Bernie Sanders
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
I got some things right and some things wrong about my predictions for the debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday. For one, I thought late-entry candidate and former Mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg, would have been better prepared because he would be the primary target for the rest of the pack on stage.
I was right that he was a primary target, but I was dead wrong about his preparations for it. Bloomberg walked in cocky and left with more cuts and bruises than an amateur gladiator who managed to survive despite himself. It couldn’t have been fun for Bloomberg supporters to watch, but everyone else sure got a kick out of it.
Bloomberg supporters and Trump supporters watching the #DemDebate last night. pic.twitter.com/tbnoxp8RPZ
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) February 20, 2020
That’s not to say that Bloomberg didn’t throw his own haymakers. In fact, despite Bloomberg taking a plethora of hits, he managed to deal a few himself, the most notable one landed so squarely on the chin of Vermont’s socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, that he was all but physically staggering.
To recap, Bloomberg brought up that America is so great that its most well-known socialist has three houses. Up to that point, Sanders has never had to answer for his hypocrisy when it comes to his socialist leanings. It was almost a taboo subject among the Democrats, which always struck me as odd. In a party that is filled with people basing their clout on how left they are, you’d think they’d be clamoring over one another to show you just how socialist the other guy is not.
Regardless, Bloomberg put Sanders on the spot and Sanders clearly didn’t like that. Visibly angry, Sanders began to explain himself but failed to make it any better. He explained that he works in Washington (House one), lives in Vermont (House 2), and then explained his third home in the most bourgeoisie way possible.
“Like thousands of other Vermonters, I have a summer camp,” shouted Sanders the socialist.
This is what I wanted out of this debate right here. I wanted to watch the snake bite the thief. Best moment of pretty much all the debates. pic.twitter.com/iqBGobZyp2
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) February 20, 2020
I mean, who among us doesn’t have a summer camp?
The significance of this moment can’t be understated. It was the most important moment of the night. It was likely the most meaningful moment of the entire Democratic primary.
Sanders is leading the pack and not by a little. The man is currently the most popular guy within the Democratic party and that means his ideological positions are the preferred platform. Nobody wanted to touch on those positions, but Bloomberg did, and like a man who nudges just one of the cards, the entire house of cards began to collapse. Sanders, for a brief moment, was exposed as a fraud and socialism as a corrupt institution. How could the man who promotes equality and slams the rich be everything he hates?
It was a moment that may go under the radar for many, but I can tell you right now that it didn’t go under the radar for one very important individual, and that’s President Donald Trump.
At this point, it’s likely that Sanders is going to win the nomination, defying expectations, including mine. There’s still some football left to play and things may change, but at this rate, it would appear that any moderate Democrats who would have given a leg up to any of the other candidates have left the room.
When Sanders inevitably meets Trump on that debate stage, I’m pretty sure Trump is going to have Bloomberg’s slam in his back pocket, and will even hit Sanders harder than Bloomberg did with follow-ups. Jabs will come before uppercuts that fully highlight Sanders as the fraud he is.
Bloomberg may have been crushed but he ripped the curtain back to expose Sanders as the fake he is. That’s a curtain that won’t easily close again, at least not for everyone who isn’t so taken with Sanders that they’re willing to ignore it. Trump won’t. He just saw Sanders react angrily, saw him flail in his defense, and now knows exactly where one of his weak points is.
It’s going to get bloody.
