Sanders Soars, but Warren Wins: The Nevada Democratic Debate

On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Democrats seeking a 2020 presidential nomination took to the debate stage once again. This debate was the ninth democratic primary debate for this election cycle and was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Nevada’s Democratic caucuses being held only three days later on Saturday, Feb. 22.

The event was most certainly contentious at times and also stood out amongst this series of debates in that it welcomed candidate Mike Bloomberg to the stage for the first time yet. Bloomberg qualified for participation in this debate only the day before, when a national NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll became the fourth national US survey to show him with more than 10% support in the race for Democratic presidential nomination. Alongside former New York City Mayor Bloomberg returned Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Senator Sanders brought his typical flustered flare to the stage on Wednesday night in conversations surrounding healthcare, education, and stop-and-frisk policing. Having won the polls in the last two state Democratic primaries, he stayed on top in Nevada as well. As of press time, Sanders is projected to win the Nevada caucus within fact end up with 46.6% of votes currently.

Former Mayer Bloomberg was subject to several verbal attacks from other candidates on the stage, almost entirely because his journey to becoming the Democratic nominee has not been supported by traditional campaigning but rather by the millions of dollars that line all of his pockets. Given his millionaire status, he was compared to Mr. Donald Trump on some occasions, which of course does little to reassure Democrats of his presidential potential. Senator Warren played a special role in leading the pile-up against Bloomberg. Warren made it very clear on Wednesday that she refuses to go ignored throughout this process and she undoubtedly leads the debate that night. She not only spoke the most and maintained an entirely offensive position throughout the night but also pointed out many major weaknesses in her opponents’ plans.

Next up, former Mayer Buttigieg and Senator Klobuchar were found going head-to-head in Nevada. This stems from the fact that these two candidates are labeled as the party centrists. This fact arguably pits these two against one another in a way unlike any of the other candidates can relate to. Klobuchar and Buttigieg found themselves rivaling over subjects such as foreign policy and their qualifications for the presidency.

It was clear during the debate that former VP Biden is no longer assumed to be the Democratic front runner, as he once was. Biden managed to make it through the majority of the night with rarely being targeted by any of his opponents. His rivals, alongside many others, may even question whether or not Biden will meet the marks necessary to be able to become a contender on Super Tuesday, the election day early on in the presidential election that the greatest number of US states hold a caucus or primary election.

The next Democratic debate will take place on Tuesday, February 25, in South Carolina. On Saturday, Feb. 29, South Carolina will hold its primary elections. This will be the last round of elections ahead of Super Tuesday, which will be on Tuesday, March 3.