Democratic debate: Bloomberg takes the stage as Sanders leads, and Biden aims for a comeback

FAN Editor

LAS VEGAS — Prolific personal spending on television advertisements has ensured that former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is now a familiar face to viewers around the country as he seeks the chance to take on President Donald Trump in November.

But the billionaire finance and media mogul will be a new presence on the Democratic debate stage on Wednesday. Bloomberg is likely to come under fire from repeat players in the televised slug fests, like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joe Biden, for spending more than $400 million so far on campaign ads alone.

The debate, which will take place at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, is scheduled to kick off at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday and to last about two hours. It will air on NBC and MSNBC and will stream on CNBC.com. It is being hosted by NBC News, MSNBC, Noticias Telemundo and The Nevada Independent.

The debate comes at a crucial juncture in the primary sorting process, just days ahead of Nevada’s first-in-the-West caucuses on Saturday.

The Nevada contests have proven in the past to be a crucible for the contenders who remain following the first states of Iowa and New Hampshire, testing candidates for viability among minority voters and other blocs that are crucial to winning the nomination.

The candidates who will appear on the debate stage are:

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
  • Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Each of the candidates has something different to prove.

Biden, who failed to take a top three spot in either Iowa or New Hampshire after coasting for months as the race’s presumed front-runner, is relying on beating expectations in Nevada to power his campaign through Super Tuesday.

Sanders is hoping that doing well with Hispanic and young voters in the state can solidify his newfound front-runner status. He will also have to fend off new attacks on his signature health-care overhaul, Medicare for All, after it came under criticism from Nevada’s politically influential Culinary Union.

Buttigieg has risen sharply in national polling after effectively tying with Sanders in Iowa and taking second place in New Hampshire. But he has struggled to gain traction among black and Hispanic voters, which both form crucial voting segments in Nevada — and which he will need to win over to ultimately win the nomination.

Warren has seen her support dip in national polls after Sanders’ strong showings in the first two states. As Sanders looks to consolidate the party’s progressive base, Warren is seeking to cast herself as a party unifier who can bring together both left-leaning liberals and centrist moderates.

Klobuchar, the race’s underdog, got a jolt of energy from a surprising third place finish in New Hampshire. But, like Buttigieg, the Minnesota senator has lagged among minority voters, and must prove that her campaign can attract their support and also flesh out the organizational finesse of the more established contenders.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, who has not appeared before on the Democratic debate stage and has yet to face voters, will have to prove that he belongs there. Bloomberg is not competing in the first four nominating contests, including Nevada and the South Carolina primary later in the month, instead devoting resources to the larger states which begin voting in March.

Sanders and Warren have accused Bloomberg of trying to buy the 2020 election, while rivals Buttigieg, Biden and Klobuchar have said they look forward to him having to answer tough questions about his record in front of a national audience.

Biden said in an interview with MSNBC on Monday that Bloomberg “can buy every ad he wants, but he can’t, in fact, wipe away his record on everything from dealing with stop-and-frisk to his foreign policy assertions and the like.”

Warren, in a post on Twitter, said it was a “shame” that Bloomberg could “buy his way into the debate. But at least now primary voters curious about how each candidate will take on Donald Trump can get a live demonstration of how we each take on an egomaniac billionaire.”

Bloomberg, who has an estimated net worth of more than $60 billion, is self-funding his entire campaign, and not accepting any outside contributions. He is polling in third place in national surveys behind Sanders and Biden.

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