One year into the Democratic presidential primary, the top 2020 contenders finally cut the Kumbaya circle and started, you know, debating the issues. Rather than wait for also-rans such as Kamala Harris and Cory Booker to launch diatribes at former front-runner Joe Biden about federally mandated…
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Trump wins the debate as Democrats explain why not one of them can beat him
by
Tiana Lowe
February 19, 2020 10:35 PM
One year into the Democratic presidential primary, the top 2020 contenders finally cut the
Kumbaya circle and started, you know,
debating the issues. Rather than wait for also-rans such as Kamala Harris and Cory Booker to launch diatribes at former front-runner Joe Biden about federally mandated busing programs of the '70s and marijuana mishaps, the front-runners aimed fire at each other at last.
Michael Bloomberg, the ascendant billionaire who bought his way into third place, said what needed to be said about Bernie Sanders since the start of his campaign.
One hundred and sixty million people love their private health insurance plans, Bloomberg declared at the Nevada debate's start, and, seeing as Sanders wants to take it away, he cannot win against President Trump.
Biden
noted the 160 million figure back in November, but he failed to crucially link it to Sanders's ability to beat Trump. As Bloomberg illustrated in a single line, Sanders likely won't win because he's running on a socialist Christmas list that robs workers of their hard-negotiated private healthcare plans. Biden likely won't win because he was never able to state this fact.
In fact, Bloomberg's been the only double-digit candidate to affirmatively point out that Democratic dreams such as combating climate change by banning fracking and paying for tens of trillions of dollars of federal nationalization are nothing but that: fantasies that will prove fatal in a general.
But could Bloomberg then claim the mantle of the centrist candidate? Probably not, or, at least, he probably can't and then beat Trump.
Despite crashing to irrelevance since her October peak, Elizabeth Warren emerged triumphant tonight, grilling Bloomberg for his insurmountable flaws.
"I'd like to talk about who we're running against," the Massachusetts senator said. "A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And, no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg."
Warren continued to grill Bloomberg for what felt like the better part of an hour, holding his feet to the fire for suppressing his former subordinates with nondisclosure agreements related to his company's alleged rampant sexual harassment. If Democrats nominate a sexist New York billionaire with a record of racial controversies, they'll get blown out in a general election by the Republican sexist New York billionaire with a record of racial controversies.
As Pete Buttigieg put it, Sanders wants to "burn this party down," and Bloomberg wants to "buy this party out." Neither can win the presidency, and neither should win the nomination.
But, can anyone else? Buttigieg can't win black voters, and Amy Klobuchar languishes in the single digits in national polls. Biden and Warren have fallen behind as former front-runners. So, it seems unlikely.
Once again, the biggest winner of the night is one Donald J. Trump.