Do candidates hit Sanders? Does Biden gain momentum? What to expect from the SC debate
Will former Vice President Joe Biden hold his ground on stage, shoring up his lead in Palmetto State polls, or will California billionaire Tom Steyer continue punching up at the S.C. front-runner, expanding the cracks in Biden’s campaign?
Will U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren again take aim at billionaire and former New City Mayor Michael Bloomberg? Or will the pack go on offense against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist from Vermont who is leading national polls for the Democratic Party’s nominating contest.
On Tuesday, seven Democratic presidential hopefuls — of the eight remaining in the race — will take the stage in Charleston at the Gaillard Center for their ninth debate. They include Biden, Bloomberg, Sanders, Steyer and Warren as well as former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota.
The debate is co-hosted by CBS and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, and moderators — Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King, with Margaret Brennan, Major Garrett and Bill Whitaker — are expected to press candidates to answer questions about issues that are top of mind to black voters.
It will air live from 8 to 10 p.m. on CBS, BET and Twitter.
Here are the five things to watch when all seven candidates take the debate stage in Charleston:
The top target
The candidate who gets hit the most Tuesday night will tell the audience and South Carolina voters who candidates see as the greatest threat.
In Nevada last week, that target was billionaire Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor. This time? The top target will likely be Sanders, with Biden taking some heat, too.
Sanders has led in every major national poll since mid-February, according to Real Clear Politics poll tracker, which shows Biden in second place nationally. Sanders also has momentum, coming off a strong win in Nevada and strong finishes in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Democrats, including the state’s highest ranking and most influential Democrat, U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, have started to raise concerns about whether Sanders would help or hurt competitive down ballot races.
Clyburn is expected to endorse Biden later this week, according to some media reports. That boost could help convince undecided voters to side with Biden in what is becoming an increasingly narrow race.
But Sanders and Biden won’t be the only ones in the hot seat.
Two billionaires on stage
He failed to meet the requirements to make the Nevada debate, but in South Carolina, he’ll appear alongside other candidates on stage, a big chance for Steyer to speak directly to voters.
Though he’s trailing in the polls, Steyer has been identified as a threat, namely by Biden, who said recently that Steyer has cut into his support among African American voters.
Biden in the last few days has started to more aggressively skewer Steyer’s record as Biden’s most loyal supporters question whether Steyer’s aggressive spending on staff and ads in South Carolina will have a lasting impact on the outcome of the race.
The debate also could become, in part, Part 2 of a battle between billionaire Bloomberg and Warren of Massachusetts, who attacked Bloomberg’s credentials in Nevada, raising questions about why as his company’s chief he entered non-disclosure agreements with women and why he made inappropriate jokes to female employees.
So, do the two continue to take hits? Steyer has distanced himself from his hedge fund past by saying some of his investments — in fossil fuels and private prisons, for example — were mistakes. And Bloomberg recently announced he would release three women from nondisclosure agreements with his company if they approved.
Who will appeal to SC’s key Democratic voting bloc?
South Carolina’s black voters make up two-thirds of the state’s Democratic Party voters, many of whom are older and women.
Over the past year and two months, candidates have specifically targeted this voting bloc, making stops in predominately black neighborhoods, churches and community centers, tailoring their campaign message to one they think will woo black voters.
With the debate’s moderators expected to press candidates on issues that range from criminal justice to affordable housing, expect the candidates to also talk about two moments in Charleston’s history that gripped national and especially local headlines for years.
The Gaillard Center is only a few blocks from the site of one of the most grisly mass shootings in United States history: the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church, where nine black churchgoers, including a state senator, were killed by a lone white supremacist.
That tragedy ultimately set off a controversial debate in the State House that resulted in the removal of the Confederate flag from the State House grounds.
Charleston is also the epicenter of the shooting that involved a black motorist and a white police officer, which became a focus of conversation about how white police officers can better police black communities in the United States.
Walter Scott was shot and killed by white North Charleston police officer Michael Slager in 2015, just a few months before the Charleston church shooting. Slager remains in federal prison.
‘Do or die’ for underdog Steyer
Barely registering in national polls and coming in sixth out of Nevada, Steyer needs to reach voters during the debate and needs a big win Saturday to prove he’s relevant.
He’s spent millions — more than anyone else — hiring staff and running ads in South Carolina, an effort that started in 2019 with his Impeach Trump ad campaign.
Watch for him to fight for time on the mic and to punch up to Biden and Sanders who are ahead of him in the polls.
It’s all about momentum baby
It has been said over and over: if past February is all about math (delegates), then February is about momentum.
So, are candidates who haven’t been able to keep up in the polls with the three front-runners going to find their moment to shine?
For some of these candidates, this could be their final opportunity to debate their opponents on stage and find an opening to advance.
Cue potentially another round of barbs between Klobuchar and Buttigieg who are fighting to stay in the race.
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Do candidates hit Sanders? Does Biden gain momentum? What to expect from the SC debate."
