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On Tuesday night, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, Marianne Williamson, Amy Klobuchar, John Hickenlooper, Tim Ryan, John Delaney, and Steve Bullock graced a debate stage for over 2.5 hours, aka for far too long.
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Add that up and it’s two of the field’s highest-polling and most progressive candidates against a bunch of people not doing so well.
But Sanders and Warren refrained from criticizing each other and instead spent most of the night fielding attacks from moderate candidates like Delaney, Bullock, Hickenlooper, and Klobuchar, prompted by CNN’s moderators who were there to stir up drama.
Still, the debate covered a lot of substantive ground and the candidates engaged in lengthy exchanges about health care, immigration, race and reparations, climate change, and nuclear policy.
Here’s a rundown of the night’s standout moments →
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“YOU’RE WRONG” ON MEDICARE FOR ALL
The actual debating kicked off with a pointed exchange between Sanders and Delaney about Medicare for All. Delaney singled out Sanders’ and Warren’s support for Medicare for All, calling it “bad policy” because it will “take [private health plans] away from people.” Sanders response: “You’re wrong,” and pointed to Canada’s health care system as a model for how the U.S. could guarantee health care as a human right while spending “half of what we spend” on our system.
Tim Ryan also came after Sanders, telling him, “you don’t know that” Medicare for All guarantees things like dental care, hearing aids, and eyeglasses.
Bernie’s response? “I wrote the damn bill!”
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As the debate between candidates who prefer introducing a public option to transitioning to Medicare for All continued, Elizabeth Warren clarified the field’s shared goal: “Let's be clear about this. We are the Democrats. We are not about trying to take away healthcare from anyone. That's what the Republicans are trying to do. And we should stop using Republican talking points."
PREACH!
“I AM NOT AFRAID”
Warren also made an inspiring case for Democrats to actually fight for the progressive policies they believe in:
“I get it. There is a lot at stake, and people are scared. But we can’t choose a candidate we don’t believe in just because we’re too scared to do anything else. And we can’t ask other people to vote for a candidate we don’t believe in. Democrats win when we figure out what is right and we get out there and fight for it. I am not afraid, and for Democrats to win, you can’t be afraid either.”
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Later, when the moderate Delaney suggested that the “fairy tale” progressive policies she and many other candidates tout could not be achieved, she responded:
“I don't understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can't do and shouldn't fight for.”
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DARK PSYCHIC FORCE OF THE COLLECTIVIZED HATRED
With a historically diverse Democratic field, the fact that CNN’s drawing yielded a night-one lineup of all-white candidates was not only statistically improbable but also pretty glaring. The issue of race didn’t materialize until late into the debate, and when it did come up, Marianne Williamson had her strongest moment of the entire campaign:
“We need to recognize that when it comes to the economic gap between blacks and whites in America, it does come from a great injustice that's never been dealt with.”
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She later described racism as “the dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred” which was... a pretty on-brand description of racism from her, tbh.
IT'S ALL THE PROLIFERAGE
By the end of the (very) (long) debate Elizabeth Warren re-stated what should be a non-controversial view that the U.S. should never be the first to strike other countries with nuclear weapons. But, in an extremely weird move, Bullock responded that he “wouldn't want to take that off the table," and seemed to struggle somewhat with the concept of “nuclear non-proliferation” in general. To be clear, it’s crazy that anyone asked Warren to defend the view that we shouldn’t drop nukes unprovoked. Let’s all feel good about not nuking people.
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IMMIGRATION
The candidates also debated the wisdom of a provision of U.S. immigration law that makes unauthorized entry a criminal offense. Repealing that provision would make unauthorized entry in the U.S. a civil offense, and unauthorized immigrants would remain subject to deportation.
Mayor Pete, who endorsed decriminalization last month, seemed less sure of that position tonight: “When I become president, illegally crossing the border will still be illegal,” he said tonight, endorsing more traditional positions like a path to citizenship for immigrants and stronger border security instead.
In response to the same question, Elizabeth Warren argued in favor of fully decriminalizing border crossings, observing that this criminalization statute (referred to as Section 1325) is what empowers Donald Trump to separate migrant families at the border.
A Democratic president could end Trump’s family separation policy unilaterally, but the question is what happens if and when the GOP returns to power. The debate over 1325 would be more productive if the candidates explained what they would do to prevent the next Republican president from reinstating the child separation policy.
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