send us a text at (202) 748-8003 . please leave your name and the town you are calling from. you can weigh in on social media. you can post a comment on facebook. threes saturday morning, days now to go before the new hampshire primary. it was four days when they met last night. here are some of the front pages from new hampshire. the union leader says from frontrunners fend off attacks. the concord monitor writes, clash over electability in a fiery debate. top presidential contenders clashed over experience and electability. mayor peteestern buttigieg and struggling former vice president joe biden. here is an exchange from the debate last night between bernie sanders and pete buttigieg. [video clip] >> in terms of money in politics, our campaign, unlike some of the folks up here, i don't have 40 billionaires, pete, contributing to my campaign coming from the pharmaceutical industry, coming from wall street and all the big money interests. what we do have is we now have over 6 million contributions from 1.5 million people a contribution. that is unprecedented in the history of american politics. we want to change america, you are not going to do it by electing candidates who are going out to rich people's homes begging for money. the way we are going to do it is held a mass movement of working ld and asked bui movement of working people who are willing to stand up to the drug companies and wall street. if you want to be part of that political revolution, berniesanders.com. >> we are going into the fight of our lives. donald trump according to news reports and his allies raised $25 million today. we need to go into that fight with everything we've got. i have been very clear on both my record where i have sued pharmaceutical companies and what i am campaigning for, that includes raising wages and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. as the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or billionaire, i know a thing or two about building a movement because mayor of south bend, indiana, is not a fundraising powerhouse. we are here without any corporate pacs because hundreds of thousands of people went to peteforamerica.com and contributed to this campaign. if we want to bring about any of the changes that everyone is talking about so eloquently up here, we need to put together the majority that can decisively defeat donald trump. we need a politics that is defined not by who we reject but how we bring everybody into the fold. host: that is from last night's democratic presidential debate in manchester, new hampshire. they are watching this in california. l.a. times, rivals tried to upstage sanders and buttigieg at feisty debate. out thisa new poll morning, and exclusive new hampshire tracking poll from the boston globe. it says buttigieg takes lead over sanders in tight new hampshire race. pete buttigieg continues his wbz in friday's exclusive boston globe poll. 25%, 2 pointled in s from thursday night, while bernie sanders held steady at 24%. biden fourth with 11%. that is a new poll just coming out last night. time to go to our first call. eric, napa, california. thank you for being up so early or so late. who is the best candidate to defeat president trump in your view? caller: they all sound good. i think the problem we are going to have is the election itself and that being what's going on ukraineand like in situation our president was involved in. those things make it seem as though our election may not be as smooth. host: is there a way to get around that? is there a way to fix that? is there a way to make you feel more comfortable about the process? caller: the thing i would really love to see is for someone, c-span or another media source, to make people accountable for what they say. every time they get on tv and uth, that should be documented. demerit system where if you are an honorable elected official, you should not be telling blatant lies. someone has to be accountable for what they are telling the people so we can make an accurate decision to vote. host: thank you. let's hear from rob in new york city. democrats only this morning. give us the name, who is best capable of defeating president trump? caller: bloomberg, bloomberg, bloomberg. host: how come? caller: he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. he is the real mccoy. he is the kind of person we were hoping for from ross perot back in the day. i had hopes that trump as a money guy might have some of what ross perot used to bring to the table. butp is, i hate to say it, he is a fraud. bloomberg is the real mccoy. for everyone listening across the country, on the internet, around the world, looking to bloomberg. anyone who was a ross perot enthusiast like i was, the only time i voted outside democrat, i voted for perot twice. people need to look at bloomberg, look at what he is doing. bernie sanders is wrong putting down billionaires. bloomberg is self-made. host: let me jump into the former mayor of new york, mike bloomberg. what did you see when he was mayor that translates best to a successful run for the president and a successful presidency? caller: bloomberg was self-made. no one gave him a dime. trump's father gave the family $200 million split between the donald and his siblings. they ended up with over $70 million each given to them on a silver spirit. ver nonsense -- on a sil spoon. the nonsense is a lot of false information. i beg everyone to look into michael bloomberg. judge judy is behind him. host: one more question for you before we move on. what you make of the critique that mike bloomberg is just trying to buy the election, not taking part in iowa, new hampshire, waiting for super tuesday? caller: so what? the guy is an honest, ethical, decent person. people need to look at bloomberg very carefully, very seriously. host: thank you. bernie sanders makes his charge in the wall street journal's editorial page. they mention mike bloomberg. republicans say he cannot win. that is what clinton said about trump. mr. bloomberg is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars in march 3 primary states, but what if his main contribution is to siphon votes from mr. buttigieg or mr. biden? alienating his supporters who may need to win in november. some gop officials in south plan to urge republicans to vote for bernie in the state's open] that is playing with fire. mr. sanders is beating mr. trump in most head2head pulls in key polls in head to head key states. the impossible consume become inevitable. sk the democrats who rejoiced when the republicans nominated mr. trump. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. host: you're welcome. who do you like? caller: i like elizabeth warren. i think of the four that are left, she is the goldilocks candidate. buttigieg is too young, too little experience, and he cannot play to a certain crowd. biden and bernie are both so old. bernie says he is recovered from that heart attack, but anyone who has had the surgery can see the signs. he is struggling to make it on the campaign trail. calling fromou for evansville this morning. we can link that call and the one before that with this set from last night's debate. elizabeth warren was asked her thoughts about michael bloomberg. [video clip] >> a candidate who is not on stage tonight but is in this race, former mayor michael bloomberg of new york. this question came from nashville, tennessee. he has just gotten the endorsement of a former trump navy secretary. why do you think you are in a better position to be trump than bloomberg? >> i don't think anyone ought to be able to buy their way into a nomination for president of the united states. i don't think any billionaire ought to be able to do a good i don't think anybody who sucks up to billionaires ought to be up to do. as democrats, we all want to overturn citizens united because we want to end this unlimited spending. yeah, except everyone on this stage except amy and me is either a billionaire or receiving help from pacs that can do unlimited spending. if you really want to live where you say, put your money where your mouth is and say no to the pacs. i think the way we build democracy going forward is not billionaires reaching in their own pockets or people sucking up to billionaires. the way we build it going forward is we have a grassroots movement funded from the grassroots up. that is the way i am running this campaign. host: highlights from last night's debate. it is the mcintyre shaheen event. all of the 2020 democratic candidates will speak at the 61st annual event. every year, the new hampshire democrats host this event. it is a tradition that started in 1959 when presidential candidate john f. kennedy was the signature speaker. our coverage will be at 7:00 eastern time. thomas is in south carolina. go at it. who do you like on the democratic side? caller: i like senator biden because i am a native of hardi n, delaware. my family knew him. he helped us out a lot. i'm a black man. my name is reverend thomas davis. i am located in south carolina, where i think the south carolina needs will actually give -- carolinians will actually give him votes. nobody has more experience than him. if you are hired for a job, naturally they give you on your experience and education for knowing what is going on on any job. i think they need to vote for mr. biden behind the fact that he can help our country. the most important thing is global warming. the most important thing is also the economy. not a prejudiced man. i thank you for taking my call. host: thank you. from south carolina, that last call reminds me to bring up the real clear politics polling. they have a national poll. they still have jill biden on top,27% -- joe biden on 27% with bernie sanders at 21%. 22.5%.ttigieg at nevada, according to this accumulation of polls 21%. south carolina, they have joe biden leading at 31%. tom steyer in second place in south carolina at 18.5%. interesting set of numbers. good morning. caller: good morning. i am supporting bloomberg. he is the only one with enough money to go up against trump. let's not start with the left wing because president obama said we have to go more towards the center. andt go towards the left, president obama is supporting mayor bloomberg. he is the only one that has not been smeared and cannot be smeared. unfortunately, trump plays d irty. we have to have somebody who is going to be able to fight this. i was supporting biden, but president trump has smeared him, and all the other ones can be smeared. the older population, the baby boomers are the biggest voting bloc, and they will not support sanders. he only has 5% support of the older adults. i really just think that bloomberg is going to be the mp,t candidate to beat tru regardless of the money. let's put the money aside. this country cannot stand another four years of trump. host: mike is calling from south carolina. what is the name of your town? caller: ocateen. host: go ahead. caller: as a lifelong democrat, i must say i am a little disappointed because my choice would be amy klobuchar. biden, bernie,y and elizabeth warren are too far to the left. we need a moderate. we need someone who is rational, has independent thought, but can work across the aisle and develop consensus. amy klobuchar has shown that. not is too young, has solved the issues in south bend. i don't know how he could step forward and solve any issues globally, nationally. i think we need someone. amy is in the right age group. we have too many of the older folks, who in my opinion, don't have it in them to do what needs to be done. host: what do you make of amy klobuchar's performance so far? how is she doing? i'm a little surprised she has not caught on more than she has. debatesbrought into the exactly what needs to be there, a rational thinker who does not jump up and down, who does not waive their arms, who does not fight to get to say something. when she does say something, it makes sense. it is a moderate kind of position. host: thanks for calling. mike bringing up senator klobuchar and pete buttigieg. the two of them clashed on visions and experience. here is a look. [video clip] >> we have to meet this moment. this moment is different. the next president is going to face challenges from global china, tourity, like cybersecurity and election security challenges that were barely thought of a few years ago. here at home, we are seeing works like get work -- gig transformed what it means to be a worker in america. we cannot solve the problems i looking back. we have to be ready to turn the page and change our politics before it is too late. seeingere i go, i am independence and future former republicans ready to join in that historic american majority ready to turn the page. >> i am listening to this about meeting the moment, and my first thought is i am a fresh face up here for a presidential debate. 59 is thepete, that new 38. >> the new 50. >> meeting the moment. >>we had a moment the last few weeks. that moment was the impeachment hearings. there was a lot of courage you saw from a few people. there was courage from doug jones from alabama. there was courage from mitt romney, who took a very difficult vote. there was courage, i read today about lt. col. bittman being -- vindman being escorted out of the white house. you said it was exhausting to watch and that you want to turn the channel and watch cartoons. it is easy to go after washington because that is a popular thing to do. it is much harder as i see senator shaheen in the front row, such a leader, much harder to lead and take those difficult positions because i think going after every single thing that people do because it is popular to say and makes you look like a i don't think, that is what people want right now. we have a newcomer in the white house, and i don't think that has worked. host: as of this month, ,000 of them in new hampshire. one of the storylines in new hampshire is the fight for the independent voter. thank you for waiting. caller: thank you. i am going for elizabeth warren because of the bill she wrote and got kennedy actually put it through because she was just a junior senator. it's called the financial protection act. that shows what she is doing. she spent nine years teaching law in harvard. she knows the ins and outs. that bill pretty much covers all of us, especially senior citizens. we have not had a raise. we did get a raise, but most of my raise went to my insurance companies. that is why i voted for trump. i think i made a mistake. i'm going for elizabeth warren. i think she has experienced. she has a law degree. enthused about that because we have almost twice as many lawyers as we do doctors, and we need more doctors. thank you. host: are you still there? caller: yes. host: what do you think elizabeth warren needs to do to rise up higher in the polls? caller: i think elizabeth warren, if people would read the bill that she wrote and what she has done with that bill, not her particularly, but the bill she aste, really covers w fraud, and abuse in our government. i think that is what we really need. we could almost pay off the debt if we went into these organizations that's been bought off for the consumer's protection. host: a couple of points about elizabeth warren from this boston globe poll. warren saw an increase in support from voters 18 to 45. biden continues to be fueled by voters 46-65. sandersas inched past to second place among women voters. buttigieg continues to lead at 26%. biden is at 11%, seven points off his monday number. milton is on the line in philadelphia. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i am supporting vice president biden. he has expense. he served for eight years -- experience. he has served for eight years under president obama. he is the one candidate that is outright beating trump. we need to unite and get rid of this racist in the white house. my dream candidate would be former first lady michelle obama. i think we need to unify behind vice president biden. if vice president biden gets the nomination, i hope he puts clothes are on his ticket -- klobuchar on his ticket. i think that would be a winning ticket. host: robert, give us a name. who do you like to beat president trump in november? caller: first of all, i switched parties in 2016 to vote for hillary because i did not want trump. i did not trust him at that time. i was all for him being found guilty in this impeachment trial. i supported vice president biden when obama was running even though i was a longtime republican. 1984 for u.s. congress in in the third district of colorado in the reagan administration. i have been a vietnam veteran in the navy. desertarmy, i was in seals. forstill supporting biden president against trump. he is the only one who will beat trump. host: why do you think he had a less than stellar showing in iowa? why isn't he higher in the polls, do you think? buttigieg was in was one ofy, but he the guys who promoted don't ask don't tell. he's been mayor of a city in adiana, and he's married to man. he's gay, but they are not saying he is a homosexual. somehow that message is not getting through in the media. this has been going on for a long time and has not come out. when it comes to him being involved in foreign policy with foreign policy leaders, they are going to ridicule him, and trump is going to ridicule him if he gets the nomination for president. beingot up to par for commander-in-chief. vice president biden is coming to colorado for the super tuesday events, and he's the only one of all the standing nominees that has been to norad, in the military bases colorado springs. he is the only one that is qualified to be commander-in-chief. host: thanks for calling this saturday morning. steve sent us a text from florida. bernie sanders has the voters, especially the young voters. dnc needs to stay out of his way. cap from new york city, " bloomberg is a real financial genius. trump pretends." kelly, "the one who will bring people who don't normally vote out and the one that is for true change, bernie sanders." chance,"g has the best according to mike from orlando. morning,r writes this taking us back to new hampshire, "it is an ideal environment for sanders and buttigieg. anti-establishment constituency is well represented in the granite state. it is also clear that buttigieg's success in iowa has gotten him second looks. buttigieg organizers had to shoo away those of us shivering in the wet weather to get in. buttigieg is unlikely to win the moderate or non-bernie lane without a fight." here is pete buttigieg asking to clarify his health care policies , and he talks more about his experience. [video clip] >> i want you to respond to that and take on the argument from the vice president that you don't have enough experience to be president. >> the truth is i have been consistent throughout on my position on delivering health care for every american. as to experience, i just bring a different perspective. admit, if you're looking for the person with the most years of washington establishment experience under their belt, you have your candidate. it is not me. i am bringing the expense of someone whose life has been shaped by those decisions in washington, d.c. whose community was written off as dying a decade ago. we need a perspective right now that will allow us to leave the politics of the past in the past, turn the page, and bring change to washington. host: here is the front page of the washington post showing several of the candidates. the headline says, democrats turn up the heat on electability. we have just under half an hour left in this first hour of "washington journal." we are talking to democrats only, asking you who is the best candidate to beat president trump. raymond is calling from pennsylvania. who do you like? caller: i come at this from a different