2020 Democrats take on Sanders, make last debate pitch to SC voters ahead of primary
A day after several of the Democratic presidential candidates called for unifying the party to win back the White House in November, a tense showdown spilled out onto the Charleston debate stage where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders found himself the prime target.
The hits former Vice President Joe Biden took seldom compared to the barbs hurled at some of his challengers, a sign that underdogs see their best path forward in taking down Sanders, now the front-runner nationally, or billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has climbed in the polls despite a late start, before the race spills out across the country on March 3 into Super Tuesday states.
Whether the debate changed the minds of any undecided South Carolina voters will ultimately show on Saturday.
But candidates did move quickly Tuesday night to pitch themselves as the best option for beating President Donald Trump, taking many shots at Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist from Vermont who is within striking distance of Biden in South Carolina’s polls as the former vice president’s lead narrows.
The tone of the debate was tense, oftentimes clearly uncomfortable for candidates taking the heat early on, and went ugly.
A particularly tense moment occurred when U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, went after Bloomberg, first explaining how she lost a teaching job when she was pregnant and then turning to push him again on whether he would release everyone who has non-disclosure agreements that resulted from some accusations when they worked for Bloomberg’s company.
“The principal wished me luck and gave my job to someone else,” Warren said. “Pregnancy discrimination, you bet. But I was 21 years old. I didn’t have a union to protect me. And I didn’t have any federal law on my side. So I packed up my stuff, and I went home. At least I didn’t have a boss who said to me, ‘Kill it,’ the way that Mayor Bloomberg is alleged to have said.”
“I never said that. Oh, come on,” Bloomberg jumped in defensively. As Warren tried to explain an allegation against Bloomberg, the crowd booed. Moments later, when Bloomberg pivoted to highlight policies under his leadership, the crowd seemed supportive.
“I never said that. And for the record, if she was a teacher in New York City, she would never have had that problem. We treated our teachers the right way, and the unions will tell you exactly that,” he said to applause.
Biden, the front-runner in South Carolina, had an easier go.
Mostly fielding questions about whether he was progressive enough to unify the party, the former vice president touted his ties to South Carolina — highlighting federal funding for the Charleston port during his tenure and his friendship with late U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, whose funeral at The Citadel last year Biden eulogized.
“You know, when we we talk about progressive, let’s talk about being progressive,” Biden said.
“Walking distance of here is Mother Emanuel Church, nine people shot dead by a white supremacist,” he said, referring to the historic AME church just a few blocks away from the debate hall, where in 2015 nine African Americans, including a state senator who was the church’s pastor, were shot and killed by an avowed white supremacist they had welcomed into their Bible study.
First on the debate stage to mention the church, Biden then pivoted to Sanders, calling out the senator’s record on guns.
“Bernie voted five times against the Brady Bill, and wanted a waiting period of 12 hours” to buy a gun, Biden said. “I’m not saying he’s responsible for the nine deaths, but that man would not have been able to get that weapon if the waiting period had been what I suggest until you are cleared.”
Sanders’ strong finishes in early nominating contests, including a decisive win in Nevada, mean South Carolina becomes even more critical for his challengers hoping to carve out an advantage moving forward into Super Tuesday where the race for delegates will become more aggressive. In South Carolina, Sanders is polling in second place to Biden, within the margin of error in some polls.
Sanders’ position in South Carolina has some S.C. Democrats worried whether he’ll win South Carolina and about whether, under a Sanders ticket, the party can win or hold on to more moderate districts. Candidates took aim, too.
”If we spend the next four months tearing our party apart, we’re going to watch Donald Trump spend the next four years tearing our country apart,” said U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. “We have a clear choice of who’s going to lead this party. And I am the only one in the New Hampshire debate, when asked, if we had a problem with a socialist leading the ticket, that raised my hand.”
Klobuchar said she liked Sanders. The two entered the U.S. Senate together.
But, she said, “I do not think that this is the best person to lead the ticket.”
Bloomberg, who has largely skipped the South Carolina contest including deciding not to appear on Saturday’s ballot, also took a swing at Sanders, predicting decades of doom if the senator wins the nomination:
“If you keep on going, we will elect Bernie. Bernie will lose to Donald Trump. And Donald Trump and the House and the Senate and some of the statehouses will all go red,” Bloomberg said, continuing, “And then, between gerrymandering and appointing judges, for the next 20 or 30 years, we’re going to live with this catastrophe.”
Biden took care to criticize California billionaire Tom Steyer, who has cut into his support among African Americans. Biden questioned Steyer’s record on race, and commitment to racial justice, after the former hedge fund operator invested in private prisons. The move was a clear attempt on Biden’s part to win back some of that support that Steyer — waging an aggressive, million-dollar campaign to hire staff and win support in South Carolina — has accumulated.
Fielding an early question about his diminished support in the state, Biden said he has no expectations, but was very confident he’ll come out on top Saturday.
“I intend to win South Carolina, and I will win the African American vote here in South Carolina.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 1:24 AM with the headline "2020 Democrats take on Sanders, make last debate pitch to SC voters ahead of primary."
