Bloomberg, Biden and Buttigieg bash Bernie Welcome to the Maclean's Politics Insider: America 2020, launched for readers who crave U.S. political news during primary season. If you want to receive this new newsletter, take no action, it will arrive in your inbox every weekday at noon. If you'd rather not receive it, please unsubscribe here. Sanders and Castro: One accusation that will definitely be used against Bernie Sanders is that he's been too soft on left-wing dictatorships. In an interview on 60 Minutes, Sanders was asked about old clips where he praised some programs in the former Soviet Union and Fidel Castro's Cuba, and said that while Cuba is an authoritarian regime, "it's unfair to say everything is bad," citing the Castro government's literacy programs. Michael Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg, two candidates running in the rapidly-shrinking moderate lane, both slammed Sanders for these remarks, with Buttigieg going for the ultimate insult, comparing Sanders to Donald Trump: "After four years of looking on in horror after Trump cozied up to dictators," he tweeted, Democrats can't risk nominating someone who won't stand against "regimes that violate human rights abroad." The Florida Democratic primary on March 17 may be a test for whether this affects Sanders with the state's Cuban-American population. Sanders and Obama: Meanwhile, Joe Biden continues to run as the candidate who will restore the good old days of the Barack Obama presidency, so his line of attack is that Sanders undermined that presidency — or at least tried. A new Biden ad in South Carolina (where the primary on Saturday is a make-or-break event for Biden's candidacy) mentions recent reports that Sanders wanted to run against Obama in the 2012 primaries . The narrator says Biden had Obama's back, while Sanders "was seriously thinking about challenging our first African American presidency in a primary." The ad uses an audio clip of Sanders saying it would be a good idea for Obama to be primaried, though Sanders' camp says that Sanders never intended to do so himself. Sanders and Bloomberg: All of the above, however, is nothing compared to the anti-Sanders media blitz Michael Bloomberg is preparing. The Nevada caucuses have established Sanders as the clear front-runner, and Bloomberg will first appear on the ballot on Super Tuesday next week. Between then and now, Bloomberg is planning to unleash a barrage of ads that will hit the Vermont Senator from all directions: in addition to calling him out for his socialism, CNBC reports that Bloomberg will also attack Sanders from the left where possible: On Monday, the Bloomberg campaign attempted to paint Sanders as a past ally of the National Rifle Association, a gun advocacy group that Bloomberg has fought for over a decade. [Bloomberg] will also attempt to highlight negative aspects of [Sanders'] record on race relations both as a congressman and senator, the sources said. Bloomberg will also be participating in tonight's South Carolina debate, although he won't compete in that primary. This may give him the opportunity to road-test some of his lines of attack before they hit the airwaves. Sanders and MSNBC: Sanders and his team have been very public about their dislike of MSNBC and the cable network's often-hostile coverage of the candidate, with Sanders even reportedly confronting the network's president Phil Griffin. But just as Fox News brought in more pro-Trump coverage once it was clear that he would be the nominee, Vanity Fair reports that Griffin is planning to bow to the likely reality of a Sanders nomination, looking for what an anonymous insider describes as "more smart, pro-Sanders voices from people who can make our coverage more insightful." —Jaime Weinman | 
