Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren greet each other at the start of the Democratic Presidential Debate at the Fox Theatre July 30, 2019. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Opinion editorial by WBZ NewsRadio political analyst Jon Keller
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — All of a sudden, tonight’s Democratic presidential candidate debate promises to be a lot more interesting than we thought, courtesy of the apparent end of the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren non-aggression pact.
In case you missed it, Politico reported on a Sanders campaign script for volunteers calling voters where they were instructed to disparage Warren as a candidate who could only attract “highly educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what” but not new voters.
Sanders claimed he didn’t know about the script and called it a mistake, but Warren hung it on him, saying she was “disappointed” that Bernie was “sending his volunteers out to trash [her].”
And yesterday, Buzzfeed reported three people recalling being told by Warren after she met with Bernie in December 2018 to discuss their political plans that he told her a woman couldn’t beat Trump in 2020.
Bernie denies it but also confirms he told Warren Trump was a sexist who would “weaponize whatever he could.”
Got all that?
Here’s the bottom line: these are the two most popular candidates of the party’s left wing, and there’s room for just one of them.
They may have laid off each other until now in public, but it’s survival of the fittest time, and voters aren’t looking for a nominee who turns the other cheek.
Whoever wins the nomination is going to be subjected to unprecedented attack, and they’d better be ready, willing and able to respond in kind.
Think of tonight as an audition for a Texas steel cage wrestling match – no pacifists need apply.
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You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday mornings at :55 minutes past the hour. Listen to his previous podcasts on iHeartRadio.