While the Iowa caucus, the first leg of the Democratic nomination contest for the presidential election of November 3, was held on February 3, "Le Monde" launches its campaign logbook. A daily update, first of all five days a week until September, with campaign facts, political advertisements, polls, maps and figures that allow us to follow and experience the most important electoral competition in the world.
Donald Trump certainly had a great evening, Wednesday, February 19. The ninth Democrat debate in Las Vegas, three days before the Nevada caucuses, has turned out like no other until now. The main victim of the evening was probably the billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Entering the campaign late in November, the former New York mayor took advantage of a change in the selection criteria to take his place among his competitors.
The contact was particularly brutal. Little known for his taste for contact with voters and difficult questions, the billionaire was attacked on the jugular by Massachusetts senator, Elizabeth Warren, on his sexist remarks made in the past. "I would like to talk about our opponent. A billionaire who treats women like fat chicks and horse-headed lesbians. And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Michael Bloomberg, she attacked. Democrats take a huge risk if we just replace one arrogant billionaire with another. " Michael Bloomberg was also criticized for his facies control policy when he was mayor of New York. The surprise came from his lack of preparation for questions agitated for days by his opponents. Each time he seemed hesitant or distant.
If Michael Bloomberg was at the center of the attacks, the other candidates were not spared either and in particular the two candidates who defend proposals more moderate than those of the current favorite of the race, the independent senator of Vermont Bernie Sanders. The youngest of the race, Pete Buttigieg, and the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar surrendered blow for blow, when they were not attacked for the lukewarmness of their proposals by Elizabeth Warren, intractable Wednesday evening.
From this fratricidal battle, Bernie Sanders came out the winner by default, which augurs well for him when he seems in good position to claim a third success in a row in Nevada, after Iowa and New Hampshire . The crumbling of the moderate camp, wedged between Bernie Sanders and the tsunami of advertisements of Michel Bloomberg, alerted Pete Buttigieg. “Let's put forward a democrat. Not someone who wants to burn the house or someone who wants to buy it ", he asked in an allusion to the Republican past of the former New York mayor, when Bernie Sanders has always resisted joining the party. Wednesday's debate did nothing to consolidate the center.
