The debate over the Democratic candidates went wrong Wednesday night in Las Vegas for Michael Bloomberg. After having waged a massive campaign on the internet and on television for months, the billionaire and former mayor of New York found himself for the first time facing the other contenders for the nomination of the Democratic party.
All of them began to attack the newcomer, accusing him of wanting to buy his election thanks to his immense personal fortune, reproaching him for his misogynistic comments and the nondisclosure agreements made with women whom he allegedly humiliated. His security policy when he was mayor of New York, which had reduced crime considerably, but at the cost of police checks targeting black and Hispanic minorities, was also criticized.
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Bloomberg tried to highlight his managerial qualities. "I was mayor of New York, the largest and most complex city" in the United States, he said, recalling that he had "put the city back on its feet" after the attacks of 11 September 2001. Bloomberg also pointed out that he had given a lot of money, especially to the Democratic Party, to beat Trump, and assured that he was the best to defeat "a New York con artist". But he seemed uneasy when Elizabeth Warren asked him how many women he had made non-disclosure agreements with, to avoid litigation over his derogatory comments going to court, and declined to answer .
" Not everyone is perfect like you"
The other candidates also clashed brutally with each other. Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota, who compete for the centrist electorate, have clashed repeatedly. "Not everyone is perfect like you," Klobuchar treacherously launched to the youngest Democratic candidate, who often gives the impression of his intellectual superiority over others. It made him feel that he was inexperienced, and that having been the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, did not give much qualification to be elected president.
Buttigieg retorted with irony about the memory lapse of Klobuchar, who did not remember the name of the president of Mexico, while the senator sits on the commission responsible for foreign trade. "Are you trying to say I'm stupid?" Asked Klobuchar. Buttiegieg also attacked the two leading candidates in the polls, Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg: "two divisive candidates", "not even members of the Democratic Party" , "one who wants to buy the party, and the other who wants set it on fire. "
Sanders remains favorite
The main divide was between proponents of pragmatic reform, such as Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden who warned against overly ambitious promises, and more radical candidates, such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, repeated that this moderation would only lead to defeat by Trump. Joe Biden, after very poor results in Iowa and New-Hampshire, often seemed overwhelmed by the animated exchanges which took place around him.
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It was ultimately Sanders, who led the last polls, who fared best, managing to repeat his message during the evening: "The United States is the only developed country not to provide medical coverage. universal to its citizens ” . He accused the pharmaceutical corporations and the insurance companies of doing everything to prevent the deep reform of the system, and of financing for this purpose the campaigns of his adversaries.
Bloomberg accused Sanders of delivering a speech that would "re-elect Trump" : "This is ridiculous. We are not going to reject the capital. Other countries have tried. It was called communism, and it just didn't work, ” said Bloomberg.
"It's an easy move , " said Sanders. "What you call communism is what exists in Denmark".