Politics

9 things we learned from the 9th Democratic presidential debate

LAS VEGAS — Here are 9 things we learned from Wednesday night’s Democratic debate:

1. Bloomberg off the Rose – He’s not the frontrunner, but he is the newest target. In Las Vegas, the entire field seemed ready pounce on the former mayor. The first attack came from current frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders going after Bloomberg for “stop and frisk” asking how he could support such a policy considering it targeted minority communities.

Bloomberg responded by saying, “If I go back and look at my time in office, the one thing that I’m really worried about, embarrassed about, was how it turned out with stop-and-frisk.” The early attack was just a preview of what he can expect in South Carolina and future debates, where he will remain a target due to his rising numbers and vast wealth.

2. Silver State Silver Medal – Is second place good enough? Former Vice President Joe Biden is polling, in the limited Nevada polls, in second place behind Sen. Bernie Sanders.

With very poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Biden campaign is looking to rebound with a strong showing in Nevada and a win in South Carolina; the next state to vote. In Las Vegas, Biden did what he’s done in the previous debates: keep his cool and sell electability. Did it work? We’ll see.

3. Warrior Warren – After lack-luster finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sen. Elizabeth Warren came out swinging in Nevada. Her opening shot directed right at Mayor Bloomberg, saying “I would like to talk about who we are running against, a billionaire who calls women ‘fat broads’ and ‘horse face lesbians’ and no I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.”

Warren went from there to pressing Bloomberg about other issues he’s had with comments before going after the rest of the field, even taking a mild swipe at Sanders.

READ MORE: Nevada Democratic debate: 5 memorable moments from Wednesday’s matchup

4. Slamming Sanders – After wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sen. Bernie Sanders is now leading in national polls and has moved into the role as the frontrunner. However, Sanders spent most of the night watching Buttigieg and Klobuchar fight, or watching the rest of the field go after Mayor Bloomberg.

5. Midwestern Beef – They didn’t shake hands after the debate, but for two hours they had to stand next to each other and there is no love lost between Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen Amy Klobuchar.

At one point in the night as Klobuchar was being asked about forgetting the name of the President of Mexico, Buttigieg pressed her on the issue, saying it was important, leading Klobuchar to respond with, “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb?"

6. Measuring Metrics – Warren and Klobuchar had the most time to talk, with each getting more than 16 minutes. Sen. Klobuchar was also the top trending “#DemDebate” candidate, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But it was Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders who had the most Google searches in Nevada.

7. Contesting the Contested Convention – Because the Democratic Party uses a proportional system to award delegates, it is likely that no one candidate will get the 1,991 delegates needed to win on the first ballot at the convention in Milwaukee.

Each candidate was asked about the specter of a contested convention with Sen. Bernie Sanders not exactly backing the system that would allow super-delegates to help choose the nominee on the second ballot, saying, “I think the will of the people should prevail. The person with the most votes should become the nominee.”

READ MORE: Gov. DeSantis wants federal appeals court to reconsider ‘unconstitutional’ ruling on felons paying fees before voting

8. Voters Voting – Voters in Nevada are already voting. Because this is a caucus state, and the caucus won’t be until Saturday, voters who vote early are using ranked-choice. This isn’t the only change from Iowa, another caucus state, Nevada is also using Google Docs instead of the app system that failed Iowa.

BONUS FACT: Iowa’s results aren’t finished, yet. Buttigieg and Sanders have requested a recount to award the final Iowa delegate.

9. NO GO GOP – The Nevada Republican Party will not be holding a caucus this year. The party voted in September to cancel its primary and instead will award all of its delegates to President Trump at the GOP National Convention in Charlotte.