Bloomberg campaign manager: 'Mike's got to get his legs under him'
February 20, 2020
Mike Bloomberg's campaign manager conceded Thursday that the former New York mayor struggled to counter blows from his fellow Democratic presidential candidates at his first primary debate — acknowledging that "Mike's got to get his legs under him" as the nominating contest wears on.
"Certainly he had a better second half of the debate than the first, I will admit that," Kevin Sheekey told MSNBC, noting that Wednesday night's forum in Las Vegas marked Bloomberg's first debate performance since he sought a third term as mayor in 2009.
"You know, he got his legs quickly in the second half, and I think people recognized that," Sheekey continued. "He's competing against career politicians who have spent the entirety of the last year and, quite frankly, most of their lives doing exactly what they saw last night."
The frank appraisal from the top staffer on Bloomberg's campaign came hours after the billionaire businessman was throttled on stage by five other White House contenders over his mayoral record, treatment of women in the workplace, vast personal fortune and various other contentious issues.
Sheekey granted Thursday that Bloomberg's team "need[s] to push back a little harder against" the candidate's rivals and "get Mike's record out there better than we did last night."
He insisted, however, that Bloomberg "wasn't frazzled" by the onslaught, and asserted that "fundamentally, I don't really see a change" in the dynamics of the race as a result of the debate.
Sheekey also cautioned that "this fight has just started" and confirmed that Bloomberg would go on to participate in the next debate Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina.
"I think he's got his legs underneath him. And, like, you know, listen, I welcome them for the Bronx cheer they gave us last night," Sheekey said. "But I think that, you know, Mike will be back. And then I think this is a campaign that right now is just getting interesting."
In a sign of its eagerness to move past the rash of negative headlines that accompanied Bloomberg's debate debut, the campaign rolled out Thursday three new Democratic congressional endorsements.
Reps. Pete Aguilar of California and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey announced they would back Bloomberg's presidential bid, as will Nita Lowey, the long-serving New York lawmaker who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
