Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders feels the heat

Democrats unleashed a roaring assault against Bernie Sanders’ electability and seized on Mike Bloomberg’s past with women in the workplace in a raucous debate Tuesday night that tested the strength of the two men leading their party’s presidential nomination fight.

Sanders, his status as the Democratic front-runner undeniable, faced the brunt of the attacks in a fierce round of early action.

Even Sanders’ ideological ally, Elizabeth Warren, questioned the Vermont senator’s ability to lead the nation.

“Bernie and I agree on a lot of things, but I think I would make a better president than Bernie,” Warren charged.

Sanders, under attack for much of the night, noted the additional attention: “I’m hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. I wonder why?”

The new wave of infighting came as Democrats met for the party’s 10th — and perhaps most consequential — debate of the 2020 primary season. Tuesday’s forum came just four days before South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary and one week before more than a dozen states vote on Super Tuesday.

The intensity of Tuesday’s clash, with candidates repeatedly yelling over each other, reflected the reality that the Democrats’ establishment wing is quickly running out of time to stop the polarizing progressive. Even some critics, Bloomberg among them, conceded that the Vermont senator could build an insurmountable delegate lead as soonas next week.

The Democrats’ 2020 class will not stand side-by-side on the debate stage until the middle of next month, making Tuesday’s debate the best, and perhaps last, chance for some candidates to save themselves and alter the trajectory of the high-stakes nomination fight.

Bloomberg was the focus last week for his highly anticipated debut, but after a bad performance that froze his momentum, the knives were out for the 78-year-old Vermont senator.-AP

Photo: From left, Democratic presidential candidates, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders,  former vice president Joe Biden, Senator Amy Klobuchar,  and businessman Tom Steyer stand on stage before a Democratic presidential primary debate, Tuesday, in Charleston, South Carolina.