Before Super Tuesday, four Democratic hopefuls make their final pitches in NC

Even as South Carolina voters reshaped the presidential race, Democratic candidates made a final weekend push in North Carolina ahead of a primary that already has seen record spending.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar spoke at a Democratic fundraiser in Charlotte Saturday night. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg held a town hall in Raleigh, where former Vice President Joe Biden had rallied supporters earlier — just hours before winning Saturday’s South Carolina primary. Buttigieg decided to leave the race Sunday, The New York Times and others reported.

Their appearances came days before North Carolina’s Super Tuesday primary. Only two states — California and Texas — have more delegates at stake.

Biden’s S.C. victory propels his campaign into Super Tuesday, even as businessman Tom Steyer dropped out after his loss in South Carolina. Polls have shown Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was in North Carolina on Thursday, locked in a tight race with Biden and Bloomberg in the state.

Bloomberg and Klobuchar spoke at the Blue NC Celebration, a party fundraiser that also featured national Democratic Chair Tom Perez, Gov. Roy Cooper and other statewide candidates.

Bloomberg, who also campaigned in Wilmington on Saturday, cast himself as the candidate “with the record and the resources to defeat (President Donald Trump) in the swing states Democrats lost in 2016.”

Bloomberg ridiculed Trump’s response to the coronavirus.

“He buried his head in the sand,” Bloomberg said. “He has even said it was a Democratic hoax . .. His incompetence really puts us all at risk.”

Earlier, Biden held a campaign rally at Raleigh’s St. Augustine’s University. He appeared to anticipate Saturday’s result.

“The full comeback starts in South Carolina,” Biden told a crowd. He went on to say, “This president is totally unmoored from reality and personally incapable of telling the truth. … The rest of the world wants to know what in God’s name is happening.”

Trump alluded to Bloomberg and Biden in a tweet about the S.C. primary.

“Sleepy Joe Biden’s victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg’s Joke of a campaign.,” he tweeted. “After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!”

‘The enormity of the moment’

Klobuchar cast herself as a centrist who can unite Americans.

“If you’re tired of the extremes in our politics you’ve got a home with me,” she said in Charlotte.

She also predicted for all their disagreements, Democratic candidates would unite. “Despite all these fights we’re going to have, what unites us is bigger than what divides us,” she said.

In Raleigh, Buttigieg spoke about the new approach he would bring. He dropped out Sunday after finishing fourth in the South Carolina primary.

“We cannot afford four more years of Donald Trump in this country,” Buttigieg told the cheering crowd. “We can’t go on with the politics that has us at each other’s throats, instead of having each other’s backs.”

In a statement, Trump Victory spokeswoman Samantha Cotten criticized the Democrats in Charlotte.

“While Michel Bloomberg buys Tom Perez and the DNC, Amy Klobuchar is desperately trying to appeal to anyone who will listen,” she said. “No Democrat, whether they buy the nomination or not, will beat President Trump in November.”

Some Democrats have expressed concern at the prospect of a Sanders nomination. State Sen. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte has called him “the riskiest possible approach to beating Trump.”

But Perez, the party chairman, downplayed those concerns.

“Everyone understands that Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in American history,” Perez told The Charlotte Observer Saturday night. “Everyone understands the enormity of the moment. We can survive four years of Donald Trump. I don’t know about eight.”

Record spending

The primary has seen a record $20.4 million spent in North Carolina, according to Advertising Analytics, a firm that tracks political advertising. Most of that came from one candidate.

Bloomberg has spent nearly $15 million in advertising in North Carolina, according to the firm. That compares with a total of $5.1 million spent on advertising in the state’s 2012 primary and $2.8 million in 2016.

Bloomberg’s North Carolina ad spending is nine times more than Sanders’ and 60 times more than Biden’s. That’s only part of his North Carolina spending. He has a paid staff of 125 and offices across the state.

Nationwide Bloomberg has spent $538 million on advertising, according to Advertising Analytics. That’s nearly three times as much as fellow billionaire Steyer and more than 10 times as much as any other Democrat.

On Saturday, at least three N.C. lawmakers led canvasses for Sen. Elizabeth Warren. And on Sunday, Charlotte native Reggie Love, a former aide to President Barack Obama, was scheduled to lead a voter canvass in Durham for Buttigieg.

N.C. Democratic Chair Wayne Goodwin called North Carolina “the most important state in the country this year.”

“No Republican has ever won the White House since 1968 without winning North Carolina,” he said.

Correction

An earlier version of this story overstated the ad spending for the primary. The primary has seen a record $20.4 million billion spent in North Carolina, according to Advertising Analytics, a firm that tracks political advertising.

Staff writer Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan of the News & Observer contributed.