President can memorize a five or ten point plan. Or is the stuff on the website not titillating enough for Americans.
This is why Trump is President. Media just feeds "entertainment" to the public. Like pablum.
What ever happened to responsible journalism?
5
I thought Bloomberg was awful - the questions were exactly the ones he should have prepared for. Either he has a lousy debate prep team or he didn’t listen to them.
Doesn’t matter. He should admit that he wasn’t good and point out the others had been debating 9 times and he hadn’t debated in over 10 years. Then he should move on and do better next time.
Obama’s first debate against Romney was bad too.
1
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders did not come off well despite the excitement at Elizabeth Warren‘s tense, insulting, enthusiastic delivery. To Bernie Sanders who asked if perhaps Bloomberg’s employees didn’t deserve some of his wealth, that’s what a paycheck is for. He wouldn’t know this though since he has no experience in the private sector. Thought Bloomberg held up very well under their condescending and insulting attacks. How do people who spent their entire life in public service end up millionaires? I thought his observation on Bernie Sanders was perfect - socialist, three homes and a millionaire. Bloomberg is a self-made man, philanthropic, worked successfully in the public and private sector and is willing to put his money where his mouth is. He’s spending his own money, Elizabeth and Bernie. The both of you are willing to spend other people’s money and are just talking about doing good. By the way, Trump’s ideal candidate would be Bernie Sanders and that is why he is surging in the polls.
2
Bloomberg is paying big money to AstroTurf social media and, I would guess, comments sections.
I don't know how anyone could support Bloomberg after seeing the debacle last night. Worst debate performance in history?
4
True that Mr. Bloomberg was not the great debater we all wanted him to be. Elizabeth Warren was predictable in her schoolmarm attacks. Amy was at times almost in tears. I can go on but these Democratic debates are implosive at best. We all know that only Bloomberg can beat Trump. What a pitiful waste of time.
187
@Tommybee "We all know only Bloomberg can beat Trump", really? What are you basing that on? In head-to-head polls Bernie beats Trump handily. More importantly, Bernie wins blue collar workers in the rust belt, while Bloomberg will cause them to stay home or vote for Trump.
49
@Tommybee
In injecting himself into the primaries the way he has done and showing himself as just another decaffeinated version of Donald Trump, he, alone, has already LOST at least a third of the democrat voters, guaranteeing Trump wins another four years.
16
@Tommybee "We all know that only Bloomberg can beat Trump"? Holy cow--I certainly don't know that. Last night Bloomberg was an utter embarrassment. And Warren predictable? Good god--she eviscerated Bloomberg. I don't think anybody had predicted that.
45
Bernie Sanders nomination = Trump re-elected. (And I am not a Trump supporter.)
256
@Eric
Conventional wisdom has it that Sanders can’t win and yet he’s leading in the polls and according to 538 doing as well or better in the swing states as any of the other candidates.
Four years ago Democrats were chortling over the chance to run against Trump. Conventional wisdom can be wrong.
93
@Eric No, you're a former Biden supporter, until yesterday Bloomberg supporter, and now just an anybody but Bernie supporter. Or actually just a Bernie detractor.
A few years ago Bloomberg said Bernie could have beaten Trump. Now he, like you, says Bernie can never beat Trump. Which time was Bloomberg lying? (Hint: which was the time that lying would gain something of value for the former Republican mayor of NYC?)
22
@Eric Yes Bernie has to go. He’s cannot bridge the gap of two parties, and he is too volatile. The country does need a screaming flailing maniac negotiating with China and Russia.
8
I'm going to hold my nose and pretend I didn't smell blood last night emanating from Mike and continue to support his candidacy for the simple reasons that 1) I lived through his mayoralty and he accomplished MANY good things here in NYC and 2) I DO still believe that he's the only candidate that can beat Trump. Sanders and Warren are NON-STARTERS. Biden's day has long passed. Klobuchar doesn't make any impact on me at all and what's more her infamous snarkiness reared it's ugly head last night. As to Pete, he's the candidate of my heart but I cannot believe that the country is ready for a gay president and I'm just not willing to take any chances in 2020. Contrary to what Warren says SHE and Sanders are the risks, not Mike. His performance shook me up but I still see him as the only hope in November. He must continue to pound that message home as it's his best argument for getting the nomination.
307
@ManhattanWilliam
Bloomberg doesn’t NEED to be President.
But if he’s going to be in this race, then he needs to show us that he WANTS to be President.
He was obviously playing it cool at his first debate, avoiding the unseemly food fight to his left.
But he needs to take these prime-time opportunities and at least make his own arguments. He was so low-key that he seemed bored and disinterested — not very inspiring.
We get it: You’re a multi-billionaire and you aren’t about to beg or even ASK for our votes.
But you’ve got to seem like you WANT the job. Please make it easy for Democrats to coalesce around your candidacy.
6
@ManhattanWilliam Why is Sanders a non-starter? National polls have him at 6% over Trump, better than anyone but Biden. Battleground polls also show that he does better than any Democrat other than Biden. The only battleground he is losing according to polls is Wisconsin, in which every Democrat is losing to Trump by a substantial margin (why, I'll never know).
I know polls aren't perfect but it's the only data we have.
If you are going to discount Bernie's chances of winning despite the polls, then you really should go for Biden. I don't think it gets much worse for him and he's doing quite well against Trump. It could get *a lot* worse for Bloomberg as we saw last night.
27
@Brad Burns Too bad for you and Bloomberg, nobody else needs to believe this near-hallucinatory spin.
21
I'm a former Republican who switched my registration to independent in 2016 due to my strong antipathy to Trump, and am now planning to became a Democrat in order to vote for Bloomberg in the Arizona Democratic primary. I saw nothing last night that would dissuade me from continuing to support Bloomberg. I will not vote for Sanders under any circumstance.
439
@xtra if the general election ends up being Trump vs Sanders, would you vote third party or stay home? Neither of those is the right thing to do but I’m just curious
20
@Adam
I would probably stay home and not vote in the first general election since becoming eligible to vote. It's not a satisfying outcome, but to me it's a choice between two evils.
4
@Adam
I'm a lifelong Democrat, and I wouldn't vote for Bernie Sanders with a gun to my head.
26
If Bernie had supported Hillary in 2016, we might not have had 4 years of Trump.
116
@jdvnew
H Clinton wrecked her own candidacy.
61
"If Bernie had supported Hillary"
*sigh*
28
@jdvnew
For the record.
Bernie endorsed Hillary. Bernie campaigned for Hillary. Bernie convinced many of his supporters to vote for Hillary. Over 80% of Sanders supporters voted for her.
93
It was a mistake by the other candidates to pile it on Bloomberg. As Trump has shown no one likes it when an underdog is getting beat up. If anything the candidates who attacked him looked like fools because it is all they have. Warren, Klobuchar, Mayor Pete are done. It's Bernie or Bloomberg. Pick your poison.
34
That was not a debate last night
It was a clown show of put downs, interruptions and half truths
If success in that format translates into presidential leadership my six year old should be in the Oval Office
28
To many yes men telling Bloomberg what he wants to hear.
Bloomberg is Trump 2.0. He will just not say the quiet things out loud. The guy proved he won’t be able to face Trump either.
We don’t need two entitled misogynistic racists fighting it out. And it’s racist specifically because it was targeted and avoided whites. That is the definition of racism.
Guy has all the money in the world and is incapable of even preparing for a debate. Incredible.
Maybe Bloomberg and Trump can one up each other on stage telling us how many NDA’s they paid for to silence people while mocking the American people.
20
Okay, so the Democratic candidates attacked Bloomberg with everything they had last night. What do they do on the next debate. Bloomberg has time to regroup and come back with some answers. He already called out Sanders and his 3 houses. He can say "yeah so what I'm a billionaire. I gave to more causes and charities last year than all 5 of you will do in your lifetimes!" As for stop and frisk, I love all these white folks getting riled up about it. Have they ever asked anyone in the black community, where black on black crime is prevalent how THEY felt about stop and frisk? How many crimes were prevented by stop and frisk?
As for the NDA's, they were agreed on by both parties, cash settlements were made and let me know when Trump agrees to let his NDA's go public.
21
His entry into this contest is opportunistic. The public good is a foil and his distuption is damaging an already fragile party to which he has no demonstrable allegiance. Allowing him a voice is damaging. Yes, Bernie seemed like an angry old man. I’m an outraged young man.
9
@RA LA ...Ahh, but the question is can you count? And when you compare Bloomberg with Trump where do you come down?
The moment it was announced Bloomberg was going to be in the debate, MSNBC was setting everyone up for "the show" and ratings and the questions the moderators continued to fire at all the candidates were extremely predictable.
Several years ago, all major television media news departments were integrated into their "entertainment" divisions and that is what you got last night, entertainment, nothing more.
11
If it does come down to Trump vs. Bloomberg in a debate, the two are likely to talk right past each other, because they think radically differently. Trump plays on emotions while Bloomberg calculates the numbers.
I wish the schoolmarm, the crazy uncle, and the guy who says "Let's all be Episcopalians" would just pack it in.
7
BLOOMBERG IS THE LEAST ELECTABLE DEMOCRAT
Bloomberg's record makes it absurd to think he'll turn out likely Democratic voters in the numbers we need. Don't expect women, Blacks, Latinos, young people, and Democratic working class whites to turn out for him in droves in battleground states.
Blacks and Latinos are not going to doorbell for him in Pittsubrgh or Philly. Young people in Detroit and Milwuakee aren't going to go to the polls with their friends. Women are not going to go on social media to urge others to support him. Working class whites who vote Democratic are not going to go the mat for the ex-Mayor who battled endlessly with NY's unions.
The candidate with the best chance of beating Trump is Sanders. He's a New Deal Democrat from a state with a Republican Governor. He's a longtime US Senator, and has been re-elected many times. According to Morning Consult polling, he's the most popular US Senator amongst their state's voters, in any state. Most people who support him aren't socialists. You don't need to be.
Sanders is not "extreme" by any measure. His positions on issues are widely supported.
The pundits told us Obama couldn't win. They told us
Trump was a clown--he had no chance. Hillary was a shoo-in. Most Americans want an anti-establishment candidate (like Obama was) they can trust. Sanders fits the bill. He's imperfect, as are all the candidates, but his strengths far exceed his weaknesses. Consider it.
38
The people who will vote for Sanders in the General are people who are supporting him in these primaries. He’ll probably also get most other Democrats because we’ll vote for Anyone but Trump.
That’s me - I don’t support him but I’ll vote for him if he’s the nominee. It disgusts me that too many of his supporters won’t do the same. They are probably the reason Hillary lost and Trump is in the White House.
Sanders isn’t a Democrat, his views are not mainstream Democratic and even if he did become President he won’t be able to get them passed as he wasn’t able to pass them in his decades in the Senate.
But he won’t be elected - he will lose to Trump and everything a real Democratic candidate would be able to do will be lost.
2
@Kraig
Disagree.
@Maxi I'll vote blue no matter who, too. Hillary lost because she ran as the "establishment" candidate against a (phony) anti-establishment Trump. The voters really do want change.
2
He is the only candidate who can beat Trump in November. This calculation has not changed overnight.
16
The democrats fiddle as Rome burns. I did not watch the debate but did catch some highlights or low lights as the case might be. It seems they were gathered in a circular firing squad. This spectacle will likely give the election to trump. Heaven help us. Warren and Sanders are not electable and this is not the time for Buttigieg. Bloomberg certainly has baggage but may be the only option if the goal is to win. Too bad Biden scared off many other mainstream (electable) candidates.
11
No one can pretend Bloomberg did anything but painfully endure the first half of the debate. Likely he was coached to stand down rather than stand up and it failed. The second half brought out his sensible and analytical mind.
Mike and Pete were the only adults in the room last night who did not sink to the feral behavior of the other candidates. It wasn't a debate, it was Lord of the Flies and the NBC moderators seemed to delight in the shameful and wholly unpresidential display of bratty spoiled child interruptions, ridiculous gesticulations, back stabbing and petty grievances. Trump must have laughed himself to sleep last night -- and that isn't funny at all.
I'm not excusing Mike from past failings or inappropriateness. But what is at stake in this election is much bigger than any social movement. This is about all humanity and our fragile planet mattering. He will beat Trump where no one else can, and he will put us carefully back on a steady orbit and will continue to pour his endless billionaire dollars into purely philanthropic efforts.
Revolutions of the political kind will have their time, but that time is not now. If we want our Earth to keep turning, the candidates need to stop revolting against one another and start revolving around the only candidate who can win against Trump. Like it or not, that candidate is Bloomberg.
23
@Ali K. "Feral behavior" is a perfect descriptor. I thought I had stumbled upon a Jerry Springer show.
Even here in liberal San Francisco, voters I know who don’t think Sanders can win key electoral college districts or persuade Congress to enact 1/10th of his proposals are grappling with who to vote for.
Some liked Warren’s attacks on Bloomberg, while others were appalled by her (and others’) undeserved equivalencies between Bloomberg and the sexist predator/mob boss in the White House. Still others thought Bloomberg was the loser the Times says he was, but many saw him as the only cool headed adult in the room. And so it goes.
There is one area of consensus, however: these televised food fights are doing far more harm than good to the cause of defeating Trump and his down ballot allies in November.
Rather than focusing on the crisis to the Republic that is Trump and his enablers, in a week when the very principles of the rule of law and equal justice under law are on the Trump-DOJ chopping block, the candidates and moderators were sniping at and attacking each other like contestants for a cheap reality show.
For most Democrats and independents, the only targets worth ventilating over in late February 2020 are Trump and GOP candidates. The main reason Mike has gained traction recently is he appears to be the only candidate who gets that.
22
It seems like Comrade Bernie has the nomination to loose. At worst for him; he may not get the majority of the Delegates needed to be nominated on the First Ballot but if hte Democrat establishment played games to unseat Bernie; his supporters would burn the Democrat Party Down.
It's real mess for the democrats. They are in a NO WIN situation.
If Bernie wins the nomination; he would not only go down to defeat himself but would take down the down tickets with him. The Democrats could even loose the House.
If he is denied the nomination by Establishment shenanigans; he would not support the nominee and his supporters would burn the Party down.
5
@Devendra
Does Bernie Sanders really own THREE houses?
If true, is this not staggeringly hypocritical, given his politics?
1
First and foremost, the forum of the broadcast 'debates.' (both parties) are NOT debates in the classical way. . .meaning, moderator keeps order, keeps responses to the question and debater do not engage in petty name calling.
The forums we witness are simply food fights that are encouraged by the team of moderators who need to deliver viewers / listeners to management thereby increasing advert revenue.
Bloomberg was the only person there that did not engage in the childish food fight. He was succinct in he responses, responding to questions asked and dis-engaging when the other hooligans interrupted him to make untruthful remarks. The moderators did absolutely nothing.
IF Trump were the "stable genius" he claims to be, he would simply sit back, avoid the twitting, and allow the Democrats to do their typical thing: Self destruct. Why does Trump even bother to slam them with partial truths and lies, Biden,Buttegieg, Klobachur, Sanders, & Warren, are far better skilled at these practices than the entire Republican party, including daddy Putin.
4
When will people realize that starting a business and building a business empire does not qualify you to run a bureaucracy? Trump is doing that right now and it's driving everyone crazy.
5
@Mark
I disagree with your analogy—Trump is a failed businessman and Bloomberg is a wildly successful one.
Bloomberg has the experience to run a massive organization (our country). He puts his considerable money where his mouth is.
I think he is the candidate who can deliver moderates, Independents and those Republicans who are looking for an alternative to Trump.
3
Bloomberg is more dangerous than Trump. They are both billionaires who have done disgusting things to women (although with Bloomberg’s dozens of complaints, he seems to have Trump best there). They both have had shifting party alliances. They are both authoritarians, though while Trump has joked about pursuing additional terms, Bloomberg actually pulled it off. Bloomberg instituted one of Trump’s favorite policies: stop and frisk. The only difference is that Bloomberg is more competent and effective in his ruthless arrogance.
Bloomberg is not joining this race to defeat Donald Trump. He’s in it to defeat Sanders. Him and his billionaire buddies have fared very well under their friend Trump. They are freaking out about Bernie winning, because Bernie’s policies clearly appeal to the majority of Americans. A Bernie win would mean an end to their favored status as the recipients of taxpayer handouts.
12
@Andrew
"Bernie’s policies clearly appeal to the majority of Americans."
I kinda think this might not be so.
1
@Upper West Side
Actually, polls indicate that a majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage, free college, and medicare for all. There's a recent one from CNBC you can look up if you like. Some of those polls show support for medicare for all as high as 70%. It's not even close--a majority of Americans support progressive policies.
A closer question is whether a majority of voters in a presidential election--a smaller group than "all Americans"--will vote for those policies. We won't know the answer to that until we have an election, but, recent head-to-head polls showing Sanders beating all other nominees head-to-head show that a majority of dems would vote for Sanders. And he consistently beats Trump in head-to-head polling, showing that, at the very least, it is very plausible that a majority of voters support these policies.
The question is not whether these policies have popular support--it is whether our political system can give the majority of Americans a voice.
@Andrew
Will "Medicare for all" include Senior Citizens?
1
Some real dishonesty or conceptual confusion in the whole discussion and campaign:
1) "Democratic socialism" is just another name for "New Deal" regulated capitalism. It is not Stalinism, not Maoism, not communism, and it is not anything like Putin's current variant of Stalinism worshipped by Trump.
2) "Stop and Frisk" was actually a boon to the safety of most poor people, and racial dishonesty (or a type of mandatory dishonesty as "political correctness") has fueled Trump's rise. Victim surveys show that minority young men do commit crimes at 2 to 4 times the rates of young white men -- that should be acknowledged, because hegemonic racial dishonesty has provided a lot of "rebellion votes" for Trump. If we note that young black men commit a crime twice as often as young whites, then stopping them at twice the rate of whites is reasonable -- four or eight times the stop-rate is racist. We need honesty that hurts a little to de-fang Trump, whose racism hurts a lot.
3
"When they go low you go high" doesn't work this season. Bloomberg knows it. He is attacking Demented Donald every day where it hurts the most, and using the same tactics. Biden failed to even properly address (one tweet a day, one press conference a week) the smear campaign.
Yesterday, while Democrats were debating, Trump was delivering a speech at a rally in Arizona. It is worth watching. I felt his song is getting tired, and had several instances where he could not pronounce words properly
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-rally-twitter-roger-stone-sentence-pardon-2020-election-rally-phoenix-arizona-a9345956.html?amp
Let's hope he is deteriorating faster than the Democrats.
2
Keep a few things in mind:
1) UT is redder-than-red. I grew up there, and the predominant culture's DNA is John Birch on steroids. They don't vote for liberals. They don't like "the government," so don't expect a swing into the blue there for the next several centuries.
2) UT is Mitt Romney territory. Even though he pretends to be a defender of the Constitution, he's cut from the same libertarian cloth as the culture he was born into. In the end, he will probably go to the voting booth and vote for Cadet Bone-spur.
3) UT is a lost cause for the Dems. They should certainly campaign there, but in the end, Bloomberg and all the others will lose there.
2
All of America finally got to see Bloomberg last night, and it was a worse performance than even his harshest of critics could have hoped for.
Two essential points:
1) How do you think Bloomberg is going to do against Trump in a debate and election? Bloomberg will be eviscerated and humiliated by Trump is a debate. Bloomberg has endless amounts of baggage that will Trump will use to suppress the vote. If you think he will inspire people to vote, you are dead wrong.
2) The demographic that I am a part of that reads and subscribes to the NY Times may not like this, but Sanders has the momentum and a significant lead over the other candidates. Mathematically it is extraordinarily difficult for anybody to hit 50% in a field of more than five candidates. If the Democrats want to beat Trump, it’s time we all start supporting our leading candidate.
If Sanders gets the most votes and doesn’t hit 50% of the delegates then you better hope the Democrats do the right thing and nominate Sanders. Remember how all Democrats bemoaned the injustice of how Hillary won the popular vote but lost the election? Well, the same principle still applies; a cryptic weird process should not choose winners.
Young people literally are the future of this party. The prospect of permanently alienating the Sanders constituency will not bode well for this election or any future elections as for that will destroy the Democratic Party forever.
57
@Peter
Bloomberg performance, or for that reason, of any Dem candidate doesn't matter this year.
Isn't Bloomberg the incarnation of the American dream: no matter where you start in life, if you work hard and have the right ideas, you can succeed?
The way someone speaks, is not the same as she/he manages. Talkers end up being hated sooner than the doers.
I expect Bloomberg to get better at this an go on the attack. He needs to be all in to succeed, and being partially nice ended probably last night. He doesn't owe any of these guys anything. And this is the only shot he got. Put your seat belts.
4
"But the video was deceptively edited to make it seem as if his statement had left the other candidates speechless for about 20 seconds."
Having watched the debate, that brief moment of silence was particularly deafening.
5
Can anyone possibly picture Sanders running as a Republican and causally disowning a 40-year record of fighting for social justice, the poor and working classes, healthcare for all and corporate accountability?
Me neither. That’s what makes him different from Bloomberg. Fundamentally different. His platform isn’t a flag of convenience, it’s the core of his being.
35
Although Bloomberg’s debate performance was not ideal he is still head and shoulders the best candidate to go up against Trump.
No what else has the combination of experience in business and government as well as financial resources to go up against Trump.
Bloomberg will spend billions on the general campaign if necessary and that’s what it’ s maybe going to take.
I anticipate he’ll do a much better job in the next debate but the moderators also have to do their part to avoid the fiasco of last night. The moderators were horrible and many of the other candidates didn’t even look like adults- let alone our next president.
Bernie Sanders is going to lose in a landslide if he’s the nominee. It’s going to be McGovern all over again in that case.
13
I don't care about great debating skills at this stage. Mr. Bloomberg is an American Hero of 9/11, a real businessman (unlike his neighbor who lives in the White House now), has supported progressive causes, owned up to his mistakes he made in the past, is a philanthrophist that gave away so much of his wealth, and has a vision for bringing the country together.
I do not buy the circular firing squad TV talking points from the other candidates who ridiculed him for working hard/smart and becoming fabulously rich. I admire him for that.
9
If Bloomberg’s idea is that he will help beat Trump by slowing Bernie, it was a bad idea. He is further fracturing the moderate vote increasing the chance Bernie will lead going into a brokered convention. Bloomberg was awful last night. Pick a horse be it Biden Warren Klobuchar or Buttigieg. Get out of the way. Put your money to use supporting a more likable candidate.
3
While I do not think that Mike Bloomberg consciously decided to fumble some of the incoming attacks we observed last night, I do think there is an underlying strategy to remaining cool under fire.
Here's why: Every single candidate on that stage unloaded their entire arsenal on this one hill. They may think they took that hill, but only if their handlers do not read the comments in today's NYT.
Bloomberg is now left to make his case clearly without the onslaught of parading his past horribles, such as they were. To be clear, I am not dismissing or even diminishing the impact of S&F on communities of color. I cannot imagine what it is like to "Walk while Black" in NYC, irrespective of the stability of the neighborhood. However, last night was not the time or place to discuss the evolution of the evolving approach to investigative stops. The simple inter-positioning of Questioning in the process has gone a long way to reduce rampant about of constitutional protections under the 4th Amendment: Stop-Question-Frisk.
And Mike is still standing...tall (yes, tall) in Utah today.
I think there is much more to be said about "redlining," another abhorrent practice that still exists in many strongholds including Long Island, NY. However, its connection to the sub-prime debacle deserves a full airing which simply will not occur on a debate stage fueled by one-liners, zingers, and bombast.
As an Independent thinker and voter , I have time to hear Mike Bloomberg out.
1445h
6
I watched the debate. I thought Bloomberg did OK. Sanders and Warren seemed angry by comparison.
Yes, Sanders gives an excellent speech. I share his goal of universal health care for all Americans. The question is how to get there?
We need a plan. And the details of the Sanders plan haven't been advertised.
Here's what I would do:
I would focus on educating more physicians. The government would provide fellowships to top graduating high school seniors across the nation. These would include four years of university training, four years in a medical school and help with a residency. In return, the new doctors would agree to go back to their communities and provide health care as public service for a period of about ten years.
Note that such a plan would take a decade to fully develop. It wouldn't happen overnight. But increasing the supply of physicians would lower costs over time.
Although I would increase tax rates on the wealthy and levy a much higher tax on estates, I would leave out the wealth tax. For one thing, such a tax would be unconstitutional. For another, it would encounter fierce resistance in the Congress making it impossible to achieve.
Maybe my program is too modest. I've put it out there. But candidates don't actually talk about plans at the level of detail I just provided. At least they haven't advertised the details if they did think about them.
Many Americans don't believe the promises of politicians, particularly without details.
California voting by mail has begun, so the story is not completely correct about Bloomberg facing voters only in two weeks. People are voting in the primary now. I was sorry to see the debate go as it did. It’s obvious to me which candidates are driven by self interested ego and which are driven by a true sense of public service.
1
I was so disappointed because I still think he's the only one that can beat Trump. One terrible performance should be a chance for him to re-tool his next appearance, and be much, much more aggressive, get down and dirty. It's also true that unlike ABC, NBC did a terrible job moderating that debate.
190
@JF Lanvers I have to agree on the Moderators. It appeared Bloomberg was consistently, deliberately, and unilaterally shorted on time with every question put to him and this appeared even more pervasive during what few rebuttal crumbs he captured. Moderators consistently thwarted any momentum he might achieve by cutting him off and clearly ceding to the myriad toddler tantrums. It was no "debate" at all, just a food fight encouraged by voyeuristic moderators. Was Bloomberg "out of his depth"? I would argue, not at all. I think he perceived quite early on how the moderators were encouraging the food fight and most sane, intelligent adults would be loathe to partake. It is similar to that dreaded moment when you flush and something stalls ..., followed by the rising brown water, spilling over onto the floor. I think all one can do is simply get out of the way. Bloomberg has my vote. No, he hasn't "hoarded" his billions. To date, he has funded generous amounts toward gun control, environmental efforts, education, to name a few, primarily because elected officials stick their heads up that warm wet place, hoping for re-election. Mike Bloomberg is hardly a hoarding rich guy and appears to have accomplished more toward reform efforts than all the other candidates combined. I was horrified to watch last evening's food fight, ashamed for my Party. Is this really the best we can do? If this is, in fact, the best we can do, Trump is absolutely assured a second term.
27
@JF Lanvers Well, many people think you're wrong about Bloomberg. He's got a terrible profile in the era of metoo, blacklivesmatter and awful income inequality. He was an embarrassment last night. Bye, Mike.
25
@JF Lanvers
He offers nothing.
He can't be other than himself.
You can't transform him into Laurence Olivier.
8
My take is Bloomberg held back from attacking other Democratic candidates and kept his cool because he wants to show himself as the executive who can keep his cool, and because he has already pledged to summon anyone who will become the eventual nominee. I also thought that the other Democratic nominees were debating as if they were on steroids because none of them have been able to garner majority support and Bloomberg is a big threat rather than an eventual partner in the fight to get rid of Trump.
Those of us who are tired of Trump are happy to stay with someone who is calmer, has more experience, and a proven track record even if he does not have one liners that are ready for questions that come out.
I also think that Bloomberg may have wavered on some of the answers on Stop and Frisk and other gender issues because he does not think that he was wrong to start the program, or that he should disclose settlements made in lawsuits that may well name other employees of Bloomberg LP as defendants.
249
@Elizabeth
Accurate analysis in my view Elizabeth.
12
@Elizabeth
He essentially called Bernie Sanders a communist. If that's not attacking another candidate, I'd like to know what is.
And if he still doesn't see anything wrong with stop and frisk, then why did he apologize for it? What you are saying is that the apology was an insincere ploy to get Africa-American votes.
28
who wants to vote for someone who on a debate stage would blindly abrogate legal agreements just to make Elizabeth Warren happy. this stuff happened 20 years ago and it appears that Bloomberg is now a great boss to work for if you are a woman. that's what I want to hear.
3
I was shocked by how poorly Bloomberg did on the debate stage.
He was not only unprepared, but seemed contemptuous of the entire process, wondering how in the world he agreed to do something so plebeian, so far outside of his class.
It's clear all the money in the world cannot prepare you to do well when it is most needed: last night on the debate stage, or later when he, heaven forbid, might be called upon to lead a nation. Even bumbling Biden looked good in comparison.
I hope Americans have started to see through all the false hope he has been trying to sell them on t.v.
304
Avrds, I hope that Americans will start to base their votes on something more solid than ads and debate performances. Those tell us little about who is best to lead the country.
24
@avrds It wasn’t a debate, it was a debacle. Bloomberg is a professional and this television spectacle was a joke. I certainly would react the same way. The moderators were a joke, the candidates beside Bloomberg were flailing, yelling, whining and close to tears - except Bloomberg.
So when we have another terrorist attack, I can count on Bloomberg for handling it properly and calmly...and get the job done.
If you want soap opera watch TV, if you want someone who can get USA on the right track again - vote Bloomberg.
And no I wasn’t paid for this but I did live in NYC and went through 9 11
95
@avrds
Bloomberg is 79 yrs. old, a "leopard doesn't change his spots" and he really in words and actions is just another "decaffeinated" neo-liberal version of Donald Trump.
63
If the debates count for anything, Bloomberg should be done. He was completely unable to account for questions about his record that he absolutely had to know were coming. And it's substantive, not just some stylistic problem. This cannot be the man Democrats nominate for president.
If you are a primary voter who is determined to go with a safe moderate I suggest you go back to Joe Biden, who is a decent man and a longtime public servant. I believe he could yet rebound from his early stumbles. Elizabeth Warren may also represent a viable compromise candidate. After last night there is no question she has the chops to take on Trump. She may have fairly liberal policies but she won't scare away the older folks who still hide under their covers at the mere mention of the s-word (socialism).
172
@Tim
The debates really do not count for anything though. And have not for more then a generation now.
This was not a Kennedy V Nixon debate moment. This was a pack of dogs trying desperately to out-bite each other, at the expense of Bloomberg's ankles.
44
@Tim
If those old folks hate socialism so much, they shouldn't participate in those two programs that, when they were proposed, were considered the most socialistic in this country's history: Social Security and Medicare.
And if Medicare for All is socialism, how come Medicare for some is not.
10
@Chuck
Really? Without the debates in 2016, Trump would be another failed TV host.
And if Hillary Clinton didn't fear debates in 2016, the DNC wouldn't have tried to limit them to a very small number scheduled when the lowest number of viewers would be insured.
3
One’s ability to hurl rehearsed singers and engage in verbal karate has absolutely nothing to do with one’s ability to lead a nation
Nothing I saw last night changed the fact that Michael Bloomberg rose from humble origins to start a multi-billion dollar company from scratch, successfully lead America’s largest city and became one of the worlds greatest philanthropists
I’m still with Mike
500
Lol I dont know if any of the 70 crowd there is able to actually throw rehearsed singers, especially if its opera.
3
@John
Mike did fine.
He didn't allow himself to stoop to the level of those pounding, attacking him or demanding that he reverse decades old, good policies to assuage a TV audience lusting for blood and guts.
Alone among all those on the stage he was a class act.
If anything, he will emerge even stronger from all of this.
31
@John Well said!
2
Cmon Mike!! Let’s do this.
4
So, the gabillinoaire Bloomberg--an alleged executive mastermind and handler of complex tasks--couldn't anticipate what kinds of questions he would be asked, and then hire the best debate coaches available to help him prepare for his first debate appearance?
He wants voters to see him as the very model of competence and a tireless work ethic, and yet he came off as a lazy and entitled interloper who clearly thinks he can just cut a very big check and bag an easy win.
His vacuous, half-asleep, shrugging performance last night was like an SNL skit come to life, and the joke is definitely on him.
14
Bloomberg/Klobuchar 2020
Some democrats think Bloomberg is their white knight? What a joke.
15
This is the laugh line of the day. Why do political reporters insist on quoting campaign flacks as if it adds depth to their reporting? It's a incestuous. Journalists need campaign officials and campaign officials needs journalists to no one's benefit. You know what they're going to say will be stupid. Here it is, "Mr. Sheekey argued that the pile-on should be taken as a sign of how Mr. Bloomberg poses a real threat to Mr. Trump — and remains so despite his shakiness onstage." Just say "no" to campaign officials.
3
Last night was my introduction to Mike Bloomberg in person, and I came away wanting to know "How many NDAs are there?" and "What is in them?"
7
Mike Bloomberg did just great. Everyone knew, including Mr. Bloomberg, that he would be attacked. He held steady - he was calm and did not react the way the other candidates were hoping he would. The debate actually helped him (in my book). All the other candidates came off looking and sounding nasty, and petty and worst of all - desperate. I want a President that is sure of him or herself - has a proven track record in business AND politics and can stand up against Trump. Elizabeth Warren acted like a know-it-all schoolmarm that wags her finger when you’re late to class. Bernie’s Socialist proclivities will not fly with the majority of people in this country, Mayor Pete acts more and more like an entitled Prep School Boy (his remark - “We only have one house” was grasping for people to “like me! You really like me!”) Full disclosure - I’m gay and still don’t think Pete is the right candidate. Joe Biden well ... his time has come and gone. I like Amy Klobouchar as well as Mike. She stays cool but fires back when necessary. Mike Bloomberg is the candidate for me. Believes in Climate Change, tough on the NRA and wants strong gun control, he’s smart, gives his money to EXCELLENT causes. He doesn’t need to run for President- he’s doing it to save our country. We need him. I hope he picks Amy as his VP.
9
Last night a pro War, pro Wall Street, pro police state, so called ‘centrist’ was quickly crushed by Warren the robot slayer.
5
I wonder how many of the pro Bloomberg commenters here are being paid by his campaign to say nice things about him online?
18
His campaign is paying $2,500.00 per month to online writers who write pro Bloomberg fluff pieces. Be careful what you read.
6
@David
I am an ordinary citizen writing pro Bloomberg comments here and can assure you I am unpaid.
The cynicism is telling, though.
3
Elizabeth Warren is the best candidate this time. You go girl! And I am disgusted by media coverage. Not 1 headline for the obvious winner of the debate. Why? But we have million for the biggest loser. Are you Americans tired of what big money is doing to your country? Thanks God I have another home, which seems way better as time goes by. Wake up!
8
@World's citizen There was no winner of the debate other than Trump. Warren and Bernie sealed their fate. Warren is done and Bernie will never win. By the way Bernie's "summer camp" is valued at around $750K so it must be a really nice "camp".
1
Bloomberg entered the race for one reason: to stop Bernie or Warren winning it. He was fine with Biden, and he'd be fine with another four years of Trump, but he cannot stand the thought of a President who can't be bought off. I guess the thought that his money might be less powerful really has him shook.
So it's fitting that it was Warren and Bernie who took him down. Let him defend his policies and statements in front of a real audience. Let him explain why he supported Mitch McConnell's re-election in 2016. Let the world see how he does when he's not surrounded by his paid sycophants.
11
I don’t need antics in the White House, haven’t we had enough drama? That’s why I am voting for Bloomberg.
If we have to have diplomatic relations especially with China, this has to made with sensitivity and savvy. The only I can see doing this is with Bloomberg, the others not so.
5
Mike, you have to answer the moderators questions quickly and then pivot to all your experience in governing and then how the others on the stage are light-years away from your experience. Some being unqualified to be executives being merely legislators. The same goes for the other candidates attacks on you.
1
I don’t know why people are so convinced that Bloomberg beats Trump. I think he is 2016 all over again, maybe even worse.
First, Trump has a 94% approval rating among Republicans. No Democrat is going to get as many Republican votes as some people think.
Second, as bizarre and hypocritical as it sounds, Trump will attack Bloomberg repeatedly on Bloomberg’s racist and sexist comments. It doesn’t matter that Trump is worse; his base doesn’t care, the Democratic base does.
Third, google 538’s article “The Moderate Middle is a Myth”. There is a misconception that swing voters and independents are centrists; they are actually all over the map politically. There’s no guarantee that a centrist nominee wins more swing voters than the economic populism of Sanders and Warren. Even among the centrists, I think Biden is most likely to win back the Obama to Trump and Obama to “stayed home” voters.
I think elections are more about turning out the people that already lean your way than they are about getting people to change their minds. The Republicans understand this; maybe it’s time for Democrats to consider that possibility. I just don’t think Bloomberg will be able to turn out minority voters and young progressives, and I don’t think he will “flip” nearly as many voters as some people think.
7
If the debate firmst keeps giving us the loudest bully as presidential candidate, maybe it’s with thinking about a new format even if tv stations prefer this “survivor” format. It’s too important to be just another tv format.
Sanders deserves all the attacks that can be hurled at him. It's about time, so if it takes Bloomberg to do it, then so be it. I'd rather see Sanders go down now than hand over another 4 years to Trump.
4
It is now clear that Trump will win next election: not all Sanders’ and Warren’s fans will go vote for Buttigieg, Klobuchar or Bloomberg in November and vice versa. Hate became Trump’s way to do politics. This cancer is moving to Democrat presidential contenders.
1
Bloomberg is attempting to buy the elections with his eyes on the bid asset, a purchase of the swamp.
4
Best line I’ve heard about voters and leaders - Dems fall in love, Reps fall in line. Last night just proved that out 10-fold. All the candidates are trying to convince you why you shouldn’t love the others, but did they learn nothing from 2016. You don’t have to love these guys, you certainly don’t have to agree with everything they’ve ever said or done. Just look at what they stand for, what they’ve actually done and achieved and whether they’re actually electable to anybody outside the hardcore fanboys. And then fall in line!
PS- beating up on a person because they’ve created a company that’s gainfully employed tens of thousands of people and contributed to the wealth of this country hugely is just loony town.
9
Yes, it was a bad performance. But Mike still gets my vote as the best and the brightest, and the most capable of defeating Trump.
14
It was great having Bloomberg on stage last night as a prop for the two strong progressive candidates to show voters in the most vivid way imaginable what raw financial muscle looks like, and how it can and does corrupt the political process.
His very presence was testament to that. Rules were bent and broken for him to be there. Obscene and unimaginable wealth bought him that mid teen support polling. Half a billion dollars in saturation TV and digital ad spend, and barely a dent in his net worth.
And when he opened his mouth, it was to remind everyone of the cynicism of his attempted positioning as a Democrat, and the gulf between his current platform and past actions and utterances.
I hear that Bloomberg is going to pay an army of workers to write favorable comments about him on digital social media. I choose to be part of a movement of like minded people bound by our common political beliefs and aspirations. How cynical, dispiriting and soulless to be someone endorsing, working or supporting Bloomberg simply because he paid the most or because he owns you as a donor.
5
All of these folks need to stop attacking each other. State your positions and be quiet. This is not the year for choosing a favorite. Continuing the circular-firing-squad strategy will hand this election to Trump.
4
Should Mr. Bloomberg be nominated, will we again see his stumbling, deer in the headlights debate technique while debating Trump? Gives pause to the electability myth.
7
@Tone
People forget, compared to the debate last night, compared to Trump, Bloomberg had it easy
Notice to Debate MODERATORs (presumably not mosh pitt announcers)
1. Please ask relevant policy questions. Do not ask questions obviously meant to pit one candidate against another ((s)he said...what do you say back). All last nights moderators were guilty, but the telemundo person was the worst of the bunch.
2. Moderate. If a candidates shifts the answer to a talking point say "please answer the question."
3. To make the 2 possible (and to allow each person to give an uninterrupted answer), have an engineer on hnad to turn off all the candidate's microphone except the one who has the stage for his or her minute. IT's hardly fair if a candidate's minute includes rude interruptions.
I for one was frankly more than annoyed by the interruptions and the constant raising of hands. When I was taught debate both of these would have disqualified me AND our entire team from the debate.
My conclusion from last night's debate. It does not matter who wins the dem nomination. Trump will win. Makes me quite sad.
1
Reminds me in a way of Governor Ned Lamont (CT). Rich guy, awkward, not comfortable in his role, terrible in front of a mike or camera, can't get anything accomplished and not a leader. Always gives off the impression that he would prefer to be on his private island in Maine instead of leading the state. Just because you have gobs of money doesn't mean you are cut out for this. Bloomberg looks like he is not.
3
Bloomberg is the Dem's only chance. Warren and Klobuchar will never be nominees. Sanders can never beat Trump. He is grandfatherly and repeats himself over and over with the same refrain from 40 years ago. Bloomberg was calm and factual. These other candidates did nothing but attack Bloomberg instead of talking about the issues. They sounded desperate.
2
At the next debate I hope Mr. Bloomberg highlights all the causes he has supported over the years, including the role he played in developing programs to support for minority-owned businesses, getting democratic women elected to the house, combatting climate change, fighting for same gun laws, and defending women's reproductive rights. Yes, some things in his past are cringe-worthy and it's alarming that money can transform the process like this, but Mr. B. has been a force for immense good in America. His actions, on the whole, outweigh his words and he's done as much for progressive causes as any person currently running for president.
2
@Susan when you open up & connect the dots with all of his causes, too much baggage
1
I read an article in which the author made an interesting observation: "Bloomberg brought a wallet to a knife fight." Very apropos.
IMHO, Nanny Bloomberg would have done better to have stayed home and let his buys on legacy media do his campaigning for him. He just has too much baggage - racial, social, financial - to be in a position to be attacked on a debate stage.
6
An elaborate illusion met the brutal reality last night. I think Mike is done for good.
As for Warren, She had to take down Bloomberg first and most of all, in order to stem the Sanders tide. If Bloomberg stay the close 2nd to Sanders, many of us would vote for Sanders to make sure that Bloomberg doesn't win the nomination. Now with Bloomberg taken down, no Warren supporters will defect to Sanders camp. Well done, Senator Warren.
12
Bloomberg might do well to remind voters that Warren, Klobuchar, Bernie, and Biden all became millionaires while in office, that they all have taken big donor money in the past and that they sure didn't complain about his money when he poured over $200 Million into flipping the House Democratic in 2016. And as far as Stop and Frisk goes -- note, I'm not trying to excuse it -- but he might mention that he just targeted neighborhoods where statistics showed higher crime rates. And that crime did in fact go down. It's still bad, I know, but at least he's apologized, and I just think Bernie's gonna get beat and we'll be stuck with Trump and a GOP Senate, another four years. We can't survive that this time.
29
@Brannon Perkison There is a saying something like bank robbers go where the money is at. I'll add that police go to where the crime is at which is why stop and frisk works.
When you have massive crime including murders you have to take action and some of those actions may push the limits of reasonableness and even the law, but the other option of hope and pray will not prevent murders and crime.
1
@JimH remember probable cause
I agree that Bernie Sanders is more "pure" than Michael Bloomberg. But Bernie Sanders would lose to Trump, who'd cry "Socialist! Socialist! Socialist!" at every opportunity, a cry that many voters would listen to. If the goal is to lose but be "pure," Sanders is the guy (assuming he lives). But if the goal is to beat Trump (which I'd THOUGHT is the goal), Sanders in NOT the guy. Bloomberg is. Bloomberg probably would lose too, but he might well win. Sanders would get crushed.
The "progressive-moderate" schism in the Democratic Party won't end if Sanders gets the nod. It won't end either if Bloomberg gets the nod, but at least the DP will survive. Frankly, I'm not so sure about that if Bernie Sanders (who's not even a Democrat) gets the Democratic nomination.
12
@Commenter as if the republicans don’t cry socialism at every Democratic effort to mediate the inequality of the present system. At least with Bernie, rather than having to deny, he merely answers the charge with, “well let’s talk about democratic socialism . . . .” And proceeds to enumerate the profound injustices of our system and how to address them. It’s actually a brilliant chess move because it completely changes the dialogue. Americans love socialist policies (social security, Medicare, interstate highways, overtime pay, food security, national parks, on and on) they’ve just been conned into thinking that socialism is communist Russia or Venezuela rather than Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, and the rest of our peers in every other wealthy western democracy, where the “radical” policies being advanced by Bernie Sanders and Liz Warren are bedrock principles of good government that people consider unthinkable to do without. Places where capitalism also flourishes and does so in a more ethical and public-spirited way.
1
@gpearlman you make excellent points, but unfortunately, the word socialism has been weaponized and people don't understand it. As well, the attack (perceived and real) on capitalism by Warren and BernSanders appears to be a problem for the middling left or right who would love to be rid of the so-called POTUS.
Bloomberg should have been better prepared as the obvious target of the other candidates. But he should not be dismissed nor underestimated in his ability to take Trump down where it hurts most -- as a failed, bankrupt businessman. Sanders is in some ways the anti-Trump candidate, but he carries with him the same divisiveness and anger that is tearing our country apart. Maybe Biden is now looking better.....
4
And here I thought he was interested in taking on Trump, not tearing down the other Democratic contenders.
Someone should tell him class warfare isn't a good look for him.
Oh well...
5
Last night, the character of every candidate was portrayed as rotten, pugnacious, and acquisitive. Does anyone want to acknowledge the untold amount of philanthropy this guy (Bloomberg) has done throughout his life? The general journalistic focus of our age is trained exclusively on words and perceived errors in past judgement - there is never an unvarnished assessment of character. To look at Bloomberg’s list of philanthropical achievements you will learn to judge him on the merits of his personhood and noble philanthropical deeds, not on petty, throwaway asides bandied around on a debate stage. Look at the net good this man has done over the course of his life via charitable donation - bolstering planned parenthood, vehement gun restriction activist, countless climate initiatives, numerous women’s rights/advocacy orgs. - and here we are, discussing NDA’s and page six gossip. This is pathetic, America.
I realize this doesn’t qualify him for the presidency, but this man is not the devil.
Modern Democrats always need a bogeyman:
From Bernie bros to Wall Street Pete, to the Shadow app in Iowa, to the ‘Snake’ Warren, to Hillary again, now to the oligarch Bloomberg.
20
Attacking Bernie is the only point, isn't it?
Bloomberg isn't in this race to win the Democratic nomination. There is no realistic way he can get there. He is not even a Democrat.
His only motivation is to split and weaken the Democratic vote, create a mess at the Democratic Convention, and then hand over a smooth re-election to Trump.
The best Trojan Horse money can buy.
36
Amazing how debate performances are judged as though they mean a lot. They're just like beauty contests in how superficial they are. Or a game show. Yet many voters seem to watch the debates to decide how to cast their votes for the president of the United States! Sad.
1
@John Smithson
Better than using memes, advertisements, and FB posts! In all reality, they allow people to see the candidates think on their feet, to see how articulate they are, and to see how they act under pressure. It’s like a quick and dirty job interview. That’s not so sad, and people can also research their platforms online.
4
@John Smithson
Game show? Isn't that what your boy Trump used to do? Sad.
1
Deanna, people who do research on job hiring say that job interviews are a terrible way to pick people. Just like debates. Based on my experience over the years being hired and hiring others I agree with the experts.
Bloomberg’s dismal performance will quickly and easily be overcome by another $100M worth of advertising. Seriously.
7
Mike Bloomberg has been talking for over a decade about making cuts to Social Security and now has those policies in his campaign.
I am doubting folks in Utah want senior citizens thrown to the curb.
11
The primary process needs to be revamped or thrown out. Debates are useless. The format of lining people up on a stage is horrible. Points are given for how many cuts one can deliver at a high decibel. Not much content. The winner often isn't the objectively best candidate. I watched last night but gave up after watching the circus.
1
In an Oligarch, Bloomberg is just another "decaffeinated" version of Donald Trump with all the baggage attached. You don't tell working people that he has worked hard for his billions(while they apparently have not). don't pay off female employees within your company and have them sign non-disclosure agreements and think nothing is wrong with that while accusing Sanders he is a "communist' by wanting a decent minimum wage and union employees sitting on the boards of major companies, something that several companies like Mercedes Benz has done for years.
To many, Michael Bloomberg and the way he has injected himself into the primaries, is just a "bridge too far" and to assume that a lot of voters will still vote for someone like him if he happens to become the nominee, Trump will be guaranteed another four years and the democratic party will all but implode.
12
@Deus
If you perceive someone saying that they worked hard for their money to be a judgment on whether you worked for yours, well I think that's a you problem.
Bloomberg's poor performance was shocking, given that everyone knew the attacks were coming and what they would be. Either his team arrogantly believed they did not need to prepare, or Bloomberg was too stubborn to heed their advice. Either way this raises alarm bells about his viability as a candidate. Donald Trump and his minions won't play nice during the general election. If Bloomberg thinks he can win without facing the voters, buying his way to election day, he's living in a dreamworld. Whether you are a progressive or a centrist, it's obvious we need to choose someone other than Bloomberg.
12
@Andy Dwyer
Best case, Bloomberg is prioritizing and has determined the debates will not have lasting impact, or at least impact he cannot overcome. Thus, not worth spending much effort on.
That doesn't give anyone the warm fuzzies, but given his success in business I am sure that is how he thinks. In any case, I'm not sure he's wrong.
1) debate outcomes mean little or nothing really in the midst of primary season. They are simply cheap theater for cheap minded viewers who have already made up their minds.
Primary and general election debates for office of President are the modern day equivalent of the Roman era of gladiator arena for sport and entertainment. This is how var our democracy has decayed.
2) The person who gets piled on and attacked in any given debate round rarely pays any real penalty for it, and sometimes benefits from it in the long run. The key here is for Bloomberg to stay on message and keep on campaigning while the rest of the pack just keeps lashing out like dogs.
3) Bloomberg was not a player in the coming Nevada Caucus anyway, and Americans have very short attention spans... so the debate is already old news to many. The real test of Bloomberg's base of support in the democrat voting primaries comes on Super Tuesday. Collectively, we will then have a better idea of what the true power of each candidate is with voters... and can just ignore all the media frenzy and inaccurate cherry picked polling the media tries to feed viewers every day as red meat before the next gladiator arena event.
4) While progressive Democrats are swooning over the beating Bloomberg took from the progressive candidates, the centrist Democrats and independents who can and will participate in democrat primaries, are likely much less impressed.
3
Amidst all of the commentary on "electability," I have yet to see any direct evidence of a given candidates empirical probability of winning. "Electability," it seems quite clear to me, is simply a roundabout way of promoting one's preferred ideology.
17
There is one comment from Mr. Bloomberg in last night's debate that reveals more than he may have wanted to reveal.
When questioned about his enormous wealth he responded, "I've worked hard for my money." Is that to imply that the rest of Americans are not working hard for their money? Just because he has a God given talent for making large sums of money doesn't mean he should hoard sixty-two billion dollars. A more decent man would share.
82
He has shared. He’s given vast amounts to gun control and environmental causes through his philanthropic organization.
I think his made his money comment is in contrast to Trump. Not anyone else.
24
The answer always depends on the question. Saying he worked hard for his money was a rebuttal to the underlying idea pushed by Sanders and Warren that billionaires shouldn’t exist. Bloomberg developed the idea of an information terminal that provided the fins ace industry with all the data they could possibly use. Then he set up the company and sold it widely enough that business schools have mock trading floors where students are trained to earn Bloomberg certification.
9
Pretty sure the intent of that statement wasn’t to imply others don’t work hard. But it’s all in the ear of the beholder it seems. He’s donated over $10B of his own wealth to charitable and (in the main) democrat leaning causes (the recent Daily podcast covers it well). Not sure if you feel that is “enough” but it’s not a small amount.
6
The winner of last night's debate was ... Donald Trump. No one emerged from the mudslinging who will garner the broad support that's needed to beat Trump. And the candidates took turns tearing each other down - doing Trump's bidding.
43
@Larry Not at all. Wow, Warren showed that she had a lot of fight in her, and whoever faces Trump had better be ready for the fight. Warren didn't get torn down, nor did Sanders.
6
@Larry
Stop. This is what should be happening and what always has happened in debates. What? Would you rather have them all be nice and then be ripped to shred by Trump in the general election? This is an ugly but essential part of our process.
4
Bloomberg’s campaigning in Utah because he has a legitimate chance of swaying on-the-fence Republicans. No one else on the stage with him last night can say the same.
126
The political science research says are (almost) no on-the-fence Republicans. Dems win by getting strong turnout, which is why HRC lost the states that gave Trump the victory.
3
@Kurtis But what about the Democrats he'll lose?
1
Was that a debate or a WWE event? Hard to tell. I heard an awful lot of yelling by the progressive candidates and an unholy amount of ad hominem attacks. IAnd the moderators only added to this spectacle asking questions that were designed to elicit only gotcha moments. I thought Bloomberg was the only one not to succumb to this awful mess. But the Democratic circular firing squad is firing away and the Democrats will lose to Donald Trump. I say this as a Democrat.
102
@Michele Bloomberg was a total embarrassment last night. I think what you (and many others) disagree with is that the liberal candidates--Warren and Sanders--did much better than the moderates.
4
@Michele Agreed. It was so depressing. Sanders is a disaster, not just for the bluster and finger waving but I worry that none of his ideals for his brothers and sisters will actually ever make it through the House & Senate. In that regard, he is not unlike Trump. Watching that debate was like 2016 all over again.
1
Bernie has got to stop yelling.
2
The Democratic debates which double as shouting matches do not showcase the talents of any of the candidates.Interrupting and denigrating your opponent is not positive and persuasive.The whole exercise was a shabby show.The American people did not feel relieved that a candidate would listen to their concerns and restore order to our Democracy.They did not feel reassured that Donald Trump would be defeated.Trump talked about American carnage and then proceeded to create it-the debate did not dispel the notion that the carnage would disappear.Michael Bloomberg is not a great debater- he is, however, dedicated to democratic principles.He has the money to defeat Trump and that is paramount.Trump is going to travel the country on Air Force One trying to build his base and is going to dominate media and social media.Bloomberg is the only one who can outspend and outmaneuver Trump.This is not a normal election, it is not the election most of us would have anticipated, but we have to face the facts.The House impeached Trump but the Senate refused to remove him from office.Only an election will do that now and it will be a very, very expensive election.
61
@JANET MICHAEL Did you listen to the debate? Because it doesn't sound like you did.
I can envision Trump's success if the left wing from democrat dominates the arena. It is a kind of sadness. Well it is reality baby.
7
If you want a double spit show then it was obvious Bernie Sanders is the man who will not only lose in November but will make everything so messy that Trump will look like the sane one. I’ve been supporting Pete for over a year but I was disappointed in his behavior last night.
The fact is one’s ability or lack of ability to put on a show has nothing to do with their governing prowess. I’m always impressed by my party’s ability to screw things up. We have PT Barnum in the White House and how’s that working out?
38
I’ve seen a great deal of Bloomberg defense on this website echoing the lines of “Now isn’t the time for purity tests. Just win, baby.”
Now, whether or not these are paid shills in the comments is another story altogether. A report from Newsweek verified the Bloomberg campaign is set to pay $2500 a month to hundreds of folks in California to be his online fans. That would suggest he isn’t above such tactics on the NYTimes comment board or elsewhere you might frequent the internet.
In regards to purity tests...... If the Democrats settle on a deeply flawed candidate with questionable character in the name of winning above all, then they are no better than the Republican Cult45. The party of moral virtue until the going gets tough. Print that on an ad and run it.
64
@Spencer
What of Sanders & Warren's paid for "endorsements?" Some to the tune of $40,000 for one!
1
@Spencer
Bloomberg's taking a page right out of the Putin playbook. Any young person on social media trying to make a 79 year old billionaire somehow seem cool is on somebody's payroll.
2
@Spencer Well, you know, Americans want the best government money can buy.
It's amazing how people keep saying they want to keep big $$ out of politics and then they fall for the first billionaire when they have a choice of actually choosing a candidate that fights for them -- Bernie Sanders.
3
Can the Times explain why the front page of their website has six headlines right now that name-drop Mr. Bloomberg, when by their own writers' estimation he tanked the debate last night? (Yes, I've noticed that they are not all positive, but they are headlines all the same). Why aren't there six headlines giving Elizabeth Warren outsized notice, when by their selfsame estimation she won it handily? But no, there's not one Warren headline. I had to read a piece on Bloomberg to get information on Warren, that her fundraising went through the roof last night. Let's cite one lesson the NYT (and all other media outlets) should have learned from 2016: we give the billionaire a handout, and thus the election, by all the free press and fawning.
153
@Sam
Because the debates really do not change public voting perceptions much, if at all.
They certainly stir up already fixed minds... but then again... fixed minds... by definition do not change their minds.. so all they really want is a telecast wrestling match.
1
@Sam Thank you, Sam!
7
@Chuck I am not talking about the effect the debates have, but the effect of the coverage of the debates. The NYT endorsed Warren and Klobuchar, yet its editors have inundated readers with Bloomberg-geared coverage lately. This practice, in effect, erases the candidates they supposedly endorsed. I am asking why.
12
Bloomberg has many skeletons in his closet, such as his non-disclosure agreements with women accusing him of sexual harassment - how many we do not know. Trump would crush Bloomberg in a debate, but perhaps that is what he really wants , if he succeeds in taking out Bernie. Also Mike Bloomberg was once sued by an employee after he 'told her to "kill it" when she announced her pregnancy - much more like this. We do not need a women hating Billionaire vs a richer women hating Billionaire in this election it would be the downfall of the Democratic Party and a Trump victory.
41
As a woman who worked in finance for many years I can attest to the climate back in “the good old days.” While I’m not condoning the comments made, this was very common behavior throughout the industry. Making off color comments and even one as egregious as suggesting a woman “gets rid of her child” is quite different than what’s happening with the MeToo movement and being accused for rape.
Let’s stay on point about what’s happening now, such as criminal conduct throughout the administration and the current president’s track record with women as well as his billionaire status.
It’s comparing apples to oranges.
3
@steve ---The NDAs are part of his company and do not involve him personally - with the exception, as he stated, that someone objected to his off-color joke.
2
@katja99
I understand this distinction but nobody complaining is going to find it compelling. They need another tactic to put this one out.
Michael Bloomberg is the one who is out-of-touch with voters and reality. He lives in a 61 billion dollar bubble where the world bends to his whims. He's literally paying people to support him on instagram and now specifically to primary voters in California. Are we really that morally bankrupt as democrats that we will accept this as the new normal? Do MAGA hats come in Blue? I hope not.
53
@josh He’s not out of touch at all. And isn’t that a bit biased because he may live in a bigger house than you. Bernies has three houses. Bloomberg is the only candidate as he said who has his own business. America is a business and need to be run well.
@Oh My Government is not a business. Read the constitution.
3
The best thing Mike Bloomberg can do for America is withdraw from the presidential race immediately. His performance at the debate was pathetic and impotent because his record is disgraceful and indefensible. Regardless of one’s policy positions, public service should be rooted in selflessness not be motivated by an unquenchable lust for power.
64
@Craig - Hilarious. Sanders has been in politics for decades but only very recently came into any real money by . . . *writing a book*. Not defrauding aspiring homeowners, polluting his neighbors' drinking water, or robbing the working poor through a chain of usurious payday lenders (looking at you Mr. Mulvaney).
One Barack Obama also never had any real money until he wrote a couple of successful books. Honest labor compared to what most politicians do to amass a fortune.
Sanders's late-in-life prosperity hardly suggests a program of "self dealing." Why didn't he leverage his political connections decades ago to build a fortune on the side? You know, like all those climate change-denying Republicans with curious ties to the energy business?
And have you really failed to notice that Sanders is raising massive sums of money from small donors while refusing PAC money? To whom will he owe favors down the road? I mean other than actual voters . . .
The something he's created is an unprecedented grass-roots political movement. Even if he's not the next president, our movement's not going anywhere.
6
@Neil Or he should have run as a republican or independent since he has little in common with democrats or democracy except that he is pro-choice when it comes to abortion, believes in science and cares about the environment.
Bloomberg needs to be honest and forthright about his past. Andrew Yang’s failure showed that these debates are about tv ratings and virtue signaling, not policy; Bloomberg should learn from Yang’s mistake.
6
For a few months now, I've portrayed Bloomberg as the Wall Street enabling pick for the Democratic party to oppose the Republican Wall Street enabling Trump in a match up to assure Wall Street keeps control of the government. I'm convinced I'm right, both men being Television industry men and compliant with the premise of Wall Street crowd control. It appears Bloomberg is bearing this out as he is focused on the Democratic Socialist Sanders who would naturally be a reason for Wall Street going to such lengths as to tilt an election their way because of the contrasting economic beliefs and the threat Sanders presents to the Wall Street bottom line in gigabucks. No one should be surprised by my claim.
17
One wonders what would happen if the media didn't tell us how to think about what happened and what will happen, like sports without the incessant babble of commentators stating the obvious: "Roger Federer needs to win if he doesn't want to lose." "Half a second faster than the leader so she is in first place." Maybe nobody would have ever have heard of Donald Trump.
9
If Sanders has a "small base," I am assuming this makes Mike's base teensy-weensy?
57
@Andrew
~40% of the voters are self described centrist independents.
Bloomberg is way more likely to appeal to this large block, a block that largely decides presidential elections. As a block they are larger than either parties base.
Bernie's biggest asset in the primaries is his socialist progressive positioning with progressive Democrats. It also happens to be his biggest liability with centrist independents.
You do the math, if you have the guts to actually do so here.
3
@Chuck
@Andrew Your response to Chuck gives me deja vu.
I modified it for you to test your logic.
How'd that one work out for us?
~40% of the voters are self described centrist independents.
Clinton is way more likely to appeal to this large block, a block that largely decides presidential elections. As a block they are larger than either parties base.
Bernie's biggest asset in the primaries is his socialist progressive positioning with progressive Democrats. It also happens to be his biggest liability with centrist independents.
You do the math, if you have the guts to actually do so here.
2
If the ability to thrive in a food fight debate environment was in any way correlated to being a good president the current occupant would be impressing the heck out of us
73
Bloomberg is the definition of an empty suit. His "do as i say, not as I do" attitude towards voters does not sell well, as witnessed in his miserable debate performance. Maybe now the Democrats who have been supporting his bought and paid for media blitz campaign will drop like the cold fish that he is.
26
If 75,000 Nevadans have already voted -- when only 84,000 participated in the 2016 caucus -- it would appear that the caucus is already over for all intents and purposes. Not only is it over, but it was over before the debate even took place.
How is it possible that the Democrats have a high-stakes presidential debate in Nevada AFTER most people have already voted?
5
because Democrats couldn’t even organize a two car motocade.
2
If the criteria was to demonstrate being Presidential, most of those on the stage last night failed. If anyone remembers Mrs. Clinton's commercial from the last election about the 2AM crisis phone call, how many of them could you imagine having to face down some despot flexing their muscles and testing us. If we are looking for someone better than Trump, one of the criteria has to be much better temperament and judgement than he possesses. My take is for myself, there were several people that disqualified themselves by becoming completely unhinged and needing to attack, interrupt, and talk over their competitors. Anyone who has to do that instead of making the case on their own accomplishments proved they don't deserve the job if they have to emulate Trump instead of Obama to get it.
10
Mike was wrecked in the first half, but made up ground in the second. He had the least amount of speaking time and was interrupted by incompetent moderators when he was talking about his sensible business proposals—which, by the way, is not something ANY other candidate had the guts to talk about.
Every other candidate is scared to death of Bloomberg, and it showed last night. If debates matter to voters (and I think their effect is grossly exaggerated), Warren MIGHT see a 2-3% jump and Bloomberg MIGHT see a 2-3% fall. It's hardly a death blow when you consider his ad spending and quick rise in the polls. You're deluding yourselves if you think ONE debate will crater his candidacy.
70
@Nick Remember when everyone panicked after Obama's first debate against Romney? Obama was a little off his game that day but made up for it in future debates. I don't care about Bloomberg's debating skills, I just want someone who will right the ship. Go to his website and read his proposals, especially his plan for education.
3
It is hard to believe that the passive pouting defensive Bloomberg seen last night is the guy who built the eponymous multi-billion dollar global media powerhouse.Chalk it up to a bad hair night. Trump has those all the time. And some rust. Bloomberg can come back! It will require a more forceful and effective answer to the skeletons lurking in the Bloomberg closet.
10
@Milton Lewis --- But this is not his milieu. I knew his performance would not be good, because he is not a politician or a debater. We got used to his style, or lack of it, during his 12 years as mayor of New York City. He accomplished a great deal (in his ornery way) because he had excellent people around him, and he listened to them. Of course, it worked against him when he listened to Ray Kelly, who promoted "stop and frisk". He sincerely wanted to improve the health of all New Yorkers, as well as their quality of life (traffic-calming measures, pedestrian plazas created from permanent street closures, protected bike lanes, the million trees initiative). I wish people would read the NYTimes article about his astounding philanthropy. I really hope voters can get beyond the showmanship of the other candidates.
8
Since it appears that Sanders is headed for the nomination Bloomberg’s attacking him will only help Trump.
25
Maybe it is the cynic in me,but I don't think Bloomberg is running to beat trump.He is running because all of the party elites and wealthy Democrats are scared to death of Bernie winning and they will have to pay higher taxes. I was asked to hold my nose in 2016 and I did.I guess it is a one way street.Progressives have to hold their noses,but moderates apparently don't.
72
@Nora
Well, yes, of course. If the Democratic establishment were truly interested in defeating Trump, they would support the energy and momentum of Bernie's movement. They are more focused on defeating Bernie, because he is a threat to the status quo.
Bloomberg only entered the race when Biden began to sink. The professional managerial class, both Republican and Democratic, dislikes having their power questioned. As has been noted, when you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
1
Has Bloomberg never heard of mock debates? My confidence in his abilities is shaken.
4
The next Democratic debate is February 25, 2020 in South Carolina.
Mike Bloomberg better go do some debating/public speaking preparation and homework if he wants to be a real contender.
His performance was inept last night.
D to go forward; R for regression.
38
@Socrates - and select N if you just want to stay put with something like Trumpism without Trump, aka, a Bloomberg presidency.
3
In re to: "If Ms. Warren was the dominant figure in the debate, Mr. Sanders was perhaps the luckiest: The front-runner in Nevada and national polls, he emerged largely unscathed from the debate as his moderate rivals focused on ripping into Mr. Bloomberg and one another."
The problem the other candidates have is it is difficult to attack Sanders on his policy positions. Whatever popular legitimacy the Democrats possess accrues from its followers’ belief that its principles are the very same ones now most closely associated with his campaign. Consequently, the other candidates have no avenue for attacking him directly; hence the strikes against a small subset of his supporters and in regards to sundry peripheral issues.
1
Bloomberg isn't ready for primetime--and it showed.
101
@gigantor21
I think Trump has now proven that "not ready for primetime" means squat in presidential campaigns and elections.
2
Mike has plenty of advisers to prep him for the debate. I have to think they were not allowed to be tough with him in getting him ready for the debate. That was a big mistake. Come in Mike! Some of us are counting on you. Play the game and get on in there.
144
@Lilly LaRue If they weren't allowed to be tough with him it's because he's an autocratic narcissist. Which is exactly how he came across on the stage. No thanks.
32
@Lilly LaRue
I disagree.
I think the Bloomberg plan all along was to expect, and be prepared for a heated series of attacks by desperate candidates in a wide field who are failing to stand out. In other words.. let them go off message on all their policy plans and instead turn into a pack of dogs attacking fresh meat in a frenzy... while being patient and letting it all move as it does. It makes his message more clear and distinct, and since he has the money to present the message to primary voters.... he does not have to grovel to special interests for money (I'm looking squarely at the extreme progressive left here).
Evidence: notice how on the stage photo op.. Bloomberg stands a bit to the side and separate from the rest of the pack all clustered together. That sends a message ----> I am not them, nor will I be them... and let them bring it on.
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@Tim
A lot of very successful business people are by nature imperious and peremptory. That does not make them a narcissist. While applicable to Trump, that nomenclature is over used.
To me, Mike Bloomberg looked just plain old, as well as lacking big time political skills.
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