2020 race: Just another night of ‘pick me, pick me’ for Democrats

What we learnt from the Democrat debate in Charleston.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders after the Democratic primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina. on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

What we learnt from the debate in Charleston:

Bernie Sanders is rarely a quiet voice, but he has managed to get through nine debates with few bruises. That ended in South Carolina when he was attacked on multiple fronts by every opponent.

The overarching themes: Sanders can rile up a crowd but can’t get things done; he is unelectable as a democratic socialist; he will drag down the Democratic house ­majority. “Can anyone imagine moderate Republicans voting for him?” former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg asked.

Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar noted that Sanders’s proposals cost $US60 trillion — triple the US economy. “The math does not add up,” she warned.

Sanders parried some of the blows but also got into shouting matches. Asked by a moderate how he’d pay for his plans, he ­responded coolly, “How many hours do you have?” Centrist Democrats who hoped the Vermont senator would come off as not electable may be heartened, but so could be Sanders’s supporters who see their candidate as passionate and authentically unpolished.

The good news for Michael Bloomberg is this debate didn’t go as badly as the last one. He ceded prime target status to Sanders, but took his share of criticism. He still got scratched and occasionally came off as brittle.

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren continued to be his nemesis, slamming him for funding Republican senators and for accusations that women at his company were mistreated.

But there was no avoiding the billionaire: he bought advertising for the commercial breaks during the debate.

Joe Biden has called South Carolina his “firewall,” even before his dismal finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month. If he gets the breakthrough he needs, it probably won’t be because of a sterling ­debate performance.

Biden seemed as comfortable as he has on any Democratic ­debate stage since the first ­encounters last June, but he did ­ little to offer a new rationale for his candidacy. He emphasised his ­affinity for issues dear to black ­voters and reminded them of his decades-long advocacy. Overall, it was a steady performance when Biden most needed it.

Elizabeth Warren had to make a difficult straddle at the debate: she wanted to spotlight her liberal positions to pry voters from frontrunner Sanders but she also had to make a pitch for why they should back her rather than him. She has been hesitant to fully voice her criticism of Sanders but leaned into it in Charleston. “Bernie’s winning right now because the Democratic Party is a progressive party and progressive ideas are popular ideas,” she said.

Warren also reprised her ­attacks on Bloomberg, which might not help her win votes but clearly help her raise money.

If the race were about skill on the debate stage, it might be hard to deny Pete Buttigieg the nomination. He continued to answer questions with calm and clarity, and showed he could throw an elbow too.

But his path forward is still unclear, given that his support is overwhelmingly white — and the Democratic electorates in most upcoming primaries are not. Buttigieg helped lead the moderates’ charge against Sanders, almost mocking the idea of a general election between Sanders and Donald Trump.

“Imagine spending the better part of 2020” listening to such a match-up, he pondered.

Buttigieg acted as if Biden wasn’t on the stage at all, trying to make himself the clear alternative to Sanders.

It added up to another consistent performance for Buttigieg.

The star of the New Hampshire debate had to fight to be heard in Charleston. Amy Klobuchar pulled out some of her go-to lines, such as the one about checking with the duck hunters in her family as she formulates gun control policies, but she was often cut off by moderators for going over her time.

She had one striking moment, when she was asked about coronavirus and said the issue was too ­serious for politics. She pointed viewers to CDC.gov, the website for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. But she had a hard time breaking through at a time she may have needed it most.

The other billionaire, Tom Steyer, has pinned his hopes on snatching South Carolina from Biden, but he looked like someone whose momentum has been yanked away. Steyer spluttered after Biden accused him of investing in private prisons as a hedge fund manager.

Without a clear win in South Carolina, it’s hard to see how ­Steyer wins anywhere else.

AP