Warren lets others hit Sanders - as she again attacks Bloomberg

ajc.com

While Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took the most flak at Tuesday night's Democratic Party debate in South Carolina, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) ran against the grain of others on stage, repeatedly attacking Michael Bloomberg as she did in a debate last week in Nevada.

"I don't care how much money Mayor Bloomberg has," Warren said at one point in the debate. "The core of the Democratic Party will never trust him."

"Is Warren running to win the nomination or to be Bernie’s wingman?" tweeted political analyst Stu Rothenberg, as Warren spent more time attacking Bloomberg than talking about why she should be President.

"Warren can slay Bloomberg, but what does she get out of it?" said Joe Lockhart, a former White House Press Secretary under President Barack Obama.

In one exchange with Bloomberg, Warren pressed the former New York mayor so much that some in the crowd began jeering the Massachusetts Senator.

As the debate began, Warren made the case that she was the better progressive choice than Sanders, but did not try to tear down the Independent Senator from Vermont.

"Bernie and I agree on a lot of things, but I think I would make a better president than Bernie," Warren said.

"Progressives have got one shot. And we need to spend it with a leader who will get something done," Warren added, as the closest she came to criticizing Sanders directly came as she accused Sanders aides of attacking her.

"And then Bernie's team trashed me for it," Warren said.

But after that - it was almost all about Bloomberg.

The polls in South Carolina have not shown much in the way of promise for Warren, as she's been mired in a battle for fourth place with Pete Buttigieg, well behind Joe Biden, Sanders, and Tom Steyer.