Twelve Democratic candidates took part in last night's CNN/ New York Times 2020 presidential primary debate in Westerville, Ohio. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was clearly seen as the frontrunner, as candidates came at her from all sides.
The NYT reports: ‘She has risen toward the top of the polls while confronting limited resistance from her opponents, and in past debates she attracted a fraction of the hostility that Democrats trained on Mr. Biden. That changed in a dramatic fashion on Tuesday, when a group of her rivals voiced sharp skepticism of Ms. Warren's agenda or accused her of taking impractical stances on issues like health care and taxation. Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., insistently charged Ms. Warren with evading a “yes-or-no” question on how she would pay for a “Medicare for all” health care system, while Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota cast parts of Ms. Warren's platform as a “pipe dream.” Former Representative Beto O'Rourke of Texas branded Ms. Warren's worldview as overly “punitive.”'
Centrist candidates Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg came at Warren aggressively about where she'd find the money to pay for her Medicare For All plan after Warren refused to say that she would raise taxes to pay for it. She also took fire on other issues.
Said Buttigieg to Warren on being evasive about how she'd pay for the policy: “You heard it tonight: a yes or no question that didn't get a yes or no answer. This is why people in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular. Your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything, except this. No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion-dollar hole in this Medicare for All plan that Senator Warren is putting forward is supposed to get filled in.”
Added Klobuchar: “I appreciate Elizabeth's work. The difference between a plan and a pipe dream is a plan is something that you can actually get done.”
Candidates had a lot to say about the Trump impeachment inquiry.
Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke clashed over gun control.
Joe Biden defended himself and his son Hunter from attacks by Donald Trump.
There was discussion of age.
Amy Klobuchar blasted Trump for selling out America.
Senator Kamala Harris blasted the lack of focus on the attack on women's reproductive health care.
Politico reports: “Politico Magazine asked 20 experts, insiders, activists and political professionals to watch the debate and tell us who won, who lost, and how the debate changed the campaign—if it did. Our watchers couldn't agree on whether Warren won or lost: Did she keep her cool under the barrage, at least some of which was perceived as “egregiously sexist”? Or was she too evasive in her answers about how she would pay for her Medicare for All plan? The consensus, however, was that Joe Biden was a little too invisible, and that Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar stood out for the first time.”
Who do you think came out on top?
