(And the Democratic Debacles Continue, Along with Some Important PR Lessons)
Arthur Solomon, Public Relations ConsultantFor the better part of a year, maybe longer, former veep Joe Biden has been boasting of his ability to attract African-American voters, and has said that the Democratic primary on February 29 in South Carolina will validate his claim. He better be right. Because recent polls show his support of brown and black voters in the state has declined, as has his support among all voters in national polls.Democratic Party leaders will again also be waiting for the results to see if Sen. Sanders and Mayor Pete can attract minority voters. Their opponents have been saying they can’t, but Sanders showed he can, at least, in the Nevada caucuses.
But prior to the voting, Democratic Party leaders were seeking the answer to, maybe, an even more important question: “Was former NYC Mayor Bloomberg able to improve as a debater?” The answer to that question has been answered. Not only did he improve but he was exceedingly good.Those topics were on the agenda February 25, in Charleston, when the Democratic Debate # 10 took place.Before we opine on what happened since the February 19 Nevada debate, and during the lead-up to the one in Carolina, a brief review of how the hopefuls, in my opinion, did when they were making their case in the city of Lost Wages.
Here’s my take-away from the debate in the gambling capital of the U.S., where the word “never” is prohibited. (Remember when the National Football League said that it would never” permit a team to move to Las Vegas? Maybe that’s not a good example because the NFL always lies).
As expected, all the candidates attacked Bloomberg, probably envious of his success as a businessman. The former NYC mayor responded that he’s the only person on the stage that has started a business and is giving away the profits from it.
- The most vicious attacks on Bloomberg were by Sen. Warren, who also seemed the most desperate, probably because her hope of winning the nomination is fading away.
- Former veep Biden, as usual, presented a cafeteria style of reasons that he said made him the best qualified candidate.
- Sen. Klobuchar was her usual confident self; nothing outlandish, nothing new.
- Mayor Pete, as usual, came across as Mr. Perfect, as if only he has the leadership qualities to lead the country. In fact. Sen. Klobuchar chided Mayor Pete by saying no one is as perfect as you are. (It would be unfair to say that mayor Pete has the biggest ego of the candidates. Anyone who thinks they have the ability to run the country has to have an over-sized ego. But because of his demeanor when speaking about other candidates Mayor Pete’s ego is always on display.)
- Surprisingly, early in the debate, Sen. Klobuchar, Biden and Mayor Pete ganged up on Sen. Sanders, regarding his health plan.
- Mayor Bloomberg uttered the most intelligent remark of the debate, when he said the entire discussion was ridiculous. All it does is help re-elect Trump. Whether you agree or not about Bloomberg’s other answers, an unbiased person would have to admit that they were well thought out, unlike the usual attack gibberish that has become the norm of the other candidates, with the exception of Sen. Klobuchar, who is always well-spoken.
- As usual, Sen. Sanders had the most consistent message, as he has had since the first debate.
But the big question everyone wanted answered was, “How would Bloomberg handle the incoming flak?”
He handled it fine, in my unbiased opinion. When criticized, he didn’t immediately start waving his hands or interrupting others, like Sen. Warren, to defend his position. He waited until it was his turn to speak before correcting mischaracterizations about him. He, and Sen. Klobuchar, acted like the adults in the room. But unlike Sen. Klobucher, Bloomberg’s comments were based on facts, instead of generalizations.If I had to choose the debate winner, it would be Bloomberg because the others were even worse. (Okay, maybe I am the only person in the universe who didn’t think the former NYC mayor was worse than horrible. It wasn’t surprising that the self-anointed cable TV political experts couldn’t drop the story line about Bloomberg’s bad performance; if they don’t have anyone to criticize they don’t have a program. But to say that any candidate is severely damaged because of one or two debates in 2020 is as ridiculous as the cablests’ 2016 comments about Hillary being a sure winner, or their more recent “you can bet the farm” analysis that Joe Biden was sure to easily win the nomination.) I awarded the Nevada debate to the Democrats and said they now had a debate advantage of 5-4 over President Trump.(Re the above: All of the candidates were terrible, with many of them barely hanging on until they reached what they consider the promised land, the South Carolina. primary on February 29. Some seemed desperate to prevent the inevitable – that they are not going to achieve their egotistical goal –the presidency of the United States.)The attack by Democrats on Democrats only helps one person – President Trump. I might award individual debates to the Democrats, but in the aggregate the damage they have done to each other might bedifficult to overcome. Only Trump’s consistently revengeful, totalitarian- behavior keeps the Democrats close. While I give the Democrats a 5-4 debate lead, it's only because of Trump's behavior. If Trump didn't act like the egotistical, depraved person he is, I would have him leading 9-0.Biden, in particular, should not attack others for their views, given his sorry performance as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 1991Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings and his subsequent vote to authorize the Iraq War.It’s true that I’ve written that it’s what candidates stand for today, not in year’s past that should be the deciding factor. But if Biden will not accept Bloomberg’s apology for past actions, whey should anyone accept Biden’s?
Did anything happen after the Nevada debate and before the South Carolina one on February 25? Yes, some were the same old, same old. However, there were also significant new occurrences.
The Old: The day after the debate, Sens. Warren and Sanders, continued attacking Bloomberg. (They would attack a rock, if they thought it blocked their way to the presidency. Attacking a front runner means to many people that they are afraid of the person and Bloomberg wasn’t the front-runner on February 19. But still they were afraid of him.The New: The day after the debate, three Democratic House members came out in support of Bloomberg.The Buck Stops With Me: Bloomberg said he is responsible for the problems he had in the Nevada debate, and the advice he received should not be blamed.Offering To Disclose The Non-Disclosures: Bloomberg said that he was releasing three women from the non-disclosure agreements regarding the sexual harassment or discrimination suits filed against him over the last three decades. He also said, “I’ve decided that for as long as I’m running Bloomberg LP, we won’t offer confidentiality agreements to resolve claims of sexual harassment or misconduct going forward. This goes the same for our campaign.”The Unexpected: All the Democratic candidates received a surprise gift, from of all people President Trump on February 20, when it was revealed that he tried to keep an intelligence report saying that the Russians were interfering in the 2020 election from Congress and the public (which certainly will keep the Mueller Report in play during the campaign).The Questionable: As his support with African-American voters has diminished, Biden has been telling the story of how he was arrested on a trip to South Africa in the 1970s, when he attempted to visit Nelson Mandela in prison, according to a New York Times story on February 22. Problem, according to the Times' article, is that Biden, a U.S. Senator at the time, didn’t mention the episode in a 2007 memoir, has not spoken prominently about it until his support with black voters has dropped, and a check on news accounts by the Times of Biden’s visit to South Africa did not mention any arrests. The Times story quoted Andrew Young, the former congressman, Atlanta mayor and ambassador to the United Nations, who traveled to South Africa with Biden as sying, “No, I was never arrested and I don’t think he was, either.” (Young is supporting Bloomberg for president.) Former Senator Gary Hart said, “I know nothing about that,” and former Senator Bob Kerrey (a Biden supporter), told the Times that he never heard the story before.What To Do?: With Sen. Sanders convincing victory in the Nevada caucuses, it’s time for the liberal moderates (Sen. Klobuchar, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg) to face the inevitable and throw their support to one liberal moderate if they want to prevent the nomination from going to Sanders, the far- left Democratic candidate, (but not a Socialist in the true meaning of the word; you can look it up). And they better do so before March 3, Super Tuesday.Another One For The Books? "Read my lips: no new taxes" was spoken by then- presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican Convention. But in 1990 he supported raising taxes and doing so contributed to his losing reelection in 1992. Will Sen. Sanders praising Fidel Castro’s literacy program also be detrimental to the candidate? Too early to tell, but it definitely can’t help.
What Happened During The South Carolina Debate?
(The debaters were the usual suspects: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, plus novice debater Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, who missed the Nevada one.)Here are what I considered the highlights:
- The Democratic candidates’ attacks on each other continued. It’s as if they’ve taken a “how to Master’s Class” in insults, belittling each other, half-truths, whole lies, exaggerating accomplishments and demagoguery from President Trump.
- As expected, because of his leading the pack, Sen. Sanders played the role of the piñata this time. He was as usual attacked by all the candidates because of hi health plan. This time his positive remarks about Fidel Castro's literacy program also drew incoming fire.
- Former Mayor Bloomberg was, perhaps, the best on the stage. He answered all questions with details instead of generalities. He also was the first to attack President Trump, doing so the first time he spoke.
- Sen. Warren again thought she has a winning strategy by attacking Bloomberg because of the non-disclosure agreements issues, even though the three women who signed them are free to talk about them because Bloomberg has released them from the agreements.
- Biden refused to say if he would drop out of the race if he failed to win the South Carolina primary.
- Mayor Pete emphasized that this election was more than just about the presidency. That a candidate who could help the Democrats take control of the Senate and keep control of the House must be considered.
This was the last debate before Super Tuesday. But there are still three factors that can affect the vote:
- The analysis of how the debaters did by the TV pundits, which, unfortunately, can sway the decision of people who can’t think for themselves.
- The efficacy of the candidates’ campaigning until the vote.
- And the most important: How people actually vote.
My Take:
If Sen. Sanders is elected president, he’ll not be the first chief executive who espouses a semi-Socialist agenda. Many voters are too young to remember, or are too ignorant of our history, to know that we’ve already had such a person. His name was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was elected four times and is always considered by historians as one the best presidents (and denounced by Republicans for his programs as a Socialist or worse). Even as I write this, they are still attempting to do away with many of his accomplishments.There will be a slew of Democratic primaries in March, beginning with Super Tuesday, March 3, and ending on March 29 with the Puerto Rico primary. Unless some candidates can control their egos and drop out in early March, or before, in political history books the Ides of March will refer to the 2020 Democratic primary field, with candidates including Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete, all playing the role of Brutus. The title of this column is Democratic Debate #10. A more accurate title would be Democratic Debacle # 10. What this debate, as did all the previous ones, show is that all the candidates have some Trumpish aspects. Instead of doing what’s best to defeat Trump, the candidates are doing what’s best to defeat their opponents. As Trump does what’s best for him, the Democratic candidates are doing what’s best for themselves. Many, but not Sen. Warren and Joe Biden, both of whom I originally supported, although I backed Biden because I thought he had the best chance of defeating Trump, not because of his senatorial record, should have called it quits before they started. It’s obvious that doing what’s best for themselves tops anything else. There are only two candidates that deserve my admiration – Sen. Sanders and Bloomberg: Sanders because he is the only candidate who has not altered is beliefs, despite continuous attacks from his opponents, (although having a president without flexibility is not the greatest of ideas) and Bloomberg, who said from the outset he’s spending his money for one purpose, defeating President Trump, and will continue to do so even if he is not the nominee. As long as he’s in the race, count me in the Bloomberg camp, although I reserve the right to change my mind if new candidates emerge.Sen. Warren, my original choice for the presidency, lost me because of her vicious attacks on Bloomberg, who has done more to defeat President Trump than all the other candidates combined. Biden lost me because if he has expressed any new ideas in the last 30 years, I must have missed them. Specifically, I’m tired of him saying that “President Obama trusted me and all the diplomats around the world know me.” So what?Another reason for my abandoning the Warren campaign: Her continuing attacks on Bloomberg re his employees who signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). With so many more important problems facing the country, Warren has exposed herself to be like most other politicians – switching campaign approaches as needed, even if the new approaches are minor compared to the problems most Americans face daily.Remember what Michelle Obama kept saying in the 2016 presidential campaign about Donald Trump? ‘When they go low, we go high.” Trump is certain to go low again in this campaign, because that is what low life’s do. Who ever the Democratic candidate is must be able to take Trump’s insults and throw them back at him. Thus far, only Sen. Warren, Michael Bloomberg, Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff have demonstrated the ability to match Trump blow by blow. As former baseball manager Leo Durocher said, “Nice guys finish last” The Democratic candidate must remember that, instead of turning the other cheek.Why people should not rely on cable TV for their political knowledge: Since the beginning of the primary season, and for months prior, the cableists have been reporting on the national polls. But recent history shows they do not mean much. Just ask Hillary Clinton and Al Gore, both of whom received more votes nationally than their opponents.The winner depends on the outcome in 50 individual state elections, but a viewer not knowledgeable about politics would not have known that from watching cable TV.Thomas Perez, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, should resign and if he doesn’t should be fired for arranging so many debates. If he didn’t expect the candidates to attack each other viciously when he agreed to the cable TV shows, that’s another reason for his dismissal.Re: After the Democratic debate comments from the TV cableists: They will denigrate the performance of any candidate if it fits into their narrative. Without controversy, they would not have audiences. A good example: They all thought that Bloomberg was terrible during the Nevada debate. Obviously, not everyone agreed. After the debate Bloomberg picked up three new endorsement s from Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Nita Lowey (N.Y.) and Pete Aguilar (Calif.) At that time, the former New York City Mayor only trailed Biden in Congressional support. But the three Reps. don’t have an always open mike, and don’t have to issue statements to attract TV viewers in order to keep their jobs. Disregard the TV talking head comments. Think for yourself.The Nevada debate was the most-watched Democratic presidential debate in history. About 33 million TV and online streaming viewers, tuned in. That might be good news for NBC and MSNBC, but it was bad news for the Democrats. All the viewers witnessed were a bunch of egotistical candidates attacking each other, some viciously, led by Sen. Warren, and claiming, “I’m better than you.” Lacking, except for Bloomberg, was any coherent vision of defeating Trump in November.Remember the following when watching the cable TV political shows: Their main goal is to create excitement and gain viewers. Take whatever their pundits and hosts say with a grain of, “what’s the rest of the story.”My Case For Bloomberg: Actually, if the nomination was given on merit, Bloomberg would be the clear winner. He accomplished what the other candidates only talk about, providing thousand of jobs, when he accomplished what was said to be impossible in our today journalism age – creating an international news service. Unlike the other candidates who berated the former NYC mayor, Bloomberg deserves much credit for helping the Democrats regain control of the House in 2018 by giving generously to the Democratic party and to candidates’’ campaigns. Add to that the millions of dollars he has given to liberal political and social causes and charitable organizations that help people and no one comes close. Despite what the other candidates say, since when is being a successful honest, wealthy business person a crime in America. Importantly, unlike Biden and Sen. Sanders, Bloomberg is the only candidate to publicly say he was wrong about past happenings. Sen. Warren has a plan to correct everything a person can think of. But Mr. Bloomberg has a long record of providing substantial funding for programs that help people.In my opinion, with millions of people not being able to afford suitable shelter, have a livable salary, find a job commensurate with their ability, get optimum medical care, buy healthy food, and feeling unsafe when they walk the streets, if Ms. Warren thinks her non-disclosure issue is a reason for viciously attacking an individual who has for years used so much of his fortune to help people, that shows me that Ms. Warren is out-of-step with the country she wants to lead. Note to Sen. Warren. I don’t like people who attack other people viciously for their own benefit. Perhaps you’ve been learning from Bernie Sanders supporters, or watching Fox News, or tuning in Trump rallies, or studying his tweets. I’m suspicious of the motives of politicians who abandon their previous talking points and resort to attacking others in order to attain power, because I believe as Lord Acton, the English politician wrote, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (My first job in public relations was with a political firm, where I worked on local, state and presidential campaigns. The owner of the firm once told me, “When any politician suddenly changes approaches and wants to win at all costs, that’s a politician you shouldn’t trust or support.”)While I think Mike Bloomberg would be the strongest Democratic candidate, I’m not one of those people who say that Sen. Sanders can’t beat Donald Trump. Sanders is very popular with many Democrats and his message of doing what’s best for all Americans, instead of only the very wealthy, and wanting economic and social justice for the forgotten Americans (similar in ways to what Trump said in 2016) can attract independents and disgruntled voters who feel Trump’s policies veer to the wealthy.Important PR Lesson # 1: All the PR crises expertise that money can buy can’t stop negative press coverage. Just ask Bloomberg after his debate debut in Nevada.Important PR Lesson # 2: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” as Robert Burns wrote in his poem, “To a Mouse.” Just ask Biden. So be careful of what you promise a client.Important PR Lesson #3: Biden’s and Sen. Warren’s dismal showings in the early voting and caucusing states, show why the savvy account supervisor should always have a back-up plan that can be instituted immediately if the original one fails. (Changing account handlers is not a back-up plan.)As they have since the first debate, the Democratic candidates engaged in parricide. But because of President’s Trump’s actions I’m again saying that the Democrats won.The debate score is now Democrats’ 6, Trump 4, not because of the Democrats’ actions, but because of Trump’s demented behavior.But unless the Democrats clean up their act fast, they will have no chance to defeat the Republican’s Trump-Putin ticket in the general election.
About the Author: Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller, and was responsible for restructuring, managing and playing key roles in some of the most significant national and international sports and non-sports programs. He also traveled internationally as a media adviser to high-ranking government officials. He now is a frequent contributor to public relations publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at arthursolomon4pr (at) juno.com or artsolomon4pr@optimum.net.
