By, Michelle D. Bernard

‘It was the most undignified, unpresidential presidential debate in the history of the country’

It was the most undignified, unpresidential presidential debate in the history of the country. The moderator appeared impotent in his ability to wrangle and control of Trump and, at times, Biden. Trump was like a wild beast, relentlessly charging his opponent and the moderator. In between lies, name calling and dog whistling, he told the world all we needed to know about him: He is not the president of all Americans. He is the president of those who would deny American women the right to choose. He is the president of those who would deny health care to millions of Americans. He is the president of those who equate democratic norms with socialism. He is the president of those who don’t believe in science. He is the president of those who believe that those who died in war are “losers” and “suckers.” And, he is the president of those who refuse to condemn white supremacists, who refuse to say that Black lives matter, and who believe that the killing of unarmed black women and men under the guise of “law and order” is an act of patriotism.

After Tuesday night, the American people may very well declare, “A pox on presidential debates! Give me Biden or give me Netflix.”

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author, and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

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Published in Politico Magazine, March 16, 2020

By, Michelle D. Bernard

For Bernie Sanders, the 11th Democratic primary debate was Custer’s Last Stand.

And Sanders was Custer.

It was the effective end of democratic socialism.

As with Custer, in the short term, many will romanticize Sanders’ loss. They will see him as their Robin Hood—the man who asked important questions about the “corporate elite”; vilified billionaires; advocated for “Medicare for All,” free college, the “Green New Deal” and “workplace democracy.” At first, maybe even for decades, some of his supporters may demand revenge for his defeat. Some may refuse to support Biden and the Democratic Party. Some may stay home on Election Day. Others may vote for Trump. Many will forever see him as a heroic man of the people, victimized by the Democratic establishment.

However, today, tomorrow, and possibly 100 years from now, the history books may see things quite differently than some of today’s Sanders supporters do.

Sanders was defeated in a debate at a time when everything the United States stands for and stands to lose is at stake. The nation is in the midst of a pandemic. Schools and businesses are shuttering their doors. Many Americans lack health insurance or are underinsured. Closures and shutdowns may be imminent. Jobs will be lost. Homes may be lost. Countless lives are at stake.

Add to this the changing demographics of the country; the gender gap; the thousands of women and people of color painfully aggrieved by the losses of Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang to two septuagenarian white men; and the extraordinary pragmatism of the members of the Democratic Party who can be relied upon to stand in line for as many hours as it takes to vote.

And add to this Biden’s unequivocal commitment to name a female running mate if nominated; his pragmatism; his understanding of what would have happened to America’s workforce if Wall Street had not been bailed out in 2008; his willingness to enlist the Army in building 500-bed hospitals to confront the coronavirus; his willingness to reach out to the progressive left on issues like Sanders’ plan to make public colleges and universities free for certain families; and his place in our nation’s history as a white man who stood behind the nation’s first African American president through thick and thin. And Sanders no longer looks like a hero, but more like a man who was misguided by hubris and led his army to a resounding defeat.

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

The post The 11th Democratic Presidential Primary Debate: “Bernie’s Last Stand.” appeared first on Bernard Center.

Published in Politico Magazine, 02/26/2020 01:41 AM EST

By, Michelle D. Bernard

In the wake of Sanders’ decisive victory in Nevada with a broad coalition that included the largest number of nonwhite voters in the state, I could see why so many “feel the Bern.” I saw why so many Americans of every race, ethnicity, sex, gender and religion support Sanders’ bid for the presidency. I saw a man who appears to understand the fears, hopes and dreams of all Americans in a way that we have not seen since Barack Obama left office.

Then, I watched Tuesday’s Democratic debate.

What a mess.

It was exhausting. At times, I felt as if I was watching a team of 5-year-old kids peacocking for attention. They raised their hands incessantly, talked over and interrupted one another frequently, and ignored the questions they were asked to discuss whatever they felt like discussing. Bloomberg even delivered an incredibly bizarre joke about the Naked Cowboy that no one outside New York could have comprehended.

It was impossible for any of the candidates to even begin to pretend to look presidential in an atmosphere so focused on pummeling one another at any cost.

So, in this very unpresidential presidential debate, the winners were Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Sanders, Steyer and Warren. The losers were Biden, Klobuchar and, quite possibly, the Democratic Party.

On issues of racial and economic justice, Steyer really stood out. His statements on these issues gave him standing with the African American community that he probably hasn’t enjoyed to date. For the first time over the many weeks of debates, he made us want to listen to and believe in him.

As always, Warren was superior on issues of gender, racial and economic justice. However, Tuesday’s attack on Bloomberg didn’t seem to resonate with the audience and may have caused her campaign more harm than good. Bloomberg does not appear to be a Harvey Weinstein, and the allegation made against him and voiced in the debate will inevitably be investigated. If it proves to be inaccurate, Warren’s attack on Bloomberg may hurt her campaign and the #MeToo movement. If it turns out to be accurate, Bloomberg will be out of the race.

Bloomberg’s discussion about his experience with charter schools in New York was a beautiful symphony for the ears of the thousands of people of color who are advocates of school choice. His work in creating Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety are huge feathers in his cap, but his ability to get things done may not be enough for him to dispel the myth that he is a Republican in Democratic clothing.

Biden and Klobuchar were fine, but fine isn’t good enough. They just didn’t rise to a level that seems capable of putting together a coalition close to anything that will be needed to win the 2020 election. If Biden or Klobuchar loses South Carolina, their campaigns will effectively be taken off life support.

The Democratic Party has changed drastically before our very eyes. The caucuses in Nevada proved that a large swath of Democrats of every demographic believe in and want all of the things that Sanders and Warren are promising. The phrase “democratic socialist” doesn’t frighten many of them. However, no matter how boring he was in demeanor, Bloomberg was correct when he declared that the country just can’t afford many of the things that are being promised. Most Americans must know that a wealth tax will not propel a Democrat into the White House; that there will never be government-mandated free tuition for public colleges and universities; and that capitalism is as American as apple pie.

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

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By, Michelle D. Bernard, Published in POLITICO MAGAZINE

02/20/2020 01:50 AM EST

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

After 10 weeks of hype, millions of dollars spent on ads, endorsements from highly respected members of the African American community and a double-digit surge in the polls, we learned that Bloomberg does not deserve any of the African American support he has received to date. From stop and frisk to overt and unapologetic sexism, the former mayor appears to be nothing more than Trump bathed in blue.

I watched this heavily anticipated debate wondering whether Bloomberg and his billions can beat Trump and herald in an era of racial, gender and religious justice—all casualties of Trump’s presidency. Bloomberg failed miserably.

It doesn’t matter how many African Americans of note endorse him. In his debate performance and his failure to respond to questions about stop and frisk and discrimination against communities of color, Bloomberg gave me no reason to believe that if elected, he would be any different than Trump. There was no real apology. No declaration of shame. No statement about the need for racial or gender justice.

In watching him on the debate stage, I saw only the faces of Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Atatiana Jefferson, Michael Brown, Natasha McKenna, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo and all of the other African Americans who have been persecuted by and lost their lives as a result of police violence. I saw all of the black boys and men in New York thrown up against walls, terrorized and searched repeatedly by NYPD because of a bigoted assumption by Bloomberg that brown skin is to be equated with criminality. In Bloomberg, I saw “Golfcart Gail,” “Permit Patty,” “BBQ Becky,” “Cornerstore Caroline,” and all of the white women who have called the police on black people for things like yelling instructions at their own child during a soccer match or charcoal grilling without a permit. And in Bloomberg, I saw white men scheming about ways to suppress the black vote and laughing behind the backs of women they “would do in a minute.”

The emperor has no clothes.

And then, there was Warren, who took one helluva a stand. She skewered Bloomberg, making sure that America knows that Bloomberg is no different than Trump, as evidenced by his reportedly calling women “fat broads” and “horsey faced lesbians.” On Bloomberg’s stop and frisk, Warren declared: “This isn’t about how stop and frisk turned out. This is about what it was designed to do to begin with. It targeted communities of color. It targeted black and brown men from the beginning.” She forced the issue of environmental justice and the impact of environmental policy on communities of color. She masterfully attacked the issue of nondisclosure agreements relating to the treatment of women in Bloomberg’s workforce, using the term “muzzle” in a way that any woman in the workplace could relate to. Warren dispelled any doubt that she can beat Trump, and she proved that she is everything women and communities of color could want in the next president of the United States.

This article appeared in Politico Magazine on February 20, 2020 at 01:50 AM EST

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Democratic Presidential Candidate former South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Friday, February 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola).

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

One week after Iowa, the winner of the night was ABC’s Linsey Davis. Her performance in the two debates she has co-moderated easily make her my top choice for our next commander in chief. She’s brilliant, no-nonsense, gets to the point, forces the candidates to answer the question asked and asks the questions that really matter to the American public. She is a woman who appears to be quite capable of beating Donald Trump. If only she were a Democratic candidate. Better yet, if only the DNC adopted rules that would allow a supremely qualified African American woman to take the stage. But it’s 2020, so despite my wishes, even if Davis could be coaxed into joining the madness that is the 2020 presidential campaign season, the DNC would have erased her as it did Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Julián Castro.

So, since she’s not a candidate, it looks like the winner of the night was—(think obligatory drum roll here)—Buttigieg. And possibly Sanders followed by Klobuchar.

As for Biden, it’s not looking good at all. In fact, it’s looking really, really bad. The Obama magic seems to work only when Biden is standing literally next to Barack Obama. In Obama’s absence, substance aside, there is a certain “je ne sais quoi” about Biden that doesn’t seem to bode well for 2020.

Back to Buttigieg: Maybe it’s the Opie Taylor thing he has going on. Whatever it is, at least for the time being, it’s working. On every issue raised, he consistently delivered a message that combined empathy, respect for the American people and hope for the future that the other candidates just miss the mark in expressing. When he spoke of Medicare, I actually wanted to listen. When the others spoke about Medicare, I wanted to turn off the television. It was like this for every issue discussed over the course of the near-three-hour debate. Maybe the key to 2020 is not beating Donald Trump at his own game. It’s beating him by giving all Americans someone and something to believe in again.

This article originally appeared in Politico Magazine on February 8, 2020.

The post The 8th Democratic Presidential Primary Debate: “Maybe It’s the Opie Taylor Thing He Has Going On” appeared first on Bernard Center.

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

By Michelle D. Bernard, Published in POLITICO MAGAZINE

01/15/2020 02:42 AM EST

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

Anne O’Hare McCormick, the renowned foreign news correspondent and a woman ahead of her time, once said: “The real test of power is not capacity to make war, but capacity to prevent it.” It is through this lens that I believe many Americans viewed Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate. Foreign policy and what U.S.-Iranian relations will look like in 2020 and beyond were the only issues of any consequence.

If I were a betting woman, I would argue that in the wake of the killing earlier this month of General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike, Iran’s subsequent attack of the Ayn Al Asad airbase in Iraq and the threat of a looming war with Iran, most Americans couldn’t care less whether Sanders told Warren that a woman can’t be elected as president of the United States. This sentiment probably goes equally for women and men.

In this time, when Americans worry about the possibility of a retaliatory strike by Iran or war, raising this issue looked like throwing spaghetti at the wall, hoping it would stick and that American women would look at Sanders as a buffoon and cast their ballots for Warren simply to prove him wrong and punish him.

For any American woman whose only 2020 concern is to elect a woman as the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss is more than enough reason to cast a ballot for Warren or Klobuchar, the two women on Tuesday night’s debate stage. What was said between Warren and Sanders in a private meeting will not be the issue that gets a woman elected in 2020.

At this moment in time, there are more important questions that transcend any voting gender gap. Who will keep us safe? Who will protect our nation and our democracy? Who will protect the lives of our troops? Who will protect our sons and daughters from an unnecessary war with Iran? Who has the foreign policy experience, ego and self-restraint necessary to prevent an unnecessary war? Looking through this lens, the clear winner is Biden. In this unfortunate era of zealotry both in the White House and in Iran, Biden’s calm and professorial demeanor was soothing. He was the dignified, restrained and highly knowledgeable foreign-policy statesman that the country yearns for. Biden was the candidate who appeared to have the best capacity to prevent war. In the scope of things, nothing else mattered.

This article originally appeared in Politico Magazine on January 15, 2020.

The post The 7th 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate: “The Clear Winner Is Biden” appeared first on Bernard Center.

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

Remember #OscarsSoWhite? I’m now thinking, #DebateSoWhite!

The contrast in the demographic makeup of those who made it to Thursday night’s debate stage as opposed to those who stood there only a few short weeks ago was enough to give viewers a near fatal case of whiplash. And as Yang—the one person of color who did make it to the debate stage—suggested, one could not help but watch the debate and ask how he made it when Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Julián Casto were all unable to reach the promised land. The debate stage was not reflective of Barack Obama’s America, and the country is less fortunate because of it.

It was difficult to visualize any of the candidates who graced the stage doing battle with Donald Trump. There were simply too many arguments that seemed either trivial or coarse, especially in light of the fact that for only the third time in our nation’s history, a president of the United States was impeached, only 24 hours earlier.

Yes, the love affair between Biden and Sanders was endearing. Klobachar going on offense against Buttigieg was interesting. Steyer’s necktie appeared to shout, “Hey, don’t forget about me!” Warren was Warren. And Yang had the only satisfying answer about the lack of people of color on the debate stage.

But at the end of the night, Donald Trump seemed to have won Thursday night’s debate.

I’m guessing that, like me, many Americans missed the fire and the hope that candidates like Harris, Booker, Castro, and—dare I say—even Marianne Williamson brought to past debates. No, we don’t need to go back to a stage that includes every candidate running for the nomination, but the Democrats do need a debate stage with candidates that not only look like America, but also look like they can do battle with Donald Trump, or at least go down fighting to the end like Russell Crowe’s character did in the movie “Gladiator.”

The Democrats have to know that they must do better in 2020.

Originally published in Politico Magazine, December 20, 2019 02:10 AM EST.

The post The 6th 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate: #DebateSoWhite appeared first on Bernard Center.

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at the fifth 2020 campaign debate in Atlanta, Georgia, November 20, 2019. © Reuters / Brendan McDermid

By Michelle D. Bernard, Published in Politico Magazine

11/21/2019 02:36 AM EST

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

Harris won the debate when she fired off these seventeen words:

“A criminal is living in the White House,”

“Justice is on the ballot,” and

“Show up for me.”

I make this bold statement despite whatever conventional wisdom may say tomorrow. I make this statement not as a fellow graduate of Howard University, as a fellow lawyer, a friend of Harris, or even as the daughter of immigrants to the United States (both of my parents were born and raised in Jamaica).

I watched the fifth Democratic presidential debate through the lens of a black woman, a feminist, an independent voter and as an individual who believes deeply in social, racial and gender justice, religious freedom, and the free market.

Like women across the country, I watched as someone who believes firmly that all issues are women’s issues and was thrilled to watch a debate hosted solely by an all-female panel of moderators addressing issues that ran the gamut from national security to the environment to health care reform. But I also watched as a mother who has watched every hour of the impeachment hearings with thoughts about what our great nation has become since the 2016 presidential election.

So, I watched with no passion about most of what was said by most of the candidates for the first 90 minutes of the debate. I watched the 2020 Democratic contenders who made it to the debate stage located in a movie studio built by Tyler Perry, a black man, on land in the heart of Dixie, wondering who was going to show up for the black women who will vote to elect the next president of the United States—to keep our children alive; keep us safe from death at the hands of police; appropriately punish the likes of women (and men) who have come to be known in our community as “Barbeque Becky,” “Permit Patty,” and “Cornerstore Caroline”; protect the rights of black and brown people to vote; push for criminal justice reform, judges and a justice system dedicated to the rule of law and justice for all; advocate for reproductive rights, protection from sexual violence, the rights of the LGBTQ community and freedom from religious bigotry; and protect the United States Constitution and our democracy from the White House’s current inhabitant. After all, our democracy was built with the blood, sweat and tears of black men and black women.

Iowa and New Hampshire polls aside, middle America aside, and Trump supporters aside, the next president of the United States could be elected largely by black women and Wednesday night, Senator Harris was the only candidate who showed up for us.

Originally Published in Politico Magazine, November 21, 2019

The post The 5th 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate: Kamala Harris Showed Up for Black Women appeared first on Bernard Center.

AP Photo/John Minchillo

By Michelle D. Bernard, Published in Politico Magazine, October 16, 2019

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

Rather than who lost Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, one couldn’t help but think about who and what was lost. Black women and any substantive discussion of the hundreds of black women nationwide who have been, and continue to be, victims of police brutality were painfully absent from any substantive discussion.

Black women like 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson of Fort Worth, Texas, who, while babysitting her nephew, was shot to death in her own home on Saturday by a white police officer. Black women like Korryn Gaines, 23, who in 2016 was shot to death in her home near Baltimore after Facebook and Instagram deactivated her accounts at the request of the police department whose officers she was filming trying to serve her with a warrant related to a traffic violation. And black women like Sandra Bland, 28, who in 2015 was found hanged in a jail cell in Waller, Texas, three days after being arrested during a dispute over a minor traffic violation.

Castro raised the shooting death of Jefferson in the context of gun reform, and Harris touched on the numbers of black men who have died as a result of gun violence. However, coming on the heels of the shooting death of Jefferson just four days ago, the issue of police violence against black women and girls should have been a major issue in Tuesday’s debate, not just as a brief mention in a larger discussion about gun violence.

In an era when black women are arguably the most important voting bloc in the nation, it seems foolhardy that the candidates didn’t find an opportunity to discuss the issue in depth. If the Democrats are to win this election, it will not be by flipping Trump voters; it will be because they gave their own side reasons to leave home or work, go to the polls, possibly fight off attempts to suppress their votes, stand in long lines and vote in droves. And in the 2020 primaries in the South, a Democratic victory cannot be had without the votes of black women.

Published in Politico Magazine, October 16, 2019.

The post The 4th 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate—Black Women, and Victims of Police Brutality, Were Ignored Again. appeared first on Bernard Center.

M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

By Michelle D. Bernard, Published in Politico Magazine, June 27, 2019

Kamala Harris won—and black women did too.
Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

Fifty years after the election of Shirley Chisholm as the first African-American woman to serve in Congress and to run for president, Kamala Harris made history on Thursday, clearly winning the Democratic debate. With her win, black women won too—and won in ways that no one could have predicted just 24 hours ago.

From the beginning to the end of the debate, Harris was poised, controlled, passionate and combative enough to make clear that she can go to battle against Trump and win. From the economy to immigration to racial and gender justice to how a Democrat will govern with a Republican-led Senate, Harris owned the stage. So much so, that at times it was easy to forget that Biden or Sanders, the front runners going into the evening, let alone any of the other candidates, were even there.

Early in the debate, Harris took control by bringing order to the stage when the other candidates were speaking over one another like children fighting over candy, saying, “Hey guys, you know what, America does not want to witness a food fight. They want to know how we’re going to put food on the table.” Harris showed no fear in attacking Donald Trump, reiterating that he is the greatest threat to the nation. On gun control, DACA and “releasing children from cages,” she told the country she would not hesitate to use executive action, answering the public’s question as to how a Democrat in the White House will get anything done with a Republican-led Senate.

Moreover, Harris embraced her blackness, describing the neighbor whose children were not allowed to play with her and her sister because they are black. She showed no fear or discomfort in volunteering the differences she had with the Obama-Biden administration on the deportation of undocumented immigrants, and she talked about the leadership she demonstrated when, as attorney general of California, she directed sheriffs to ignore the Obama administration’s policy of deporting the undocumented. She called Biden’s comments about his past working with two segregationist lawmakers “hurtful” and then accused him of opposing busing in order to integrate public schools, stating, “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day, and that little girl was me.” One couldn’t help but look at Biden and ask, “How could you?”

Published in Politico Magazine, October 16, 2019.

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