The other day I wrote about the polarity between Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg. And just to review, they both have the following things in common:
- Both of them are septuagenarians1
- Both of them are Jewish.
- Neither one of them is a Democrat.2
- Both of them have stents in their heart.
The big difference between them is that Bernie is a socialist (or Democratic Socialist)3 and Bloomberg is a billionaire.
The other Dems went after Bloomberg pretty hard in the debate, as they should. He’s completely untested as a debater, and he has much to answer for.
But Mayor Pete is also right when he calls Bernie and Bloomberg the “two most polarizing figures on the debate stage.” It’s not a good sign that the two leading candidates in the Democratic race are essentially not Democrats.
Somehow, we should be able to find an actual Democrat to lead the party into the general election.
- Bernie is 78 and Bloomberg is 77.
- Bernie has been an independent throughout his political life and only become a Democrat when he’s run for President. Bloomberg ran for mayor of New York as a Republican and has also run as an independent.
- This is the one area where Bernie has actually been wishy-washy. When he first came into public life he clearly represented himself as a socialist, and that remained true for a long time. He’s pronounced himself a European-style Democratic Socialist pretty much since he decided to run for President.
Personally, I really enjoyed Liz Warren’s “knives out” performance last night. Bloomberg really does have a lot to answer for.
Also, it took the others about 10 minutes to corner Bloomberg about the many non-disclosure agreements that former employees of his have signed.
But are we any closer to an answer to the only question which matters, namely “Who can beat Trump?”