The barbs flew at the Democrat debate on Wednesday and speculation about just who won and who lost continued long into the night, but for Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the more than $2 million dollars each raked in after the stage lights dimmed counted for just as much.
On the evidence, Warren’s supporters liked what they saw on the debate stage, including her blistering attack on Michael Bloomberg’s alleged racist and sexist past, as the candidate collected more than $2.8 million on Wednesday night — $425,000 in just 30 minutes, Vox reported:
Warren barely edged out fellow progressive Sanders in the fundraising race. Just after midnight, the Sanders campaign announced the Vermont senator had raised $2.7 million from nearly 150,000 individual donations — also their campaign’s best debate day.
These are impressive sums for both candidates, and they demonstrate the power of debates to help rally candidates’ bases — and help voters choose among them. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) New Hampshire debate performance a few weeks ago boosted her profile so much that she came in a very close third in that state’s primary behind Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
The mere presence of Bloomberg — a man who has spent more than $400 million of his own money in advertising to boost his national profile — seemed to shake progressive voters into action, given the numbers posted by Sanders and Warren.
And both Sanders and Warren used social media to get those donations.
The true test for these two candidates and the other four on the debate stage — Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, and Pete Buttigieg — will be the votes cast in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday.
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