Another candidate may be entering the race late in the game. Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, has filed the necessary paperwork to add his name to the ballot, but he has not officially decided to run yet. 

Back in September, Bloomberg had an interview with PBS where he talked about taking Biden’s spot if he believed Joe Biden couldn’t hold the frontrunner spot. This entry into the race feels like a way to call out Biden’s drop in status. 

“According to his advisers, he has not definitively decided to run for president, but the paperwork was necessary to keep the possibility alive, because Friday was Alabama’s filing deadline,” according to The New York Times.

If he does decide to run officially, many executives who currently support Elizabeth Warren or Biden have said they would instead support Bloomberg, according to The New York Times, making this time of uncertainty even more nerve-racking for the remaining candidates. 

This new threat seems to have brought up the worst between the top reining candidates, with Biden posting an aggressive message regarding his thoughts of Warren on Medium.com.

“Some call it the ‘my way or the highway’ approach to politics. But it’s worse than that. It’s condescending to the millions of Democrats who have a different view. It’s representative of an elitism that working and middle class people do not share: ‘We know best; you know nothing.’ ‘If you were only as smart as I am you would agree with me.’ This is no way to get anything done. This is no way to bring the country together. This is no way for this party to beat Donald Trump,” Biden said in the post.

Though he did not use Warren’s name in this post or any others through the week, “the message was unmistakably aimed at Ms. Warren, whose Republican critics have for years sought to paint her as an out-of-touch liberal who worked as a Harvard professor,” according to The New York Times.

Talking down Warren and using similar tactics to the ones used by the Republican Party feels like a low blow. I’d expect Biden to have a different, more unique, approach to express why he’s better than his opponents. 

The next debate is coming up quickly, and 10 candidates are currently qualified. The next debate will take place on Nov. 20 followed by one on Dec. 19 — which currently has six candidates qualified to attend.

The candidates should have plenty to discuss in these upcoming debates, as new policies continue to be announced. 

Bernie Sanders released an immigration plan this past week.

“He called for ending deportations of people who have been in the United States for more than five years, creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, expanding the DACA program and making unauthorized immigration a civil, not criminal, offense,” according to The New York Times.

Cory Booker also released a new economic justice plan. This plan would give federal funding to cities across the United States to help build their economy and build up their people.

John Delaney has released a plan entitled “Paris 2.0” which would recenter members of the United Nations in the fight against climate change with the goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

You can read more about these new policies on the candidates’ campaign websites so you’ll know what to watch out for when the debates come around once again. 

Kuchta can be reached at [email protected].