Losers

Bernie Sanders on race, again: If there was one issue that dogged Sanders in his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton, it was his inability to appeal to minority voters. And for one striking moment on Thursday, that problem reared its ugly head

The candidates were asked about the declining diversity in their debate field, and when the question was presented to Sanders, he opted instead to try to talk return to a previous topic, climate change. Debate moderator Amna Nawaz of “PBS NewsHour” cut in, though. “Senator, with all respect, this question is about race. Can you answer the question as it was asked?”

The crowd roared. Sanders tried to rescue it by saying people of color would suffer from climate change, too, and then he offered some boilerplate about problems that plague minority communities. It was one moment, but it came just after the only minority candidate onstage, Andrew Yang, gave a detailed answer citing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and it briefly revived some old demons.

Sanders also, shortly thereafter, responded to a quote Barack Obama recently gave about old white men running countries. When debate moderator Tim Alberta noted Sanders was the oldest candidate onstage, Sanders interjected, “And I’m white, as well!” It wasn’t awful, but it may not have been the time to emphasize that.

The biggest on-stage fight of Thursday’s Democratic debate, between Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — indeed, one of the biggest fights we’ve seen come out of any of the debates — was about wine caves.

Or rather, it was a fight about high-dollar fundraisers, political access, and who gets to have it.

So, the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave, full of crystals, and served $900-a-bottle wine. Think about who comes to that. He had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open-door, but this one was closed-door. We made the decision many years ago that rich people in smoke-filled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States.

Buttigieg responded by arguing that he’s not going to turn down money from wealthier donors, and that high-dollar fundraisers would be an essential part of beating President Donald Trump in the general election. He also brought up Warren’s personal wealth, and later, her past closed-door fundraisers as a Senate candidate:

Losers

Bernie Sanders on race, again: If there was one issue that dogged Sanders in his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton, it was his inability to appeal to minority voters. And for one striking moment on Thursday, that problem reared its ugly head

The candidates were asked about the declining diversity in their debate field, and when the question was presented to Sanders, he opted instead to try to talk return to a previous topic, climate change. Debate moderator Amna Nawaz of “PBS NewsHour” cut in, though. “Senator, with all respect, this question is about race. Can you answer the question as it was asked?”

The crowd roared. Sanders tried to rescue it by saying people of color would suffer from climate change, too, and then he offered some boilerplate about problems that plague minority communities. It was one moment, but it came just after the only minority candidate onstage, Andrew Yang, gave a detailed answer citing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and it briefly revived some old demons.

Sanders also, shortly thereafter, responded to a quote Barack Obama recently gave about old white men running countries. When debate moderator Tim Alberta noted Sanders was the oldest candidate onstage, Sanders interjected, “And I’m white, as well!” It wasn’t awful, but it may not have been the time to emphasize that.