The South Carolina Debate

South Carolina paper warns of political 'dirty tricks' ahead of state primary
By Matt London | Fox News

The main daily newspaper in Charleston, S.C., issued a warning to voters in the state for the second presidential primary season in a row – it's mudslinging season.

"If you see dirty tricks or nasty campaigning in SC Democratic primary, tell us about it," blared a Post and Courier headline earlier this month. The article showcased the paper's online feature for reporting questionable campaign tactics.

In 1980, Republican political consultant Lee Atwater teamed up with South Carolina state GOP chairman Dan Ross to move up the date of the South Carolina primary to offset the influence of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in selecting the party's nominee.

The first Republican contest in the Palmetto State was between Gov. John Connally of Texas and Gov. Ronald Reagan of California and it got ugly early.

"The primary tradition of dirty tricks started when Atwater spread a bogus story that Connally had bribed black ministers with $70,000 for their help in delivering 100,000 votes," said Hume.

"This was a time when the African-American vote was a little more up in the air. It wasn't definitely going to be on the Democratic side," said Gibbs Knotts, author of "First In The South."

Reagan went on to crush his primary opponent, establishing South Carolina as a critical contest in the Republican primary.

Another defining moment for South Carolina politics came in 2000, when Texas Gov. George W. Bush faced off against Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Knotts said the campaign "was the dirtiest in South Carolina primary history."

A professor at the conservative Bob Jones University circulated an email alleging that McCain had fathered an illegitimate child, and then there was a hoax phone survey that advanced the same smear.

"There was a push poll against John McCain that reportedly came from someone in the Bush camp that wondered if he had fathered an African-American child when he and his wife had adopted a baby from Bangladesh," explained the Post and Courier's Andy Shain.

McCain publically called for Bush to "stop this now." Bush denied any knowledge of the push poll and claimed that anyone determined to be involved with it would be kicked off his campaign.

"Eventually, the Bush campaign said, 'Forget it. We've had nothing to do with this,'" said Elaine Kamarck, author of "Primary Politics." "But frankly, the damage was done."

Bush defeated McCain 53 percent to 42 percent and went on to win the party's nomination and the White House.

Democratic leadership contender Joe Biden left voters bewildered yesterday as he told them he was running for the Senate and if they didn't like him they should 'vote for the other Biden'.

The former vice president, 77, sparked fresh concerns over his mental capacity as he addressed a crowd in South Carolina and appeared to forget which campaign he was running in.

He said: 'My name's Joe Biden and I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see help out, if not, vote for the other Biden.'

A clip of his latest gaffe was posted on Twitter by activist Shaun King, who wrote:

https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1232161051816235009

FEBRUARY 25, 2020 / 5:42 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Rivals question front-runner Sanders' electability at rowdy South Carolina Democratic debate
Jarrett Renshaw, Trevor Hunnicutt | Reuters

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Surging Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders came under withering fire in a boisterous debate in South Carolina on Tuesday, as rivals attacked the high cost of his ambitious economic agenda and warned he would cost the party the White House and control of Congress.

In a debate that featured candidates repeatedly shouting over one another and ignoring their time limits, Sanders’ opponents united in attacking the independent senator and self-avowed democratic socialist as a risky choice to lead Democrats against Republican President Donald Trump in November.

“Bernie will lose to Donald Trump, and Donald Trump and the House and the Senate and some of the statehouses will all go red,” billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, adding that would be “a catastrophe.”

Pete Buttigieg, the moderate former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, criticized Sanders for the shifting estimates on the costs of his proposals such as government-run healthcare and questioned how he could get his agenda passed.

“I can tell you exactly how it all adds up. It adds up to four more years of Donald Trump,” Buttigieg said, adding that a Sanders race against Trump would be devastating to the country.

“If you think the last four years has been chaotic, divisive, toxic, exhausting, imagine spending the better part of 2020 with Bernie Sanders versus Donald Trump,” Buttigieg said.

Sanders defended his ability to pay for costly programs such as Medicare for All, which would replace private health insurance with a government-run program, and said he was raising issues supported by the American people.

“My favorability nationally, I believe, is the highest up here,” Sanders said in a reference to opinion polls, adding he beat Trump in most national surveys.

“If you want to beat Trump, what you’re going to need is an unprecedented grassroots movement of black and white and Latino, Native American and Asian, people who are standing up and fighting for justice. That’s what our movement is about,” Sanders said.

Sanders has taken command of the race after strong showings in the first three nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, and the debate was the last chance for his opponents to try to stop his momentum before Saturday’s South Carolina primary and next week’s 14 vital Super Tuesday contests.

Even Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts and progressive ally of Sanders who is trying to revive a struggling campaign, took a swing at her old friend.

“I think I would make a better president than Bernie. And the reason for that is that getting a progressive agenda enacted is going to be really hard,” she said. “I dug in, I did the work, and then Bernie’s team trashed me.”

Senator Amy Klobuchar said neither Sanders nor Warren had shown the leadership in the Senate to accomplish much.

“It matters if you can actually get things done,” she said.

BLOOMBERG DEFENDS AGAINST WARREN ATTACKS

Bloomberg, who turned in a shaky performance in his debut debate last week in Nevada, was sharper this time, defending his treatment of women after Warren attacked what she said was his history of making sexist comments.

He said he had been wrong to make jokes that women who worked for him found offensive. “I don’t remember what they were,” he said. “If it bothered them, I was wrong, and I apologize.”

Bloomberg referred to reports that U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia is trying to help Sanders.

“Vladimir Putin thinks that Donald Trump should be president of the United States, and that’s why Russia is helping you get elected so you lose to him,” Bloomberg told Sanders.

Sanders shot back: “Hey Mr. Putin, if I’m president of the United States, trust me you’re not going to interfere in any more elections,” in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sanders was criticized for his recent comments praising aspects of the late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro’s leadership in Cuba, but said he opposed authoritarianism all over the world.

“When dictatorships - whether it is the Chinese or the Cubans - do something good, you acknowledge that. But you don’t have to trade love letters with them,” he said.

Sanders, who is Jewish, also drew the anger of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group and its supporters over the weekend when he said he would skip its meeting, labeling it a platform for “bigotry.”

During the debate, he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a reactionary racist.”

The pressure for a strong performance was high for all of the contenders. Joe Biden, the national front-runner not so long ago, needs to win South Carolina to keep his campaign alive and said he expected to finish first on Saturday.

Biden has been counting on his traditional strong support from black voters, who make up about 60 percent of the Democratic electorate in the state.

“I’m here to earn it. But, folks, I intend to win in South Carolina, and I will win the African-American vote here in South Carolina,” Biden said.

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer warned the party was headed to danger with either Sanders or Bloomberg on top of the ticket.

“We are looking at a party that has decided that we’re either going to support someone who is a democratic socialist or somebody who has a long history of being a Republican,” Steyer said, a reference to Bloomberg.

“I am scared, if we cannot pull this party together, if we go to one of those extremes, we take a terrible risk of re-electing Donald Trump.”

Something doesn't quite add up:

hahaha

https://twitter.com/MJMcKean/status/1232490469373792256

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/celebrities-react-democratic-debate-south-carolina-michael-bloomberg-joe-biden

It was an out of control shouting match. Reminded me of the View. The winner was Donald J. Trump.
The level of color pandering was disgusting watching them each try to out platitude the others.
If this is the best the DNC has to offer, they are as delusional as Joe claiming that he did everything while he was VP.
Obama must have accomplished something... Didn't he?

The candidates wealth to scale

FEBRUARY 29, 2020 / 7:25 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Environmentalist Tom Steyer ends 2020 Democratic presidential bid


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, a fierce critic of President Donald Trump who had pushed early for his impeachment, abandoned his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday after trailing in third place in the South Carolina primary, a campaign source told Reuters.

Steyer, who poured hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money into his quest, dropped out of the race on the day of his strongest showing yet in a 2020 Democratic nominating contest. Even so, he finished far behind winner Joe Biden and second-place finisher Bernie Sanders.

“Honestly, I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency,” Steyer told supporters in South Carolina.

“I love you very much, this has been a great experience, I have zero regrets. Meeting you and the people of America has been a highlight of my life.”

The 62-year-old former hedge fund manager from San Francisco portrayed himself as a political outsider and blasted corporate money in U.S. politics in July, when he joined a field of two dozen Democrats seeking to deny Trump, a Republican, a second term.

He poured $64.7 million of his own wealth in January into his bid for the Democratic nomination, bringing his total campaign spending to $267 million.

Like fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg, Steyer drew criticism from other Democrats as trying to buy his way to the nomination. Spending tens of millions of dollars, however, did not win the level of support from voters needed.

Steyer said he would support the eventual Democratic nominee.

Steyer amassed a fortune, estimated by Forbes magazine at $1.6 billion, after founding investment firm Farallon Capital Management in the mid-1980s and serving as a partner at San Francisco private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.

In January 2019, he had said he was passing on a 2020 run to focus on efforts to impeach Trump and get Democrats elected to the U.S. Congress.

Steyer has been a force in Democratic fundraising over the past decade. During the 2018 election cycle, he was the second-largest donor to Democratic and liberal candidates and causes, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

He has worked for years on climate change and voter engagement and donated about $170 million since 2015 to his independent political action committees, Need to Impeach and NextGen America.

Steyer billed himself as the only candidate who would make climate change his No. 1 priority as president. “It is a state of emergency and I would declare a state of emergency on Day One,” he said during a November debate.

South Carolina primary: Joe Biden wins decisively

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51693714