Thanks. I missed you, too, Bearister, and
all most of you guys, as well. It was a difficult, but necessary, sabbatical.
But I'm back, and just in time for
tomorrow night's Main Event at
6PM (PST) on
NBC, MSNBC, and Streaming in all sorts of places.
TO THE RESCUE: Michael Bloomberg has qualified for Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, paving the way for the former New York mayor's first appearance on stage with his 2020 rivals.
Bloomberg met the Democratic National Committee-mandated polling threshold on Tuesday with a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey finding the former New York mayor at 19% nationally. The result is Bloomberg's fourth poll at or above 10% nationally, which was the requirement from the DNC to qualify.
Lester Holt, Chuck Todd and Hallie Jackson from NBC, Vanessa Huac from Telemundo and Jon Ralston of The Nevada Independent are moderating the debate.
The debate lineup includes six candidates:
Former Vice President Joe Biden
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
2. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana
1. Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City
I've ranked my top 2 choices.
I worry that Biden is too old (and will lose vs Trump because of Ukraine damage), Buttigieg too young (and will lose because of being gay), Warren and Bernie being too "socialist" in the minds of many middle of the roaders. They've effectively allowed that moniker to hang around their neck.
Nothing else matters than defeating Trump, and any of the above candidates would be acceptable to me. Tomorrow night is Must Watch for me. We'll see if Mike can hit a home run. I'm sure I'll be here chatting about it.
It's good to be back!
The 10th Democratic debate, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, CBS and Twitter, will be Tuesday, Feb. 25 at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina.