In the most contentious Democratic debate thus far, a winnowed field of 10 Democratic candidates took the stage in Houston Thursday night and sparred over hot-button issues such as health care and immigration.
Notably, this was the first time that frontrunners Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden shared the debate stage.
Warren and Biden exhibited stark differences on style, policy and vision for the Democratic Party, embodying two opposing theories of what the party should be.
This divide was apparent during an explosive debate over health care, during which Biden went on the attack against Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for the hidden costs associated with their “Medicare-for-all plans.”
Warren deflected when asked if middle-class taxes will go up to pay for “Medicare for all,” saying total costs would go down – but not explicitly stating whether taxes for middle-class families would increase.
“What we're talking about here is what's going to happen in families' pockets,” Warren said.
Though many were watching Warren expecting her to deliver a knockout performance, the senator fell somewhat short of that expectation. While this will likely not impact Warren’s standing in the presidential race at this early stage – which according to most polls is a close second behind Biden – she did not have the debate moment that many were anticipating.“This is about candor, honesty,” Biden retorted. “There will be a deductible – in your paycheck ... someone making 60 grand with three kids, they're going to end up paying $5,000 more.”
On the other hand, the first 30 minutes of the debate during the health care discussion were arguably Biden’s best moments on the campaign trail to date. Though the former vice president’s performance was not perfect, he exhibited a much-needed display of strength and preparedness.
Aside from Biden’s generally strong performance, he compellingly and convincingly delivered his core message of restoring, protecting and rebuilding the Obama-Biden record.
“The senator says she's for Bernie. Well, I'm for Barack,” Biden said about Warren's support for “Medicare-for-all,” referencing last month’s debate, when Warren said she completely agreed with Sanders on “Medicare-for-all.”
At the previous debate, several progressive candidates took aim at former President Obama’s legacy on health care as a way to attack Biden on his record.
However, in a marked reversal, both Warren and Sen. Kamala Harris of California – who sharply criticized Obama in the last debate – praised the former president for the positive systematic changes to health care that came as a result of ObamaCare.
Indeed, if there was an absentee winner of the debate, it was Obama. Aside from Biden, one of the clearest, and most concise health care arguments came from Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who has polled consistently in the low single-digits and had yet to have a strong debate moment before Thursday night.
Klobuchar said that although Sanders may have written the “Medicare-for-all” bill, she “actually read the bill,” noting that under Sanders’ plan “we will no longer have private insurance as we know it” – resulting in millions of Americans losing their private insurance.
Similar to previous debates, the discussion of immigration had Biden on the defensive over the 3 million undocumented immigrants that were deported under the Obama administration.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, in particular, took aim at Biden, using the moment to attack Biden for “taking credit” for positive elements of the Obama legacy and distancing himself from criticism.
“He wants to take credit for Obama's work but not have to answer any questions,” Castro said of Biden.
These attacks largely fell flat, as did Castro’s attempted jab at Biden’s age, and will surely not result in a post-debate polling spike for Castro that other candidates have experienced after attacking Biden during a debate.
“I stand with Barack Obama all eight years – good, bad, and indifferent,” Biden said in response to the immigration attacks, once again reverting to his campaign message of restoring, protecting and rebuilding the Obama-Biden record.
Aside from Castro’s attacks, throughout the entire night Sanders was the candidate who attacked Biden the most. He went after the former vice president not just on health care, but also on corporations, Biden’s vote in favor of the Iraq war as a senator, and trade.
But while Sanders was one of the more vocal candidates, he did not deliver the performance he needed to in order to pull ahead of Biden or Warren in the polls.
Ultimately, Biden’s impressive – though not perfect – performance was a much-needed display of strength and preparedness and will likely solidify his frontrunner status.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/doug...urprise-losers
Stretch (09-13-2019)
NO CREAPY JOE!
It is the responsibility of every American citizen to own a modern military rifle.
And STILL LEADING TRUMP 9-12 PTS. on every poll.
WK1 3/28-/4 _Cases 301k--Dead 18.1k Lethality 2.72%
WK2 4/5-/13 _Cases 555k--Dead 22.1K Lethality 3.9%
WK3 4/20-/21 Cases 774k -Dead 37.2K Lethality 4.8%
WK4 4/22-/29 Cases 1M --Dead 58.8K Lethality 5.9%
WK5 5/1-/8__ Cases 1.3M -Dead 75.7K Lethality 6.1%
WK6 5/9-16__Cases 1.4M --Dead 85.8K Lethality 6.1%
WK7 5/17-24_Cases 1.7M - Dead 97.6K Lethality 5.9%
WK8 5/28 Cases 1.7M - DEAD 101.2K - Same
Bigdog (09-13-2019), Stretch (09-13-2019), Truth Detector (09-13-2019)
Socialized medicine is the standard for the entire civilized world.
We cannot be considered part of the latter as long as we don't have the former.
Pay for healthcare with your taxes and all the money goes to the healthcare.
Pay for health care with your premiums and half of the money goes to insurance company profits.
It's a no-brainer, and only American conservatives are too stupid to realize that.
Ultimately, Medicare for all is only a half-way measure.
That's public funding of private services which is still too expensive.
We need public services--a National Health Service just like the United Kingdom's.
The entire health care industry from prenatal to hospice care should be deprivatized.
There are plenty of other industries to be run for profit.
Like prisons, health care should not be one of them.
Also, if you WANT to have private insurance, that's your business--but as with public schools, you'll have to pay the taxes for public health care anyway.
That's how civilized and intelligent nations operate.
How the hell long is it going to take us to become one of those?
That's why I favor separate Blue and Red Americas. We don't have compatible values and will never be content living with the same government.
domer76 (09-14-2019)
IMO, Biden's performance was mediocre.
Julian Castro was the stand out.
Bernie did ok, but would have done better if he hadn't lost his voice.
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
— Joe Biden on Obama.
Socialism is just the modern word for monarchy.
D.C. has become a Guild System with an hierarchy and line of accession much like the Royal Court or priestly classes.
Private citizens are perfectly able of doing a better job without "apprenticing".
Truth Detector (09-13-2019)
Truth Detector (09-13-2019)
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
— Joe Biden on Obama.
Socialism is just the modern word for monarchy.
D.C. has become a Guild System with an hierarchy and line of accession much like the Royal Court or priestly classes.
Private citizens are perfectly able of doing a better job without "apprenticing".
Gonzomin (09-13-2019)
Cancel 2020.2 (09-14-2019), Granule (09-13-2019), Stretch (09-13-2019), Truth Detector (09-13-2019)
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
— Joe Biden on Obama.
Socialism is just the modern word for monarchy.
D.C. has become a Guild System with an hierarchy and line of accession much like the Royal Court or priestly classes.
Private citizens are perfectly able of doing a better job without "apprenticing".
MAGA MAN (09-13-2019), Stretch (09-13-2019), Truth Detector (09-13-2019)
You’d be surprise how many idiot Americans who “claim to be to the left” don’t want free healthcare or education. They rather side with racist in agreeing no nigga or Mexican should get free healthcare with their tax dollars.
Joe Biden is one of those people, he sides with racist.
Nobody likes paying up the ass for their healthcare except the wealthy.
Beto O'Rourke promised to take everyone AR15s and AK47s if elected. That should really endear him to the 98 million gun owners in the US. Can these lefties be more out of touch with Joe 6 Pack?
Biden is a closeted republican said this from day one President Obama picked him. He had to pick a racist to make white America feel safe.
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