The second Democratic Presidential Debates was neither satisfying nor enjoyable for me to watch. At the end of both nights, I felt there were gaps in what I had learned about the candidates’ positions on health care, immigration, and what they wanted to do. In the middle, I was annoyed because the moderators seemed to keep cutting off the candidates just as they were getting to what I wanted to hear. And at the beginning, I was disappointed because the candidate matchups in which I was most interested were not possible.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) had to adopt this ponderous format. In 2016 Bernie Sanders, with some justification, accused the DNC of tilting toward Hillary Clinton. The resulting ill-will that many of Sander’s supporters felt may have contributed to Donald Trump’s election victory. Although this debate format was not the best for the audience, it was fair for the contenders. The contenders are going to have to master it and learn to explain their positions without taking the moderators’ bait and turn on each other.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) had to adopt this ponderous format. In 2016 Bernie Sanders, with some justification, accused the DNC of tilting toward Hillary Clinton. The resulting ill-will that many of Sander’s supporters felt may have contributed to Donald Trump’s election victory. Although this debate format was not the best for the audience, it was fair for the contenders. The contenders are going to have to master it and learn to explain their positions without taking the moderators’ bait and turn on each other.
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On the first night, the moderate contenders (Marianne Williamson, Congress Tim Ryan, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, John Hickenlooper, John Delaney, and Governor Steve Bullock) defended their more moderate position on healthcare against the Progressives (Sanders and Warren). Moderates generally favored expanding the ACA or evolving overtime toward a single-payer system such as Medicare for all. Sanders and Warren, on the other hand, wanted to sprint toward Medicare for all. This format was particularly ill-suited to compare the details of different healthcare schemes.
How people obtain healthcare is essential to both them and the government. But healthcare plans, no matter their importance, do not seem equal to the task of combatting Trump and his attack on our democracy. The moderates who precipitated the attack was interested in showing that not all of the Democratic Party was too far left.
As the front runner in the polls, especially among critical black voters in South Carolina, Joe Biden is a problem for the other contenders. If Biden’s opponents attack him on positions he held 40 years ago, they seem irrelevant or petty. (Of course, Biden has to defend himself, unlike his performance when Harris attacked him in the first debate.) If the other contenders attack Biden for his most recent performance in elective office, then their attack inevitably stains Barack Obama, the most popular President since FDR. And, any attack on Biden could alienate older blacks in South Carolina.
Presumably, all the contenders have learned that they are going to have to toughen up. Many like Biden faced attacks by most of the other contenders. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard attacked Harris for her record as a prosecutor in California. And Cory Booker had to fend off an attack by Biden.
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are the only two contenders who have run for President. The other leading contenders are going to have a steep learning curve. The other top contenders --Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, and Amy Klobuchar—seem up to the task. Many of the other contenders may well fall prey to the DNC scheme to randomly thin the herd.
How people obtain healthcare is essential to both them and the government. But healthcare plans, no matter their importance, do not seem equal to the task of combatting Trump and his attack on our democracy. The moderates who precipitated the attack was interested in showing that not all of the Democratic Party was too far left.
As the front runner in the polls, especially among critical black voters in South Carolina, Joe Biden is a problem for the other contenders. If Biden’s opponents attack him on positions he held 40 years ago, they seem irrelevant or petty. (Of course, Biden has to defend himself, unlike his performance when Harris attacked him in the first debate.) If the other contenders attack Biden for his most recent performance in elective office, then their attack inevitably stains Barack Obama, the most popular President since FDR. And, any attack on Biden could alienate older blacks in South Carolina.
Presumably, all the contenders have learned that they are going to have to toughen up. Many like Biden faced attacks by most of the other contenders. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard attacked Harris for her record as a prosecutor in California. And Cory Booker had to fend off an attack by Biden.
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are the only two contenders who have run for President. The other leading contenders are going to have a steep learning curve. The other top contenders --Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, and Amy Klobuchar—seem up to the task. Many of the other contenders may well fall prey to the DNC scheme to randomly thin the herd.
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