I was in Prescott, Arizona on Wednesday night, watching the prime time Democratic slugfest of presidential aspirants debate in Nevada, as President Trump fired up his conservative base in nearby Phoenix.
Arizona has always been prominent in Trump’s political career because of the importance he places on border security and illegal immigration.
Trump went on to make seven campaign stops in Arizona during the 2016 presidential campaign. He carried the state by 3.5 percentage points over Hillary Clinton, the slimmest margin for a GOP presidential candidate.
After Democrat Kirsten Sinema narrowly won the 2018 Senate race, along with three other Democrats running for statewide office, Arizona is now seen by both parties as a swing state battleground on America’s new political frontier.
Arizona is so critical a state for both parties that Michael Bloomberg held his first public campaign event in Arizona earlier this month.
“I’m trying to get rid of Donald Trump — it’s the best investment I could ever make,” Bloomberg said in a five-minute interview ahead of the event with The Arizona Republic’s political podcast, The Gaggle.
Trump wasted little time firing back, saying “Mini Mike” asked for a box to stand on during the debate. After the president mocked Bloomberg’s height in his Super Bowl interview with Sean Hannity, the Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood fired back with a shotgun: “The president is lying. He is a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray on tan.”
The two New York media moguls are worthy sparring partners — both offline and online — especially when it comes to social media and data mining.
Time will tell if they will have a chance to go at each other mano-a-mano at the ballot box fight at the Arizona Corral — and America’s presidential election.
Bloomberg has to first overcome and beat the Democratic contenders for their Party’s nomination to take on Trump. Not an easy task, especially with Sanders surging in the polls, and all contenders challenging, criticizing and attacking Bloomberg as they did during the contentious and fiery high-stakes coming out event for Bloomberg.
But then again, that is what makes America great. True democracy.