Our view: In his first debate, Mike didn’t get it done
Mike Bloomberg’s campaign has a simple message for Democrats. You might not like everything about him, but his centrist positions, résumé and bank account make him the ideal foe for Donald Trump this November.
As his campaign slogan goes: “Mike will get it done.”
On Wednesday night in Las Vegas, the former New York mayor took part in his first debate. Suffice it to say, Mike did not get it done.
He was repeatedly criticized for the stop-and-frisk policing policy he championed as mayor; for the misogynist culture at his financial information company; for his refusal to release female former employees from secret monetary settlements; and for a host of other issues. All night he struggled to answer tough questions he must have known were coming.
Even when not taking incoming rounds, Bloomberg was committing unforced errors. At one point, he correctly pointed out that general election voters do not share Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ affinity for socialism. But he squandered the moment by equating Sanders’ Scandinavian-style socialism with Soviet-style communism.
Bloomberg compounded the damage by referring at one point to the presidency as “a management job.” It is a management job, in part, but that’s not the piece you want to emphasize if you’ve already got a reputation as a charismatically challenged technocrat.
Bloomberg’s subpar performance stems directly from his strategy of trying to swoop in late, unscathed and loaded with advertising dollars to claim the nomination. The ads boosted his poll numbers to the point that he qualified for a high-stakes debate before he was ready. He left the impression of a ballplayer arriving for spring training while his opponents were already in midseason form.
Bloomberg has a chance to do better in the next debate, scheduled for Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina. But you only get one chance to make a first impression.
Bloomberg’s ubiquitous ads are spot on. They convey just the message a Trump opponent should have — that a Democratic president would fight to protect people’s health coverage and address climate change; that the rule of law is a sacred trust; and that competence and common decency need to be restored to Washington.
As Theodore Roosevelt once said, however, America does not champion those who criticize or opine from some comfortable perch. Rather, he said, “credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.”
That means getting out on the campaign trail, doing more interviews, appearing on the Sunday shows, holding rallies, meeting voters at diners and malls. If you’re going to get it done, you have to get out in the arena first.