The latest Democratic debate could change everything
It’s famously said that what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas.
Whether it’s a lost weekend of mayhem, a big loss at the tables, or a spur of the moment decision to be married by an Elvis Presley lookalike as he croons the words to Love Me Tender, the implications and the evidence, are not supposed to escape the confines of this desert resort.
That is not always what happens. And on Wednesday night several Democrats, in particular Elizabeth Warren, will be hoping what played out here is seen and heard across the country.
After a disappointing third place finish in Iowa, a similarly disappointing fourth in New Hampshire, and with national polls putting her in fifth place, the 70-year-old Massachusetts’ senator put in the sort of debate performance that echoed her very first.
Back then you will recall, many observers believed Warren was going to walk away with the show. She was raising more money than her rivals, she provided evidence and detail to back up her policy proposals, and she showed a knack for connecting with voters that people loved.
She was smart and she was organised and her supporters and campaign staff thrilled at the prospect of a showdown with Donald Trump. Some allowed themselves to dream they were about to elect the country’s first woman president.
Then things started to go wrong. While support for her fellow progressive Bernie Sanders continued to rise, her numbers began to slip. Some said it was the result of her failure to control the narrative on her healthcare plan. Others that she was unwilling to shake up her campaign, as the slide began.
One problem, one faced by many, was the sheer number of contenders. With up to 25 people taking the plunge, how much support could any one person hope to gather up?
On Wednesday, Warren found some of the passion and fire that her supporters had loved.
“I’d like to talk about who we are running against. A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse faced lesbians. And no, I am not talking about Donald Trump. I am talking about Mayor Bloomberg,” she said.
“Look, I’ll support whoever the Democratic nominee is, but understand this, Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another.”
Bloomberg was an easy target.
A billionaire and onetime Republican turned independent, he skipped the usual hard slog of contesting the first four voting states and spent around $400m of his own money on political advertising in many of the battleground states that will determine the outcome of the election.
By contrast, Warren, Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden and all the others put in the time and effort to meet voters in coffee shops and church halls. Many of them have been at it for more than a year now. All of them also had a reasonably strong performance in Las Vegas.
Bloomberg reportedly only entered the race because he felt Biden was not certain of winning the nomination. He arrived here tonight, not by hard slog but by dint of his money.
That was a story that Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden shouted loud and clear.
