The Hill’s Campaign Report: Bloomberg to face off with rivals at Nevada debate

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail. 

 

LEADING THE DAY:

BLOOMBERG’s DEBATE DEBUT: Michael Bloomberg will face one of the most crucial tests of his nascent presidential campaign on Wednesday when he takes the debate stage for the first time in Las Vegas, a forum that threatens to drag him into the political fray that he has spent months avoiding.

The former New York City mayor, who only declared his candidacy in November and failed to make the cut for earlier presidential debates, qualified for the upcoming forum early Tuesday morning after notching 19 percent in an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Maris poll.

But when he takes the debate stage on Wednesday, Bloomberg is almost certain to face scathing criticism from his Democratic rivals, who have already sharpened their attacks against him in an effort to slow the growing momentum of his presidential bid.

In a potential preview of what Wednesday’s debate might hold, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accused Bloomberg at a rally over the weekend of trying to buy his way to the Democratic presidential nomination. 

And in a tweet on Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that having Bloomberg on the debate stage would allow the other candidates to show “how we each take on an egomaniac billionaire.”

It’s a shame Mike Bloomberg can 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. https://t.co/H02radEZcv

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 18, 2020

For his part, Bloomberg hasn’t been on a debate stage since 2009 when he ran for his third and final term as mayor, and it’s unclear how he’ll perform under a national spotlight. His campaign has so far centered around advertisements casting him as a successful businessman and formidable challenger to President Trump. Whether he can maintain that image of himself on stage will be one of the big questions of the evening.

 

READ MORE: 

Bloomberg set to debate in Nevada after qualifying in new poll, by Julia

Warren: Bloomberg making debate will show how other candidates handle ‘an egomaniac billionaire,’ by The Hill’s Zack Budryk

The Memo: Vegas debate gives Democrats last chance to swing Nevada voters, by The Hill’s Niall Stanage

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

Democrats are preparing a case against President Trump over entitlement spending, revisiting a strategy that has handed triumphs to both parties at one point or another, The Hill’s Reid Wilson reports. Groups like Priorities USA, the largest Democratic super PAC, are planning to seize on Trump’s own rhetoric suggesting that entitlement programs, like Medicare and Medicaid, could be brought to the chopping block if he’s allowed to stay in the White House for another four years. Republicans are already telegraphing their defensive strategy: accusing Democrats of misleading attacks. “President Trump has made clear that he will protect the benefits of people who rely on programs like Social Security and Medicare,” Tim Murtaugh, Trump’s campaign spokesman, said. “Because of President Trump’s stellar record of success for all Americans, all that Democrats have to run on is fear and misinformation. It won’t work.”

 

Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, said on Monday that she wants to be the running mate of her party’s eventual presidential nominee, The Hill’s Rebecca Klar reports. “Of course I want it. Of course I want to serve America. Of course I want to be a patriot,” Abrams, who’s unsuccessful gubernatorial bid propelled her to political stardom, said in an interview with ABC’s “The View.” Asked whether she would one day seek the White House herself, Abrams was blunt. “Absolutely,” she said. “I want to do good, and there is no stronger platform than president of the United States, and that’s a position I want to one day hold.”

 

After technical difficulties roiled the Iowa caucuses and led to a days-long delay in the results, Democratic officials in Nevada are under pressure to avoid a debacle of their own. But The Hill’s Maggie Miller reports that experts and officials are raising concerns about the state Democratic Party’s plans to use a custom Google calculator accessed through a web form to help tally votes from the upcoming caucuses. Alana Mounce, the chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, sought to reassure worried party members in a memo that officials are confident in our backup plans and redundancies. But skeptics say that the state party’s caucus plan could put the results at risk and lead to a repeat of the chaos that has marred the caucuses in Iowa. “The caucuses need to learn that the integrity of the election process is on everybody’s mind now, and if you are going to use processes like this, you better have them vetted over and over again,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) said. “I get the desire to be high-tech, but if you are going to do this process, you better get it right.”

 

Despite former President Barack Obama’s lingering popularity among Democrats, the presidential candidates who emerged from his political orbit have so far fizzled in their quest for their party’s nomination, The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports. That trend is evident in the unsuccessful campaigns of Julian Castro, Obama’s former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, and Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor and a friend of the former president. Even Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president for eight years and is counted among his personal friends, is struggling to regain the preeminence he held in the Democratic nominating contest for most of the past year. “You can talk a lot about Obama, but you’re still not Obama,” Eddie Vale, a Democratic strategist, said.

 

PERSPECTIVES:

Lara M. Brown: Bernie Sanders’s Super Tuesday problem

Joshua Spivak: What happens during a contested Democratic National Convention?

Joe Ferullo: How the media fall in and out of love with candidates

 

MONEY WATCH:

Bloomberg has spent upwards of $124 million on advertising in Super Tuesday states, The Los Angeles Times’ Michael Finnegan reports, a total that equates to more than 10 times what his top rivals have spent in those states. By comparison, Sanders, the only other candidate to advertise in most of the March 3 primary states, has just less than $10 million. The spending underscores the extent to which Bloomberg has tied his presidential ambitions to Super Tuesday, when more than a third of pledged delegates will be up for grabs. He has declined to compete in the four early primary and caucus states that typically kick off presidential nominating contests and has instead spent hundreds of millions of dollars on an operation that looks more like a general election campaign, expanding his operations into crucial battleground states.

 

POLL WATCH:

NPR/PBS NEWSHOUR/MARIST – NATIONAL

Sanders: 31 percent (+9)

Bloomberg: 19 percent (+15)

Biden: 15 percent (-9)

Warren: 12 percent (-5)

Klobuchar: 9 percent (+5)

Buttigieg: 8 percent (-5)

Steyer: 2 percent (+2)

 

MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY – VIRGINIA

Bloomberg: 22 percent

Sanders: 22 percent

Biden: 18 percent

Buttigieg: 11 percent

Klobuchar: 9 percent

Warren: 5 percent

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

There are 4 days until the Nevada caucuses, 11 days until the South Carolina primary and 14 days until Super Tuesday. 

 

CNN will host town hall events with five Democratic presidential candidates this week ahead of the Nevada caucuses. The first round of forums will begin on Tuesday. Here’s the full lineup:

TUESDAY, FEB. 18

8 p.m. EST: Bernie Sanders

9 p.m. EST: Pete Buttigieg

10 p.m. EST: Amy Klobuchar

 

THURSDAY, FEB. 20

8 p.m. EST: Joe Biden

9 p.m. EST: Elizabeth Warren

 

The Democratic National Committee announced the date and location of the penultimate presidential primary debate on Friday, revealing that it would be held in Phoenix on March 15. Here’s the upcoming debate schedule:

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19 in Las Vegas

TUESDAY, FEB. 25 in Charleston, S.C. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 15 in Phoenix, Ariz. 

We’ll update you as soon as the DNC announces the date and location of the 12th (and final) Democratic primary debate.

 

SHOWDOWN IN MASS: On the Senate front, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey will face-off against Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy in the Bay State’s first Democratic primary debate tonight on WGBH in Brighton, Mass. It’s the first glimpse we’ll get into what will likely be a competitive primary race in the deep blue state. Markey, an establishment favorite, is defending his seat from Kennedy, who is looking to hold the Senate seat once held by both of his great-uncles — former Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and former President John F. Kennedy. Markey so far has the support of activist groups, while Kennedy has garnered the support of the union class. We’ll be covering the race ahead of the September primary.

 

ONE FUN THING: 

CAMPAIGN FASHION: Professional womenswear company M.M. LaFleur is extending its services to the campaign trail and offering to loan women candidates clothes for the campaign trail for free. 

The company made the announcement in an email, according to Business Journals. 

The initiative has resulted in widespread support online, as well as from other women candidates. 

“One less thing to worry about and the ability to focus on delivering my message,” a candidate said in the email. 

The announcement comes as Sens. Warren and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), as well as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), run for president four years after Hillary Clinton nearly become the first woman elected to the office. 

It also follows the gains made by women elected to the House, Senate and state offices across the country in 2018. 

Women often have to deal with more scrutiny than men when it comes to their appearances on the campaign trail, so it’s important that a womenswear company is working to take one more burden off of their shoulders. 

 

We’ll see you tomorrow for coverage of the Democratic Debate, where Jonathan Easley is on the ground in Las Vegas!