Wednesday, February 19, the six leading Democratic candidates took part in the Democratic Debate, in Nevada, hosted by MSNBC. With the introduction of former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to the stage, this debate was destined for controversy.

The already divided Democratic party may have been left even worse off than they were coming into the debate. The Democrats repeatedly went after each other all night, ranging from the topics of Bloomberg’s past interactions with women, to Medicare, all the way to socialist Bernie Sanders’ collection of homes.

The theme of attacking Bloomberg was constant throughout the night. These attacks were highlighted by Elizabeth Warren’s comment at the beginning of the debate: “So I’d like to talk about who we’re running against . . . And, no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.”

The Medicare debate was divided. Bernie Sanders defended his Medicare-for-all plan but never explained how he would go about funding the obviously costly plan. Warren went after Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Sanders’ plans aggressively but never took the time to explain her own plan past a brief, vague statement saying, “We need as much help, for as many people, as quickly as possible.” She called Buttigieg’s plan a “power-point”, Klobuchar’s a “post-it note” and attacked Sanders’ plan, essentially saying that he and his team have not spent enough time making the actual plan itself. Bloomberg and former Vice President Joe Biden both said that they supported the Affordable Bill Act and suggested a similar bill should be passed.

Bloomberg called out the self-proclaimed “Democratic-Socialist” Sanders for owning three homes, Buttigieg mocked Klobuchar for not knowing who the President of Mexico is and Biden once again talked about how he was Vice President under President Obama.

The shots Warren took early seem to leave bad tastes in all of the candidates’ mouths, causing a debate that looked more like a boxing match than a formal political debate. This behavior continued throughout the night as candidates continuously bashed each other every chance they had. This lackluster performance from the candidates leaves many voters wondering if there is even a front-runner right now in the party. Many argue that if the Democrats want to have a chance of beating the incumbent President Donald Trump in November, the party must act swiftly to find common ground and unify.

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