The first question at the Charleston, South Carolina, debate went to Bernie Sanders, who quickly became the target of the other six Democrats on stage Tuesday night.
“CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell kicked off the debate by noting to Sanders that unemployment hasn’t been “this low for this long in 50 years.” She asked him,
“Here in South Carolina, the unemployment rate is even lower. How will you convince voters that a democratic socialist will do better for this economy?”
Sanders answered by hitting Michael Bloomberg, saying “the economy is doing really great for people like Mr. Bloomberg.” That comment led to a retort by Bloomberg that “Russia is helping you get elected so you lose” to President Trump.
The exchange set the tone for the rest of the debate, which pitted not just Sanders against Bloomberg against each other, but Elizabeth Warren against Bloomberg and then everyone against Sanders.
Joe Biden will be closely watched tonight. He needs a win in South Carolina after his disappointing finishes in the first three states, but Biden remained quiet in the early fiery exchanges.Biden had a 28-point lead in South Carolina the fall, but has narrowed down to a slim single-digit lead.
According to the CBS News Battleground Tracker on February 23, Tom Steyer rocketed to third place in the state with 18%, followed by Warren with 12%.
Pete Buttigieg, who finished with the most delegates in Iowa and second in New Hampshire, also needs a win after finishing third in Nevada. But he was polling fifth in the state with just 10% of the vote.
