At the next dem debate all of the Democrats will attack Bloomberg. They will gang up on him. Bernie will repeatedly accuse him of trying to buy the election. He will be called the "B" word countless times (Billionaire). Will Bloomberg play nice? Or will he fire back? Bloomberg should present himself as the only guy that can street fight with Trump. Is he just going to stand there and let everyone attack him or will he fight back? Will his attacks just be directed at Trump while everyone calls him a racist Billionaire? Will Bernie get a free pass on discussing the specifics of his medicare-for-all plan? This is make or break for Bloomberg.... Michael Bloomberg Surges in Poll and Qualifies for Democratic Debate in Las Vegas February 18, 2020 WASHINGTON — Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York has qualified for Wednesday’s debate in Las Vegas, the first time the billionaire will appear onstage alongside his Democratic presidential rivals. A poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist released on Tuesday showed Mr. Bloomberg with 19 percent support. The survey was his fourth national qualifying poll since mid-January that showed him with at least 10 percent support. Mr. Bloomberg will face off against Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind. The debate, which will air on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time, will be hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and The Nevada Independent. Mr. Bloomberg formally entered the race in November, nearly a year after most of the other candidates. He failed to qualify for the past several debates in part because he is not accepting outside contributions for his campaign. But new rules announced by the Democratic National Committee opened the door to his participation, as they enabled candidates to qualify for the Las Vegas debate, as well as the one that will take place on Feb. 25 in Charleston, S.C., without meeting a donor threshold. Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, said last month when the new debate rules were announced that Mr. Bloomberg would participate in presidential debates if he qualified. “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,” Mr. Sheekey said. Tom Steyer, the other billionaire seeking the Democratic nomination, has participated in the five most recent debates, but he is unlikely to be onstage in Las Vegas. He would need to receive 10 percent support in four national qualifying polls, or 12 percent in two polls taken in Nevada or South Carolina, before the deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday in order to be invited. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the only other candidate still in the race, has not reached the threshold in any qualifying polls, either. Candidates are also able to qualify for the Nevada and South Carolina debates by winning at least one delegate in the Iowa or New Hampshire contests; that is the path Ms. Klobuchar, followed to get her invitation to the stage in Las Vegas. Mr. Bloomberg has spent over $300 million on TV advertising nationwide — more than the rest of the field combined. He decided to skip the first four nominating contests, held in states where campaigns traditionally spend a year organizing supporters, to focus instead on the delegate-rich primaries that take place beginning on Super Tuesday, March 3. Mr. Bloomberg has seen his standing steadily rise in national polling as voters have been saturated by his television advertising. His rivals have been torn between attacking him and battling one another in the early-state contests. Now Mr. Bloomberg is certain to be the target of onstage attacks from his rivals, especially Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren, the two candidates who are not appearing at private fund-raisers and who have made cultivating the wrath of billionaires central to their campaigns. Last week in Virginia, Ms. Warren told supporters that Mr. Bloomberg should not be the Democratic Party’s nominee because of his past remarks linking the end of redlining, a discriminatory housing practice, to the financial crisis. Over the weekend other Democrats joined in. Mr. Sanders told a crowd in Carson City, Nev., that Americans were “sick and tired of billionaires buying elections.” Mr. Biden attacked Mr. Bloomberg’s record as mayor on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” And Ms. Klobuchar denounced Mr. Bloomberg for not sitting for as many interviews with the news media as she had. Mr. Bloomberg, who has emerged in recent years as a leading financial benefactor for Democratic candidates and some liberal causes, such as gun control and environmental protection, entered politics as a Republican when he first ran for mayor in 2001. He endorsed President George W. Bush and spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. He has backed other Republicans as well, including Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who was ousted by Ms. Warren in 2012, and Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, a gun control ally, in 2016. The post Michael Bloomberg Surges in Poll and Qualifies for Democratic Debate in Las Vegas appeared first on New York Times.
Can we talk about the elephant in the room? Every presidential candidate is some decrepit 70-something. How are these people supposed to represent the median voter (~38 years old)??? Their constituents weren't even born when they were their age!
If bloomberg wins, mark my words, he will have cameras on every street corner in America with facial recognition, just like in China. If you like to be spied on, Bloombergs your guy. He did it NY, he'll do it everywhere else in the country.
Your advice might be for the best. If he does decide to show up, do you think he won't respond really to direct criticism and try to focus his attacks on Trump? Or do you think he would try to take on whoever is attacking him onstage?
Option 1 imo.Thats what he has been doing so far and its working.Bloomberg also probably feels everyone on the stage is beneath him and not worth responding to.If thats his plan it makes no sense to even show up. I really cant see him fighting with them on stage
He will take on everyone attacking him. That was sort of his style as mayor. He had no personality but did have the obnoxious "gift" of being able to grind it out with the press in extended tit for tats. It's what he does. Then everyone walks away thinking what an irritating little obnoxious prick he is, and he is happy with that. He is a walking target. As dicussed yesterday, candidates like warren see him as the whipping boy they need to get going again, or at least try. Beating and doing surprise attacks on the "good guys" like Bernie and Biden did not work for her or Kamala, yet they considered attacking to be their speciality - mostly because they too have no personality. But with Bloomie, they feel he is the dog they can kick and actually win. He is the very ebodiment of what they are supposed to be running against. I wonder if the moderators will do any real work. I doubt it except they are anti-bloomie so -unless they are totally stupid and they probably are- they will not turn down the low hanging fruit- which would be to ask Bloomberg if he will support the eventual and nominee and campaign for Bernie if Bernie becomes the nominee, and versa vice question to Bernie. MSNBC and CNN and the DNC are in the tank for Warren or have been. They just have not been able to get lift off for her, mostly because Bernie positioned himself outside the grip of the dnc this time around and has his own revenue stream. The problem the other dems will have at some point soon is that they think that Bloomie is just there for the kicking. But over time they will find that he may have supporters that they will want in their camp at some point, so turning them all into deplorables is not a workable strategy - or something to think about anyway. The Hillary model is never one to follow.
Theres a little secret about stop and frisk and the 95 crime bill for that matter, many minorities supported them. Were the tactics harsh? Yes. Were they both effective at reducing crime and increasing educational attainment and opportunity for minorities. You better believe it. And neither have a place today because they were effective yesterday. There will be a lot of things said tonight about Bloomberg but the biggest thing may be what goes unsaid.
The candidates are hypocrites. They say about Bloomberg that he should not buy his way in to the election. What the fuck are all the other candidates doing raising tens of millions of dollars doing? Feeding the poor? They are paying for staff, travel and ads to try and win the election. Bloomie is just using his own money because he has enough of it. Who cares if someone spends $100 million in donations or their own money, it is still buying favor and votes in the election. Fucking hypocrites. Bloomie is just dipping into his own wallet instead of begging for it live.