Biden should have said, “ Kamala, who do you on this stage would be my first pick for attorney general?” End of controversy.
Timit | WE
Democrats must want to lose, "raise their hands if you believe that crossing the border without documentation should be a civil rather than criminal offense". Get out of here! Harris all for "reparations", open borders, just a rude with no insight. Busing was and is a disaster for our Country! Compare her to Warren, and the economic revolution. Why isn't she beimg boosted as the most exciting candidate? 4/5ths of the Country is ready to vote against Harris ... ~at any Cost!
1
President Franklin Roosevelt gave us the Social Security Act, to provide economic security for the elderly, the poor and the sick; the National Labor Relations Act, to guarantee the basic rights of private sector employees, including the ability to organize into trade unions; the Glass–Steagall Act, to establish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and protect bank depositors—to name but a few of his major legislative accomplishments. https://learnodo-newtonic.com/?p=11085
All of these landmark laws were made possible by the votes of Southern white segregationists, who then were part of the Democratic party. To cooperate with them for the greater good was not seen as endorsing their racial views, nor should it be seen that way today. It was seen as practical politics, a way to get something done to help people.
The Senate is a small place. To accomplish anything, a senator must work with colleagues of every political stripe. To do otherwise, to stand back and do nothing on the grounds of "principle," is fraudulent and abrogates his or her responsibility to help the people they represent.
Some on the left, arguing on principle, apparently would rather see the bridges fall down than support an infrastructure bill proposed by Trump. They would rather see children in detention centers die of disease and malnutrition than provide timely funds to the Trump administration. That is moral absolutism; it is the way to electoral disaster in 2020.
4
Kamala Harris’ tirade against Joe Bide is exactly what we don’t need. She put her own political ambitions ahead of party and country. It was a gift to Trump, exactly what he needs to rile up his base.
Every other candidate on both evenings was civil—heated at times, but civil. I predict her low ratings among likely Democratic voters will drop further, and Biden’s will bump up, as a result.
The liberal media are portraying her as the star of the evening. She was not. I’m certain she came across to many voters as the perfect example of what they don’t like about Democrats.
We cannot let the politics of anger, the so-called "call-out culture," of the coastal liberals dominate this race. If we do, it will mean another four years of Trump, the death of democracy as we know it, and possibly the death of most life on earth from rising temperatures.
And don’t talk to me about principles. The only "principle" that counts now is getting rid of Trump. Everything else can wait.
9
Harris finds Biden working with segregationists, the Senate reality when he entered it, "hurtful." Forgetting for the moment that a Democratic President will have to know how and be willing to work with a Republican Senate to get anything accomplished after 2020, a candidate who makes a major point of being hurt by Biden's comments will be easy roadkill for Trump when it comes to debates and public sparring.
6
All the noise about black people supporting Biden is misleading. Are we supposed to "like" him because he was vp to Obama? Everything I've learned about him shows that he is one of those people who claim to have helped black people but his actions are the opposite. If the Democratic Party nominates him, I will not vote for him because he is a racist just like Clinton.
3
Very good debate! Kamala was the most impressive, her storytelling capabilities reminding me of Obama. I really like her!
Here we go again, eating our own. Personally I prefer Warren over Biden. I do think we need new blood in the Democratic party. I used to like Harris but not anymore. This was a planned attack using the race card for purely political ends. Her campaign even had a photo of her as a little girl, ready to go. Biden has made mistakes but I find this attack reprehensible, especially after Harris said she knew Biden was not a racist. We need to stop this raking up the past just to make someone look bad. It is entirely different if someone is bad. Joe Biden has a reputation for being a good guy. But I also think his time has past and it's time for him to move on
8
You say many things as if they are facts. Hmmm, ok, “takeaways”. Harris won the show and the night”... says you. I found her to be obnoxious and stopped listening to her. I did not think Buttigieg was “flat most of the night” and thought the group overall acted unpresidential. It made the folks the night before all look much better. I am glad I watched both nights and do not have to rely on your reporting to help assess the situation.
7
Anybody who spoke by interrupting lost points for their rudeness in my book. It's a matter of fairness. I'm not a big fan of Biden, but at least he would raise his hand and tried to stay within his allotted time. Props also to Williamson, Hickenlooper, Sanders, Buttgieg, and Yang for actually abiding by the rules. The moderators have to do a better job moderating. That's part of the job and possibly the most important.
11
I am grieving this morning because I fear that, in Harris, the Democratic Party found its own Trump. Opportunistic, emotional, wanting to sow division. Our country is lost if this sort of performance gets the applause.
13
1. Thank you for your participation, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Yang, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Swalwell, and Ms. Gillinbrand. Ms. Harris, Mr. Biden, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Buttigieg contributed mightily to the national discussion, and all helped build and define the layers of backgrounds and beliefs that we voters need to understand before selecting the headliners on the Democratic ticket. Ms. Williamson added a little "extra something" that kept the two hours from getting dull. Thank you, one and all.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is disrespecting our allies and sharing sly looks and wry comments with Mr. Putin. Democrats, you have your work cut out for you!
3
"My time's up, I'm sorry" may become prophetic. And who's left? Just the left.
Who cares about debates. Irreguardless of who is elected you still have to deal with the Senate & House which do nothing but get paid for going on vacation.
1
Straying far from the issue(s) at hand, I can't help but notice, as a small doner to the democratic party, the extraordinary, over-the-top, and disorienting stage design that just consumed all that I have ever donated and much, much more! It is absurd. And there is to be 11 more of these? Money that is just thrown away, money that could be put to a thousand better uses. We can't supply toothpaste, soap, enough food, decent bedding, etc. to child prisoners in cages at the behest of our criminal president and feckless Congress, but we can spend millions on
stage design???? The lies are everywhere and in front of us
every minute of the day. Shame!
1
I love immigration, immigrants, and people in general, and I think they should be treated with compassion and dignity, always.
But placing the needs of undocumented immigrants or people who enter the country illegally over those of Americans will be suicide for Democrats. It's a trap!!! The GOP will successfully frame the general debate as Americans vs. outsiders, with themselves on the Americans' side. And if Dems are falling all over themselves to give to others, how will they refute that?
There is a way to provide safety, dignity, and health to immigrants while ***demanding strong border protection and enforcing the law***. Democrats better figure out how to articulate that.
10
Kamala Harris has every right to take a shot at Biden - he’s running on the past, so he should have to address problems in his past. The question is not so much is he a racist, but does he exercise good judgment on big issues like... busing, Anita Hill, the Iraq war or Wall Street.
I am mainly concerned that none of the candidates last night emphasized climate change enough. Gun Control, Health Care, and Immigration are all important... but not at the same level as climate change. That needs to be the top priority. So far, of the serious candidates only Elizabeth Warren gives me confidence in this issue.
2
Revision to my earlier comment:
At this point, my ranking order is Warren for president, and Castro, Harris, Booker, or Buttigieg for VP or Attorney General. Castro showed his worth in the first debate but not to the extent that Elizabeth Warren did. Had Warren been in the second debate, she would have outshone everyone on the stage.
5
Lost in the Biden-Harris conversation is Sanders's poor performance last night. He's a one-trick pony: Everything is about income inequality even if the question is about something entirely unrelated. And he comes across as perpetually angry on stage, as if we need another President with temperament issues.
6
The people of Yemen
3
I want to lift up a point Joe Biden made on our border crisis. It was this administration that cancelled aid to Central America. It was this administration that fostered the crisis of human caravans and the crossing of our border by refugees (not "illegals" as Fox and Friends euphemistically say). Biden's point revealed the diabolical nature of this administration - creating a crisis for the purpose of advancing its' base of racism, hatred, xenophobia, and a wall. Treating human life worse than animals. Separating families and caging children. How I wish there would have been an opening at that point in the debate to realize the dynamics of cutting aid to Central America and the current border crisis. I hope it gets revisited in forthcoming debates.
6
I think the democratic party needs to consider that, as fiery and powerful as Harris's debate skills may be, her tactics when applied against Donald Trump would only serve to ignite arguments and hostility. Democrats need to consider a candidate able to withstand Trump's attacks without feeling the need to add to the heat or fire back. What they risk in nominating a candidate up for a fight is a polarized left vs. right ticket with moderates in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, and Florida feeling isolated yet again. Claim those moderates and they claim those electoral college votes. Democrats need to consider a candidate whose values reach the far left in terms of popular issues like climate change and universal healthcare, but is able to find compromise on more controversial ones like college tuition and student debt forgiveness. I think Buttigieg has shown not only an ability to remain humble and personal in the face of his own shortcomings (as seen by his humility about his own failures regarding police/minority relations at home), but also an ability to reach across the aisle with ideas like free college education for low and middle income students without making the rural middle class feel their taxes are paying for the success of children already better off than their own. As strong as Harris showed us she was, Pete may be a more effective opponent of Trump and a more favored candidate overall in a general election.
7
Kamala Harris "stole the night?" Hardly. Ms Harris came across as if it's more important to her to damage Joe Biden than to defeat Trump. We were big and early supporters of hers, but last night changed that with one exchange. We don't need another version of Bernie and his lack of support for Hillary until the last min. We don't need a Democratic party divided on any topics, selfishly going down in flames - we need to vote Trump out of office.
15
@D Mills
The Dems need someone who can defeat Trump, and Biden's lack of understanding (or refusal to understand) the difference between passive acceptance ("I'm sorry you were treated badly, Anita Hill") and taking charge ("I should have done more, but alas, I didn't") is going to be his downfall. Pete Buttigieg was brutally honest last night ("I couldn't get it done"), and people respect that. If the Dems hope to beat an acknowledged liar, they have to bring on complete honesty.
7
More candidates were not listening to the questions and not answering them specifically than during the first debate, where everyone seemed to be listening to the questions and addressing them directly. I was less impressed with everyone in the second group than the first.
At this point, my ranking order is Warren for president, and Harris, Booker, or Buttigieg for VP or Attorney General. The fringe candidates should drop out before the July debate. There is nothing value-added by their presence on-stage. I contributed to Warren(for the third time) last night to boost her take as it's tallied on June 30. I hope by July there is no need for two nights with a different group each night.
3
I will vote early and vote often for President Trump.
The debate convincingly proved that there is no other worthy candidate.
4
Vladimir, you really shouldn’t be interfering in our election.
2
@ Appu How do you mean you will vote often? Do you have more than one vote?
1
@Underhill
Well, that is a phrase borrowed from 1960 when a former Chicago Major famously "helped" your boy from Massachusetts get elected to high office.
1
I supported Harris, until she attached Biden. I fully support her positions. She showed that she is a fighter and we need a fighter. But I wonder whether she thoughtfully considers the best way to achieve her goals. The attack on Biden was a cheap shot, not a nuanced criticism
9
Eric Swalwell Biden pass the torch comment was directly lifted from JFK inaugural address "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage..
If Biden had referenced that quote with his story and the pain of everyday Americans he would have donned the mantle of leadership, but Bernie grabbed that garment first.
3
I like Kamala Harris as my senator, but do not want her to be my president (unless she gets the nomination). And I liked Joe Biden as the VP for Obama, but I sure don't want him to be my president. Harris was just trying to get her name out there at the expense of Biden and much of her stance was as inappropriate as were Biden's words about he was never called "boy". I am just hoping that over the next 16 months, those running for Democratic nomination don't feed Trump's mouth the gunpowder he needs to win re-election. I am firmly in the Warren camp.
Could you imagine if under President Warren, Israel and Palestine signed what became known as "Warren Peace"?
7
Someone in today's comments mentioned Pete Buttegieg's calmness and that is very impressive to me. I agree w/that Times reader. Mayor Pete also gives intelligent and I believe honest thoughts/answers. Also think Mr. Castro comes across as calm. Harris does not nor does Sanders or Biden. Gilabrand does not impress me. And I too have wondered why Marianne Wiliamson was in this debate? Ditto Yang. Hope the next debate has less people on stage.
7
I am an independent, moderate. I am terrified by the extreme positions by many candidates. Sometime I wonder if this is an election for US or only for the welfare of the illegal immigrants only. I am not a bigot. I care deeply. But I care for border security too. Democratic party is abandoning people like me who look for solutions, discussions that address both border security AND immigration, without excluding any one topic. Same case on every topic. Extreme positions. // Also these debates have become a show of style and emotion. Not one of intelligent substance./// Sad.
10
If you think immigration is the biggest problem our country has and you are a one issue voter on that subject you need to read more and you need to get out more.
10
"[Biden] also appeared almost timid at times, raising his finger toward his face in a sign that he wanted to answer a question, but refraining from interjecting. Senator Bernie Sanders, too, at times raised his hand even as moderators turned to other candidates." "Mr. Biden — typically one of the more loquacious candidates out there — also abruptly cut himself off when he saw the sign that he had run out of speaking time." Seems to me like they just wanted to not talk over/interrupt fellow debaters. Respecting their turn to talk. Funny that you point this out about of the eldest candidates, who are both white males.
4
I'm not sure why the Times thought last night was so good for Harris. I found her attack on Biden quite offputting and decidedly below the belt. It would have been one thing if she stuck to a debate on busing policy, but she opened the discussion with a barb dressed as a caveat: "I do not believe you are a racist... but..." Let's be honest, anytime you begin a statement with, "I do not believe you are [insert unflattering characterization here], but..." you are cloaking your target in the very unflattering trait you're pretended not to ascribe to them. Biden is not racist. Harris knows that. It was a premeditated cheap shot designed to get people talking about her.
12
I'd like to know why Kamala Harris is referred to as African-American. Her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican. They each emigrated here from their respective countries, making Kamala a first generation American. She is a person of color, to be sure, but she most definitely is not African-American.
18
I wish they give more time to Andrew Yang. His idea is for now and future. Americans need to move forward, not be dragged in the past, arguing the same questions again and again. AI, Climate Changes will make all the other issues irrelevant
8
Joe Biden came across as a faded, favorite photo from a pre-Trump-poisoned time. As for the contemporary Democratic party being more liberal than it was when Biden was younger, those segregationists he mentions are gone, their ideological brethren now Republicans, from Jeff Sessions to Lindsey Graham to Mitch McConnell. Seniority and control of key congressional committees forced liberal Democrats to placate the Talmadges and Eastlands in order to forge progress.
1
It is so refreshing to hear politicians speaking like adults and professionals using complete, thoughtful, fully-formed English (and Spanish) sentences that I almost don’t care what they’re actually saying.
4
I have donated to more candidates this time around than ever before.
Warren, Harris, Sanders, & Buttigieg all have my attention and any one of them would make a great president.
As for last night - Harris by far won that debate. Commanded the attention of the room several times. She spoke up - everyone fell silent.
5
What I learned is that it would have been far more productive to lock all of the candidates in one room for two days, with a facilitator and a flip-chart (with the sticky pages) in order to synthesize the best of everyone's good ideas - of which there were quite a few - into a single party platform. Yes, that is contrary to the concept of a debate, but with so many disparate points of view and, frankly, sniping about who's better than whom, the Democratic Party looked horribly fractured and disorganized. The Republicans have a single platform: whatever Trump says. Individual thought seems to have gone out the window with those folks. This will probably offend those who have already picked their horse in this race, and of course goes against "how it's always done," but in these crazy times, one can only fight a unified platform with a unified platform, and then determine who is the best to deliver it.
5
Too many democrats, need more time with each person.
Hope to be able to choose as the group gets smaller.
Any one of them except for Williamson would be better than Trump. Warren still tops for me.
4
The media loves attacks. I think they serve candidates, but not the party. Harris was not an adult when Biden was working to improve civil rights in the country and applies current standards to different times. Others attacked a city mayor who is struggling with police violence, an issue for which we have no answers yet. And another brought up the kind of naive view of socialism that Republicans use, essentially equating it with communism.
I found the group from night one more focused on communicating why they would be a good choice, rather than tearing down the other candidates. Much more helpful that all the drama of night two.
16
Great observation.
4
@Joel Stegner - Very true. I'm just glad no one mentioned anyone else's "hand size".
3
Two things. If Democrats want to win the whole country and not just preach to the choir. One as correct as Harris is about race, the country doesn’t want to be scolded about it. Harris came across as too strident on this issue. Secondly, illegal immigration is the issue that will lose Democrats the election. Look at Western Europe and the rise of the right due to this issue. Americans vote not illegal aliens. I will vote for any Democrat but we’re going to lose if we don’t lose the pandering to race issue and we don’t deal with illegal immigrants in a lawfully humane way.
19
Thoughtful comment.
6
"Harris stole the show — and the night" because the questioners were carefully muzzling Bernie Sanders, the candidate dangerous to finance capital interests and to those of the mainstream media, obviously.
9
I think the debate should be handled differently. Instead of asking questions of the media favorites , why not ask randomly. Pull a name, ask a question, Pull the next name and ask a question. That way we hear ALL THE CANDIDATES and everyone gets a fair chance. The MSNBC debates seemed to be manipulated. My preference is non of the frontrunners, and I definitely won't vote for Pete.
4
Here's what bothered me the most about the Harris-Biden exchange. To me it felt as if Senator Harris was carefully saving this moment in order for it to have maximal emotional impact on as big a stage as possible. It did not seem to erupt spontaneously in response to anything said by any of the candidates up to that point. It also seemed a tad calculated in terms of the timing, and banking on how the visuals of "Woman of Color up against Clueless White Man" would play in her favor. Biden, in turn, did himself no favors by incoherently trying to defend himself. He should have followed Mayor Pete's example when challenged about his handling of the police shooting in South Bend-apologized immediately and with sincerity, accepted responsibility for what happened and owned up honestly to the failure of his administration to increase the number of Black police officers from 6%, in a city that is 26% Black, by admitting "Because I couldn't get it done." It took courage to say that.
17
Excellent point. What if we were left with the true background: recent widow overcoming great personal tragedy to begin his first term in the senate as the youngest and likely poorest Senator ever at that point. Harris is a mixed race child of privilege, growing up far wealthier than Biden. She is bused to a desegregated school before his senate term begins. I have yet to understand how she was harmed by this and what Biden had to do with it. Is Harris for school segregation or for desegregation?? It would seem desegregation is the answer, and Biden supported it. So why clobber Biden on this, 47 years later? He did nothing wrong here and wasn’t making local school decisions in Berkeley and had barely gotten in the senate door. This was about Kamala trying to unfairly use the race card on a person she herself said was definitely not a racist. Don’t you have more important things to talk about, Kamala?
12
No doubt Kamala Harris had a justified point.
Would a private discussion with Biden have been wiser?
The on stage zinger reminded me of Trump!
14
I was encouraged by the debates last night.....we have a lot of bright hopefuls for our country. Several takeaways for me:
1. Too many candidates in one arena - cannot stand when they are all yelling and talking over each other! Cut off their mikes after their time is up!
2. Can Rachel Maddow just be the single moderator for these events??
3. I do not want to listen to Sanders SCREAM at me for the next four years - we already have a President who does that.
4. I have not really heard much from Pete Buttigieg until tonight....he was the one candidate who actually held my attention every time he spoke.
5. I really have always liked Joe Biden....just not sure listening to him last night sold me on him becoming the next President. I want fresh and innovative ideas with thoughtful plans to move this country forward and get us back to being the America we claim to be, and I am not sure he is the one.
6. Why was Marianne Williamson even there? While we need more love in this country, we still need someone that knows something about policies and foreign affairs and government.
10
One thing we learned is that the pundits are terrible at reading the people!
Read the pundits analysis, and the comments from real voters, and you’ll see that they are completely out of sync.
We all seem to like Kamala Harris, but many voters, including me, like her a lot less after last night. She did not represent herself as the child of privilege that she was. She attacked Biden for senate actions that happened before he ever entered office.
Mayor Pete, while an eloquent speaker and liked by many is still seen as way too inexperienced to win.
Biden seem to do ok by the people...we mostly have no problem with his age and trust his experience.
Bernie and Warren are loved and have loyal followers regardless, as they are seen as the idea candidates that are incorruptible fighters for the people.
Gillenbrand might have gotten more time, but her standing did not improve with the voters. Same with many of the others.
Let’s not go back to 2016 and let the media tell us who the candidate is. They were complicit in shoving Hilary down our throats when we didn’t want her and the turnout was favoring Bernie. They told us he could never win because of the sham “superdelegates” we had never heard of before. I hope the media butts out of this one and lets the people decide.
13
And how!
2
The democratic chairman has stated "We have a very deep bench." The regular socialist elitists are not doing well. He better bring them in as most of them are not the choice of the puppet-masters.
The good news. There was, in the two nights, a genius IQ. The bad news, It was divided unequally among all 20 attendees.
Harris, the darling of the media, because they see her as the next minority, victim, ethnic, gender puppet superstar is as dumb, disconnected and ego inflated as anyone on the stage. Just review he performance in past hearings or interviews without the sycophants and editing and even the most ardent supporter, with any brains, will see the "Empresses' new clothes".
7
If these people continue to bash each other into unelectability instead of talking about what they will actually do and how, THEY will be the ones responsible for 4 more years of the orange guy. So Kamala will apparently refuse to work with people whose views she doesn't like, even if it means getting nothing done for the American people. Doesn't that sound an awful lot like Trump?
7
President Trump tweeted that Democrats want to give "million of aliens unlimited healthcare. How about taking care of our Citizens first!?" Well, we know now how he was planning to take care of the American citizens in 2017. By depriving millions of American citizens of their healthcare.
5
It looks like racism from the "Black Lives Matter!" community and more racism from the White Guilt community is going to take down the best candidate the Democrats have: Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
I'm very unhappy about that.
Tsar Putin, OTOH, is laughing into his glass of vodka.
3
Biden says he didn't oppose busing, he opposed busing order by the Department of Education?
As though the local school boards that promoted segregation were going to all of a sudden order busing themselves? How did he think it was going to happen?
28
@drejconsulting Most busing was court ordered. So federal courts. He voted against an amendment that would have prohibited that.
1
For those all smitten with the short political career of Kamala Harris you will want to check this out. She is on her way as a career politician but nowhere near the credibility of Sanders, Biden or Warren. Not all that glitters is gold. This is just one example.
https://theintercept.com/2019/06/09/kamala-harris-san-francisco-catholic-church-child-abuse/
32
Exactly. Not everything that glitters is gold. You may want to take a page from your own book and realize that that applies to all the other candidates, some of which you mentioned, as well.
1
@loco73
If Kamala is the democratic nominee she will have my 100% support as well as donations to her campaign.
Trump is extremely dangerous for our national security and needs to be behind bars for treason as well as a host of other crimes.
4
Democratic Debate TV ratings.... 15.55 million
yesterday
Last Republican Debate .......- 26.12 million
2016
I was thinking about Ms Maddow’s sobriety be a panalist. And I understand she's on rehabilitation. Now her show and the network stuck in the ratings purgatory, NBC’s executives are trying their best to rehab and civilize Ms. Maddow and themselves. You could see her relapsing into her old mania. It isn’t easy to reinstate Ms. Maddow’s her respectability. Or her journalist credentials. After all she conducted several years of most outlandish attacks. And spewed venomous conspiracy theories. She viciously, unfairly slandered President Trump. She constantly reminds me of Alex Jones.
8
@ChandraPrince Huh?
28
@Andrew
A fine demonstration of how much we miss coherent sentences when they are absent...and If there has been any place Rachael Maddow has been subdued and professional...this debate was it.
So tired of retyping . . . climate change actual cause? See the comment on last night's debate: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/us/politics/2020-democratic-debate-tonight.html#commentsContainer&permid=101152349:101152349
Personally I will vote for any candidate on this stage tonight, I see a brand new cabinet for a democratic government to take the reigns of this country
288
@Sherry Rollins
Just because it is NOT YET politically incorrect to take cheap shots against older candidates, Stalwell's prejudiced ageism eliminates him and anyone else who asks experienced, smart candidates to move aside--pass the torch--(become what Ray Bradbury presciently referred to as Soylent Green?) solely because of the number of years they have inhabited this planet. I would vote for a Sanders or Biden or Warren in her 70s over many of the younger but not necessarily better candidates. It's time for Claude Pepper's Grey Panthers to make a comeback on the political scene.
7
@Sherry Rollins:But FIRST THINGS FIRST. Check ur word usage, diction, and the word is "reins" of this country. which I believe you meant to write. "Reigns" is defined as dominance, sovereignty.If ABH were to translate that phrase into French--"prendre les leviers de commande," idiom of Rabelais is English's sister language--read "1066 and All That,"which instructs us that because of the Norman invasion in 1066, the two languages r often indistinguishable.Thus, some folks say French is English badly pronounced and others maintain the contrary, that English is French badly pronounced. "Entre parentheses,"do you mean to say we do not have a democratic government now?If not, why not?What are your reasons for denying that the country at present is not democratically run?if u were in my special progress English class at Brandeis High, I would have to take 5 points off your final grade for mistakes in diction and failure to substantiate ur argument, accusation, no offense where none intended
Fantastic!! I share your thoughts completely. But it is "reins" - we're trying to get rid of the "reign" of King Donald.
Kamala Harris really held Joe Biden's feet to the fire regarding busing. Good for her. Joe Biden flailed badly on that question. He got defensive, blustery, as if he should not be challenged on his past. It reminded me of his response to Anita Hill. She wanted an apology and he could not acknowledge his role in raking her over the coals and simply apologize. What keeps him from saying he was simply wrong regarding busing. Is it just arrogance of pride and an inability to admit a mistake? Or, is he hedging against not upsetting those whites he wants to support him?
437
@Tony Glover
Biden doesn't have a racist bone in his body and to suggest otherwise is just wrong. He tried to make the point (albeit awkwardly) that in the past even people who were diametrically opposed (as Joe was with these awful segregationists) they at least had the sense to try and make deals when they could. I love Harris but I think she got bad advice to go after Biden on this issue. Why do this on a national stage. Confront him privately. The Dems will lose if we eat our own and the most miserable racist thug named Donald Trump will get reelected.
160
@Tony Glover*** busing was a very controversial issue, still is. Biden ( and I don't like him ) was right, let each community decide, not the federal gov.. Many people whose children were going to be bused, and the children themselves hated it, Black & White.
30
@Tony Glover
The Dept. of Education should not enforce busing. Hey that might be the wrong stance in 2019' but it wasn't back then, it ensured African Americans got the same public education as white Americans (period).
13
This debate isn't nearly as sharp and revelatory as last night's. It seems as the bulk of questions are going to Mayor Pete. Also it's been very much a free for all. Everyone jumping in, the moderators are allowing responses to become speeches. lack of discipline across all parties.
Now Harris is using her time to land a hit on Biden. She wants to shame him, but I wish they would stop fighting each other and focus on the task at hand: to unite around a core set of values (not just policies) that contrast with the amorality and demagoguery of Donald Trump.
458
Nah, task at hand is for candidates to break out of the pack. Harris’ tidy smackdown of Biden’s lazy and hazy nostalgia for the past will prove an interesting wedge. The NYT readership won’t like it, but younger Dems will.
64
@christineMcM
I watched all of last night. Tonight, I've already changed the channel 3 times.
19
I’m really turned off by Harris attacks on Mayor Pete & Biden. She is a “show boat”.
Many of them tonight are too focused on pleasing the Democratic base with ‘Medicare for All’ and other socialist ideas. By doing so are turning off a majority of Americans.
74
They all pretty much came out in favor of open borders. Get ready for Trump 2.0
84
@M: No, they didn't. At least not the way Trump wants you to believe his own crock-and-bull.
19
I despise President Trump but I am not going to vote for Democrats who want open borders and providing government healthcare for those who enter illegally. Sorry if I sound selfish but I don't want my county to commit suicide.
299
@Jack No Democrat candidate has proposed having open borders. Not a single one.
497
whether you want to admit it or not, under this administration it already is.
71
What a fine pass we’ve come to when Americans think providing health care to immigrants - while spending close to $1 trillion on defense - is “suicide”.
529
As a conscious voter, I hope that the most meritorious candidate prevails for the benefits of all the American people. We “puertorriqueños” share a long political as well as economic relation with the United States. We feel grateful to all that has been given but also feel sorry for what has been taken, for instance, most of our precious land. But our dignity as a resilient country remains untouched. The new way of politics is born out of love and understanding. Our best wishes for Marianne Willianson, our presidential candidate.
41
@Shanti Barreto
Puerto is NOT a country. It is part of the United States.
Seek statehood.
5
However, as Ms. Williamson (not a serious candidate) noted, Trump wasn't elected because he had a plan. He had a slogan, maga, repeated to roaring crowds who were goaded to yell, rather than informed about "plans".
7
I give up. Reading some of the comments below. So many of them, even some that are “Times Picks”, sound like they are written by Russian Bots. They demonstrate the clear intention of sowing discord among people of the USA and turning people against one another and the Democrats. They blatantly use the anti-immigrant tropes, and, as Trolls, they blindly support Trump and his hate machine. Nothing unites a group of people who have nothing to give but hate, hate, hate better than creating a defenseless enemy. Immigrants who are seeking refuge are defenseless, therefore they are easy targets.
4
Who needs Russian bots to divide us when we have a mob of angry primary candidates carping about the evils of American life today - and yesterday. With the exception of Biden and Mayor Pete, this was the most vicious pack of attack dogs ever to seek office.
2
@Never Trumper I actually thought that both “debates” were very informative. The candidates got their various opinions out and were mostly civil. I thought Kirsten Gillibrand was serious and thoughtful and seems to have a plan AND the skills to carry it out. Women make the world work. Let’s give them a chance to make politics work!
1
Mayor Pete was the only candidate that has the "big picture" view of the world ignoring all the nit picking policy issues and tying into a larger idea. Whether the average American can see this I do not know but this a really smart man who does this kind of thinking. The debate got bogged down on the small issues to a large extent. Some of the debaters should have not been there at all. NBC did a lousy job.
10
Some of the candidates should not have been there. You are right!!! If they had not, I could have heard more from Yang and Bennet. I would have kept Major Pete there. But otherwise, it would have been nice to not have the others.
1
The ridiculousness of judging a candidate’s measure by this shark-frenzy forum cannot be overstated. Don’t let an interrupted sound bite or hesitant hand-raise exclusively inform your judgment. Remain levelheaded. Dig deeper. This was little more than theater of the absurd.
12
I think that once the "experts" have a chance to reflect on Kamala Harris they will have to wonder why she said the American people didn't want to hear or see a food fight, she starts one? Second, she complained that Biden opposed bussing at the same time she complained that she was bussed. And last, she appeared to be the only racist on stage.
13
Sen. Harris was visibly emotional when she addressed VP Biden. She had suffered during that period of integration, along with so many others. I applaud her for speaking out.
6
Having watched both nights of the Democratic debates, what struck me the most was that the women easily mopped the floor with the men (exception being Julián Castro). It was so much fun to watch. It feels so good to see independently fierce females running to be the next President of the United States. Can’t wait for one of them to take out Trashy Trump in the 2020 general election!
4
I wanted to add a comment about some of the rebuttals here saying that Senator Harris's questions were baseless and out of line. They were not baseless. It's true, we all acquire baggage through the simple act of living. The longer we are around the heavier it is. But it's still worth looking at the baggage of someone who is seeking the highest office in the land. That goes for Senator Harris as well as well as Joe Biden.
Joe Biden should not skate by because he is Joe Biden , or because of his link to President Obama. Kamala Harris was right to question him... because it's her right to do so. And Biden should be able to answer those questions. If he can't do so now when in more or less friendly territory, what will he do in a general campaign when he faces Trump, should he get the nomination?
Also it's worth noting that Biden has been around the longest, with perhaps the exception of Bernie Sanders. So...when he talks about change, I got to ask...what exactly has he done for the past 40 plus years?! You cannot wipe away the past because it is inconvenient.
4
I tuned into the debate shortly before Harris called out Biden’s record on race, then tuned out not too long after. By tune out, I mean fell asleep; I’m on the west coast, if that says anything.
What stood out more than the words of the candidates was their body language. Harris didn’t seem very comfortable bringing up the busing point. I don’t know what her relationship with Biden was in the past, but the comments appeared to come from a place of political necessity (“I need to do this to stand out.”) more than her wanting to do so (“I really don’t like this guy.”) It reminded me of when Jay-Z said he was better than his deceased friend Biggie in a rap era when nobody would say that; very awkward at first, but then we all carried on.
At the same time, you could see Biden and Bernie physically dealing with the pressures of being white male democratic candidates who, unlike Trump, have to avoid falling into the trap of cutting off their women opponents mid-sentence. Biden, in particular, was stuck between a Rock (the relatively new Democratic norm that women have the right to speak and it’s inappropriate to cut them off) and a Hard Place (Kamala Harris).
I like Harris. It’s great to see her assert herself among her Democratic opponents. But the rules her fellow Democrats abide by are not the same as those Trump adheres to. Good luck...to all of us.
4
I’m confused. Was this debate about whether Biden should be the nominee? The lead NYT articles are mostly focused on this question. And why 0 mention of the candidates’ climate crisis views and plans? Is this issue that unimportant? Watching the debate, I got the feeling that, despite all evidence to the contrary (the current president included), it’s just business as usual for the 2020 election cycle. But it isn’t, not by a long shot. How long can we Americans and our media live in this bubble? Wouldn’t it be better to face reality than wait for the bubble to pop?
7
I disagree with The Times characterization of Biden and Sanders' raising their hands as "timid." While I would not place either of them in my top 5 list of contenders, I saw their actions as a show of civility. All the yelling over and shouting at each other by many of the others (on both nights) was not very presidential, in my opinion.
12
I don't think that Biden will make it. There is a disadvantage in having served in different positions for so many years. He now presents a wide target, especially when opponents feel his entire past is in play. There was a epoch when Congress was more civil. The great partisan divide is recent, the divide where the "other party" is seen as evil, even "traitors." But there was a time when the other party was the other point of view, a view not embraced by all but seen as widespread in another part of this very large country. In the time of more civility, it was be more acceptable to work with opponents --- not to see them as the personification of evil; compromise was possible and laws could be passed . Biden unfortunately cannot erase his past associations and speaks openly of his "getting along" with opponents he did not like in order to accomplish things. But such an attitude is now anathema to the partisan world we live in. Democrats see Pence, Miller, McConnell, etc., as evil people and vice versa. In our present climate, Biden's tendency to speak so openly of his working with the other side----and his open record of having voted with them on occasion in order to get a broader program passed--will hurt him. He's a good man. but invariably such a long record will contain some things no longer acceptable.
11
I too was bused - into a black neighborhood in California, where I got to see kids hawking their family food stamps and the projects up close. It was too dangerous to integrate in sports and we hopped on the bus right away at the end of the day. I fail to see how federally mandated busing would have or will cure race problems in America. Harris failed to tell us why it was so critical, and Biden's response let me know there is more to it. In New York City kids get to apply to the public high school of their choice, to make decisions for their future. Should the kids get bused into east Brooklyn to get a hip-hop education and learn how to buy a gun off the streets instead?
9
It is critical for her, because it's part of her life and formative experience. We all have such events in our lives. Those who don't see truly privileged.
2
@Brooklyn
She didn't say why it was critical because she didn't experience the negative aspects of bussing. Let's not forget that her family moved her to Canada for quite a while, and she lived in the most upscale neighborhood in Montreal, while her parents held professional white collar jobs.
Spare me the her mawkish suffering.
As "racist" as America was/is, the fact remains that the income inequality between most whites and blacks was significantly smaller in those racist times than today - when we're all allegedly less racist.
6
Like others in the media, this analysis is putting "performance" over substance. Of course, a candidate's behavior is an important consideration, and Kamala Harris's fire and zingers were compelling (in sharp contrast to the hectoring shrillness of Kirsten Gillibrand). But for me, the most impressive showing last night was that of Pete Buttigieg, who - far from being "flat," as the article describes him - gave thoughtful, articulate responses to the moderators' questions that demonstrated not only his command of the subject but also a quiet, steady passion for genuine - and achievable - change.
16
Yes, Buttegieg is very articulate. I also appreciate his calm demeanor.
16
As during the last election, the NYT and many readers are missing the point about Bernie’s “single issue” campaign. Part of the fault lies with Sanders himself; he needs to articulate the logic behind his seemingly obsessive hammering. Maybe he needs to take a cue from WJ Clinton: It’s the economy, dummy! The plutocratic, corrupt, systemic problems he’s been focusing on underlie the (our!) government’s ability, or, perhaps more accurately, inability, to successfully handle all other issues:civil rights, foreign policy, health care—in short, everything! even including global warming. He is not oblivious to racial or feminist concerns, although I agree his monomania can seem tone deaf. But Sanders has astutely identified the second core challenge for the Democratic Party in the 21st century: reversing the pervasive effects of Dark Money. Now, however, the very first task is to choose an honest, intelligent Democrat who can defeat Trump. Then maybe we can reverse global warming. If not, global warming will take care of the whole mess.
10
I love the speaking time graphic. Props to the graphics people credited at its bottom. Sad that Biden has nothing "new" or, rather, in step with the times. Glad that Harris made this clear. As an old time Democrat, I also need to be shaken up a bit....to see that it is time to let go of our old guard and get on with the new.
4
Although I like and support Kamala Harris, I think she took a cheap shot at VP Biden on race. Sure he worked with segregationist Senators decades ago, but that does not make him a racist. He was doing his job. He also worked for 8+ years with President Obama. No racist would have done that. Senator Harris, you know better.
Sometimes, when a candidate is not brought up in a particular culture, unwitting slips do happen. President. Obama, who I worship, had one such when he alluded to guns and Gods.
14
She clearly articulated that she does not believe Biden is a racist, so there’s no reason to pin that on her. She does not believe that Biden’s approach address the problem of racism and used a personal example.
3
When will Blacks wake up and realize that Democrats are the ones that kept them down? Now they manipulate their votes. The list of Democrat candidates is a collection of characters. Not one capable of being President.
4
Debate? With 60-second answers? It's really just a "gotcha" opportunity. And it was plenty evident last night and the night before that everyone was well prepared:
"Not a food fight"
"All foam and no beer"
What gets you points is to organically insert your line at the perfect moment. If you don't it falls flat, if you do you're THE HERO.
If you're on the receiving end. You're the BIGGEST LOSER.
12
No one is talking about one of the root causes of all this "illegal" migration which is drug running. The cartels main customers are here in the US and Europe. Full legalization and regulation of what are now illegal drugs would lower the prices of those drugs and remove the financial incentives to engage in drug running. Just think if all the intelligence and energy devoted to drug running could be applied to doing something that actually benefits people in those countries what a change that would make. There are lots of people in this country who are also involved in the drug trade whose energies could be better applied elsewhere.
7
I think Joe Biden is using these debates to audition people for VP. He did not seem to feel pressure to perform or state his case. He stopped mid sentence twice to say he was out of time. I noticed he seemed to parrot of a lot of what Buttiegieg said after he spoke.
1
For those attacking Biden for working with others across the aisle, even with those who are despicable, note that AOC is working with Ted Cruz on legislation.
11
@Kb
AOC is getting Cruz on board with what she wants, and it's not a traditional Republican policy.
Biden worked across the aisle to do what the Republicans wanted to get done. What did he get in return?
4
Buttigieg for the win. I'm making a campaign contribution today.
11
Interesting that the two things that seem to get the most negative comments are:
Democrats supporting providing health care to undocumented migrants
Kamala Harris attacking Biden for his anti-busing positions
I can only conclude that just as in 2016, racial resentment will put Trump back into office.
9
As usual, the Democrats concentrate on identity politics - they are so keen to divide up America into different segments of the population! Kamala Harris' intervention seemed so staged and artificial I found it quite hilarious!
10
I'm all for identity but not clear why "identity politics" is so bad. A Black voter should forget they're Black when voting? Check her Black self at the door? Whites get to vote white but it's not identity politics? What about older people?
Age discrimination is illegal in America. Older people have the same right to be treated equally as do Blacks, Hispanics, Self-gendered, women, people with disabilities, Asians, and all identity groups, which is what older people are.
Seniors face brazen discrimination, offensive stereotypes, denied use of public facilities, transit, suffer hostility and social insignificance. Most are segregated away from others.
Day 1 of primary season and age bias dominates with Sanders, Biden, Warren openly derided because of their age. It's the worst form of ageism: old means diminished, befuddled speech, frailty and mental fuzziness.
"Joe was great but he's old and taking up space Kamala Harris at 54 is entitled to...". Biden, Sanders are the old guys -- not deeply experienced political mechanics who get things done that self-righteous instagrammable fury dismisses as not far enough and evil compromise.
Two highly qualified guys apply for a job. Both are rejected in the first round because of their age and imagined deficits that afflict all older people since they're all alike. It's against the law and highly offensive.
It's racism against older citizens. It diminishes their humanity.
Stop.
13
Hate to say it but Trump will tap into the sexism that is still too prevalent in this country and that will un do Harris and Warren. We are not ready for a woman President in 2020. Will be much different in 2024 when I believe women will be at the top of each ticket. Mayor B. Of South Bend- wish I could remember how to pronounce or spell his name- will be a victim of the too prevalent homophobia. Biden does look and sound old. An MSNBC commentator said Trump has to be taken down by another bully. Not sure who would qualify there.
1
With that kind of thinking we will never be ready...
3
"In an otherwise flat performance...?" What debate were you watching? That's not the Pete Buttigieg I saw. How many politicians, in front of a national TV audience, have the guts to admit, "I couldn't get it done"?
16
Warren, last night and Buttigieg and Harris tonight!
I'll take any two of those three happily.
17
I feel the same way. For me the race has reduced to those three candidates, although I worry that Buttegieg is currently too young and inexperienced in the ways of Washington politics.
2
I calculate that Biden was invited to speak 17 times - most of his remarks were relatively incoherent - Yang spoke 5 times - the MSM did a pitiful job as they did the first night - they drew attention to themselves and to the so-called major candidates in a most dysfunctional manner - I was disappointed and angry at the undemocratic and biased nature of the proceedings. Very little planning and forethought seemed to have been applied to the format therefore the outcome was exceedingly unfair.
5
These comments are too much about criticism. A good president is a figurehead who leads through example and emphasizes priorities and principles. The NYTs is giving too much emphasis to anger. Anger is Trump's domain, and no one will even come close in that capacity! These debates are to introduce us to the candidates and observe their ideas and presentations. Moderators controlled in a very arbitrary show of bias and limited exposure to new ideas. While certain Candidates interrupting and speaking out of turn, were given more time, others were preemptively cut off. 30-45 seconds is not adequate for thoughtful responses. We definitely did not hear enough from Wang or Williamson and it was obvious that the moderators weren't interested in their platforms, though listeners may have been! Times' writers characterized Pete Buttigieg as flat, whereas I would have described him as articulate, measured, and compassionate, the exact opposite of Donald Trump, and very desirable traits for the face of our nation! Biden and Sanders are even judged for respecting the rules of the debate! I am tired of media determining our candidates. We need more neutral moderation and analysis.
18
I was also put off by the candidates that violated the rules if the debate. They come across as belligerent... Trump-like. I also appreciate Buttegieg's manner. I think he would represent the US well on the world stage.
7
It's such a breath of fresh air to hear decent, intelligent Americans discuss their plans and hopes for our nation. I'm glad they barely mentioned Trump. Once we have a Democratic president, Trump will be relegated back to being the sleazy New York real estate developer that he is. Or, he may be in jail alongside his former campaign manager Paul Manafort.
It's pretty clear that Kamala Harris won the night. But the real winner was America. January of 2021 can't come soon enough.
3
My wife an I desperately want to vote for a Democrat in the Presidential election, but if your position is that you want to remove any obstacles to crossing our southern border, entice millions to cross it with the promise of free healthcare and other social benefits and take away our health insurance, you have lost us and probably the majority of the country.
21
As a liberal, I feel your pain. Your concerns are not based on what was said. Crossing the borders would be decriminalized, not without obstacles. Health care for all would not be free, we would pay for it with wealth redistribution and higher taxes instead of bank breaking deductibles. Those who wanted to get rid of private insurance were a minority of candidates.
2
Most of the Democratic candidates have their own political baggage, and are vulnerable to personal assaults and old grievances dug up by their opponents.
Not all baggage matters, depending on circumstances and its gravity. People change in the course of years.
So far the candidates have treated each other with respect, talking about issues they want to fight for.
The two nights of Democratic debates are just the first round of a fierce battle. The party needs to bridge the policy divide and avoid vicious infighting between progressives and moderates. This would only benefit Trump.
2
All the "Medicare for all", "Forgive college debt", "open borders", etc progressives need to explain how these programs will be funded and how they will get anything passed in Congress if the House continues to be controlled by Dems and the Senate by Republicans. Bernie certainly did not have an answer.
14
@LSamson
My problem with Bernie exactly.
1
The second night’s candidates seem to be able recognize the problems, providing the data to prove their points, but we need a “plan” to put the problems behind us - I think this is where Elizabeth Warren comes in - go Elizabeth! (On another note, it looks like “Medicare for All” won’t kick in until I’ve gone broke from paying $1600 monthly premiums and deductibles. I’m sorry. And to my insurance company which gives Sen. Mitch McConnell and others hundreds of thousands of dollars - thanks bunches for stealing my American Dream.)
8
It’s telling that the reporters characterized Mayor Pete’s performance as “flat.” I found him to be an unwavering and calm voice of reason, in contrast to the “food fight” style that Gillibrand and Swalwell demonstrated all night. Harris did do well and had some strong attack lines, but Buttigieg’s honest and clear approach won me over.
Next time I hope we have a smaller debate, with no more than 7 people on stage at the same time. As for who could have exited last night and improved the quality of the debate in the process – Williamson, Gillibrand and Swalwell would be prime candidates.
14
This article missed one of the top moments of the debate, one of the strongest applause lines from the audience - Mayor Pete calling out the Christian Right’s hypocrisy, their silence on the horrors at the border.
This is an important theme I hope to see repeated and in ads next fall - the party that claims the high moral ground has completely lost it in Trump, a man with no morals. Crack the Christian Right and the republican party crumbles.
Fox News protects Trump by burying negative stories and most republicans, particularly female Christians in the Deep South and Midwest, are completely unaware of his affairs and aggression towards women. Pierce that bubble, and game over.
20
The whole thing was unintelligible to us. It looked like a junior high school debate club without a real moderator so we turned it off. We’re going to wait until the new age author and unknowns drop out until we watch the debates again - what a mess.
8
Well, this should do it, and it only took one debate. A person who can't discern a question about her own health insurance vs national policy gets to take down the best chance we have to get rid of Trump. At least I know how to invest my 401K now, and to tune out until 2023.
4
There are twice the number of candidates running than Sanata has reindeer. Many more Americans are more likely to remember the names of the reindeer than they are the bunch of Democrats running for the nomination.
Why the comparison to Christmas? Simply because, we have another 16 months of this nonsense before the General Election. No respite from this unit Christmas 2020.
Dasher, Dancer, Donner and Blitzen...……
1
Trump's second term is rapidly approaching.
The Democrats acted like 2 year olds in the sandbox. Many of the ideas expressed are pie in the sky idea.
I sincerely doubt a woman can win.
I sincerely doubt an African American or Hispanic or Asian can win.
The country soundly rejected that idea in 2016 and chose the worst possible person for president. The country had 8 years of Obama. The vote was an expression of the racist attitude of many of the people that voted for trump. The others were the ones who wanted a Supreme Court justice that was right to life.
I happen to think Obama was one of the best presidents were have ever had.
I also like several of the minority and women who are running for president.
I am also a pragmatist.
Kamala, when we lose the election, because of people like you who are attacking the most likely candidate to win
the minority will find it even more difficult to vote (is that what you want? What about your feelings?
you will lose busing,
you will lose the right to have abortion,
you will lose any immigration rights.
And the environment will become intolerable.
And we will be in a worse place than we are now. And then how will you feel.
The Democratic party will be in the same place it was in 2016.
We have just given trump a ton of one liners to destroy the nominee.
We have given the party the opportunity to split the party with some not voting for whomever the nominee is because their feelings are hurt.
8
If you are familiar with Kipling's poem "If" you will remember that the father says "If you can keep your head, when all those about you are losing theirs, then you will become a man my son."
These debates prove that the participants are like lemmings following one another left.
The American people will see this as the opposite of Mr. Kipling's advice.
6
I am from the Boston area and have to say most people believe that bussing was a big mistake. Undoubtably their were some who were helped but most were traumatized by the spectacle. Looking back most people agree that the money and time spent bussing should have been used to upgrade the schools and pay the teachers more rather than buss kids many miles away.
10
I hesitate to say it but there were several times when Biden was speaking that his age was showing. His speech was ever-so-slightly garbled as he struggled over words, and he came across as addled, if not confused.
I recognized these indicators because as someone in his mid-70s, I display them too at times.
22
"Here's the full transcript" ...wonderful service for those of
us who have a severe hearing loss and have trouble following
the debate and for those who do not have the time to sit and
watch for 2 hours. Thank you, New York Times!!
14
Predictably, the media is going to obsess over the Kamala-Biden exchange, but I was not too impressed with Harris's confrontation. She's very good at leaning into her former role as an attorney general - and that may be good against Trump - but she needs to articulate a vision first. I didn't get a strong enough sense that she's thinking about the future. However, I thought Buttigieg was very impressive in this regard, even though according to The Times he had a "flat" performance. Go figure.
31
I’m sorry can you repeat that? Your specific plan on how you are going to defeat Trump is what? This Democrat wants to hear the candidates roadmap on how s/he will go after Trump should they have the opportunity-they are wasting their time if they are going after each other. Want to show me your fight, intelligence and tenacity? Then talk about a focused message on getting the Whitehouse back and getting Americans proud again. Make America PROUD Again, this current administration is an embarrassment to say the least.
12
Some of the candidates in Thursday's debate most closely resembled a pack of hyenas hellbent on killing off Joe Biden. In attacking him, they displayed unmitigated narcissism and ruthless opportunism and thus most closely resembled our current president. They also are guilty of poor judgment. Terrible judgment, as it happens. This debate may well have given Donald Trump a second term. While Joe Biden is not my first choice nonetheless I think he may be the only candidate with a chance of winning, and his attackers, epecially Kamala Harris, may have destroyed that one slim chance. If so, I hope the world will hold them responsible.
10
@Joanna
Given Trump a second term?
Hardly. No one will remember this in a week and certainly will have forgotten the names of those who participated.
Harris scored some points. The bussing issue is something that still evokes emotion for some after all of these decades. The issue was simply and the remedies complex and polarizing. It is something that cannot be intelligently discussed at a debate such as thing.
4
Kamala Harris’s aggressive performance aiming to take down Joe Biden may have rightfully cost her the opportunity to be his running mate. If all goes well, she may have the opportunity to be appointed Attorney General.
As an aside, Pete B definitely earned a position in the cabinet and maybe even as Joe Biden’s running mate.
20
Meanwhile back at the ranch Mr Putin takes the lead on a vision of the future reported by the BBC and in the Financial Times untwittered but published around 0500 GMT.
Mr Putin is reported as applauding the policies of Mr Trump reflecting demise of liberalism.
Mr Putin lauded Mr Trump for building the wall on the US Mexican border.
Mr Putin affirmed nationalism as the new future and pointed out that Ms Merkel was not in his favor.
Mr Putin stated as I listen to the BBC stated that populism is cool.
Excluding homosexuals is an agenda.
Mr Putin denies poisoning UK citizens.
When confronted by Ms May the UK PM.
The Stonewell riots express American tolerance.
Mr Putin Ambassador suggests like Trump laughs at novichok diplomacy.
Live chat from Australia.
Russia is a declining economy at the level of Spain but naturally another country led by a leader fearful of liberalism.
Many aspirants to the Presidency happily made rational cases to become the President of the United States of America.
Tacky relations with business and foreign despots is preposterous for the leader of the free world.
SCOTUS failed to affirm electoral votes should be absent of gerrymander.
SCOTUS did not reject racial profiling to threaten minorities from being counted in the Census.
Americans live in a world pre 1917 and 1941.
Two great seas and all that.
Your president who lacks rudiments of vision and morality is deeply worrying.
5
I believe I have never disagreed with an assessment of anything from the Times as much as I disagreed with this one. First, Mayor Pete was, as others noted, not flat at all. Kamala Harris did not strike any positive notes with me. She is "hurt" by decades-old activity taken out of its historical context? How will she work with world leaders who do not treat their citizens in any way close to our Democratic ideals? Will she almost cry, become emotional, and appeal to her sense of hurt?
And what about climate change?!? This assessment does not even discuss that incredibly important issue! Harris's response was spot-on typical horrendous Democratic handling..."existential crisis." Oh, yes, the whole country will be wearing hats with that phrase emblazoned on them soon (eye roll). Harris, don't go into advertising...or politics, because you couldn't give away ice at the Equator. Trump, and other Republicans has shown that people love concrete, relatable phrases. I do not imply to go to his level, but how hard is it to see what resonates with people? Didn't H. Clinton's failure to sway with her long, reasoned discussions teach Democrats anything? If we want people to care about climate change, we have to sell it in relatable, impactful sound bites. Get out of the past and sell with modern, effective techniques!! Our planet depends on it.
32
And the winner of the second night debate was, for me, Elizabeth Warren. I haven’t had time to read the 624 other comments here to see if anyone agrees with me, but I felt that her honesty, well thought out plans clearly laid out, ability to communicate with the American people, and leadership skills are the whole package. I only wish she had been onstage tonight.
I think Harris’s handlers told her to up her game and passion to make inroads, and she did. But I felt going after Biden as she did was a cheap shot. She fell in my estimation tonight. I would only vote for her if I had to, to stave off Trump.
Biden looked tired, was forced to defend the Obama record, and didn’t put forward an energetic, coherent plan of his own. I felt badly for him.
Bernie was Bernie, never changes, has big policy ideas but no nitty gritty details of how to implement them.
Mayor Pete is well spoken, not hysterical, but could not compete against the ratcheted-up din. Bennet made a few good points but also couldn’t compete. Hickenlooper had no fire. As for impudent Swalwell, bizarre Yang, screeching Gillibrand, and off-the-wall Williamson, the less said, the better.
18
On the Indiana murder: Of course the cop made sure his bodycam was off. With a premeditated plan of attack that would tarnish the department & infuriate the public, he had to eliminate any possibility of incriminating evidence surfacing. If the police chief DOESN'T have an unwritten policy on filming sensitive encounters, then he is unable to control his officers and therefore undeserving of a leadership role. If he DOES employ such a policy, then he is unworthy of public service. By not immediately getting to the bottom of this scandal, Buttigieg is making it known he lacks the direction, control & resolve required to be President of the United States of America. He's not even fit to be mayor. Bottom line: This "distraction" is hurting his electability. So, after a two plus year investigation, an improbable explanation will be offered, the chief will be re-elected & the officer will be suspended for a paltry 30 days without pay & be back on patrol. Lack of character is evident when one's first impulse is to lie & cover-up the truth. It's blatant anymore. I'm not buying another "I forgot to turn my bodycam on" - "The dashcam video was blocked during the confrontation as I needed to check the patrol car's fluids in the heat of the moment" - "I don't recall" - "It was a glitch" - "It looked like a gun" - "I vehemently deny" - "We're looking into it" - "I wasn't aware" - "That was taken out of context" . . .
I can't even watch the news the news anymore. Pathetic.
8
Pete is toast for good reason. First, he lied. He didn't just not get "it" done in South Bend around policing, he made things worse. And the circumstance is not just a stray incident, it was a feature of his governance. Blacks were second thoughts for him. Only after he appeased his other constituents or amassed a selling point for a future run to higher office, he thought about the impact of his decisions on his black constituents. He had summarily fired a black chief for exploring a police claim. He now won't fire the successor to that chief because its not politically expedient.
5
Undocumented Immigrants (i.e. illegal immigrants) dont pay income taxes. In order to work they generally either are paid under the table or use false social security numbers. Since their numbers are fake, they cannot possibly pay income taxes. Employers of illegal immigrants dont pay the income taxes of illegal immigrants, the whole point of employing illegal immigrants is to avoid paying taxes and workers comp and benefits and all the things that make citizen workers uncompetitive vs illegal immigrants.
Look, if you aren't a contractor or run an agricultural business you have no idea what you are talking about. If employers paid illegal immigrants benefits and workers comp and taxes, they wouldnt be so much cheaper to use than citizen workers.
Employers should go to jail for using illegal immigrants, but they dont because our country is insane. Instead, employers use illegal immigrants so they can file cheaper bids on work and get contracts over employers who use citizens or legal immigrants. It's really that simple, if our nation wasnt completely out of its mind it would be obvious to everyone, but unfortunately it's not.
19
Immigration:
Donald Trump, ever God’s gift to Democratic debate, allowed ten candidates to rail rightly about cages...and none to tackle the question of what advantages, exactly, an immigrant would gain by becoming an American citizen.
1
Put any one of these candidates from night two into the night one event and they would have come out looking better. There was a bad vibe happening last night that did not do any of them good.
I don't know. I felt uplifted and inspired about the Democrats after night one. After last night ... regained hopelessness. The potential for debacle with this ridiculous "debate" process had been realized.
Night one. Light on the hill. Night two. Pulled the plug. Each and everyone of those candidates are better than how they appeared.
7
Biden blew it by not first expressing empathy for Harris, after she spoke about her pain as a child. That's all it would have taken. Instead, he launched into self-defense mode. Right there, he lost his ground. Too bad.
11
The US is the wealthiest country in the world, yet providing healthcare to illegal immigrants is a dealbreaker to some voters. It is evidence of two things. Our healthcare is too expensive, and we have a culture of xenophobia built on misinformation.
15
Did the Times and everyone else watch the same debate? The bias--ok, you want a woman to run against Trump; we get that--is evident when you shift from observation to out-and-out telling us what we--the viewers--witnessed on that stage. Sorry, that is not what I saw; that is how Katie Glueck, Shane Goldmacher, Sydney Ember, and Reid J. Epstein interpreted it. Harris was great, but many of the candidates seemed strong to me. And what's with the dismissive bias against Buttigieg? Oh, yes, because managing race relations in our powder keg of a country is just so easy. . . Thank goodness for readers' comments to confirm that I'm not crazy--or alone.
21
I think a 10 person debate is pretty useless. All vying for attention and using talking points rather than in-depth discourse
6
Marianne Williamson has so much to share that didn’t get revealed tonight. I wish people had more chance to hear the depth of her understanding of issues at the core of problems rather than just the hot debate topics. There is always polarity in opinions until you get down to the root of things. That lady can go to the root. She needs to be heard.
6
MSNBC/NBC News really dislike Yang, clearly. He was the only one respecting the rules of the debate, and he got two questions. The narrative is real.
9
Harris said she didn't want a 'food fight' - then she threw the first bun. With teary eyes, she said Biden had hurt her with his boast that he'd successfully worked across the aisle to get past the gridlock in Washington. 'It makes me so sad to hear you say you'd work with people that I would work with at the drop of a hat if I became president' intoned Harris.
And then she played her racist card - the one she practised in front of a mirror - by saying she didn't think Biden was a racist but saying it so unconvincingly that viewers would get her subliminal message - 'he's a racist'. This, mind you, coming from a California prosecutor who by all accounts was blind to the racism that permeated the trials over which she presided. Harris is a chameleon - she can be black when it suits her, white when it doesn't. In fact - as evidenced by her unwillingness to commit to any definitive position on the most important issues facing America - she can be any flavour or colour the voter wants.
Reportedly Trump was so pleased with Harris's take-down of the biggest threat to his second term that he ordered a second bucket of chicken. 'Heh, heh' chuckled Trump 'I'm eating Kentucky Fried and they're eating each other - it doesn't get any better than this'.
13
I had hoped Kamala Harris would just fade away.
I don't know the other contenders as well as Harris who was elected DA in San Francisco with the strong backing of a racist SF police union. Harris ran against incumbent Terence Hallinan who was a leftie hated by the police union. Hallinan fought the death penalty, advocated legalized prostitution, deferred jail for drug offenders, refused to try juveniles as adults, made domestic violence a top priority. He even sued police officers who failed to Mirandize suspects. The police union slammed Hallinan for his low prosecution rate. Harris won.
With Harris as DA police prosecutions were rare and Blacks shot by SF police reached an all time high.
Her record as state AG was even more abysmal. She dropped her opposition to the death penalty, aggressively locked up drug offenders, arbitrarily invoked the state's draconian "3 Strikes" law mandating long and hard prison time on the 3rd conviction, no matter how trivial the crime.
Early on she was protege and girlfriend of former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (then 60 and married), hands down the most powerful and corrupt Democrat in California. Brown had her appointed to two state board sinecures, which paid $70,000 and $100,000 for a few hours each week.
A little girl who was bused? In Berkeley or in Montreal?
C'mon, her dad was a Stanford econ prof and her mom a medical researcher. In SF she preferred her East Indian identity.
Don't cry for her Argentina.
45
Marianne Williamson has so much to share that didn’t get revealed tonight. I wish people had more chance to hear the depth of her understanding of issues at the core of problems rather than just the hot debate topics. There is always polarity in opinions until you get down to the root of things. That lady can go to the root. She needs to be heard.
1
I give Harris full credit for her pointed criticism of Biden, but it went entirely unnoticed and uncommented on by the talking heads that Harris basically copied Elizabeth Warren's first night comments on income inequality, and stole Jay Inslee's wildly popular zinger about Trump being the biggest threat to our nation. Harris is taking the best bits from other candidates and passing them off as her own. I think she is a phony who will say and do anything to win.
13
The Times suggests that interjected and interrupting are signs of assertiveness, which shows why a bully like Trump gets a pass. It criticizes candidates who kept to their allotted time, and raised a hand rather than interrupted. Gillibrand, who consistently interrupted others, and was indignant when others interrupted her should be criticized.
The assertion that Harris "stole the show, and the night" is a repulsive headline. Much as I admire her, the Times shouldn't be putting a thumb on the scale.
Characterizing Buttigieg as giving a "flat performance" is equally insulting. The Times is not the smartest guy in the room, telling the rest of us what to think. Your job is to report what people said and how they said it, not opine.
It's also telling that the Times ignores the early lines of Buttigieg, that the Democrat party respects the separation of church and state, but should call out hypocrisy, and the Christian right's agreement with Trump's family separation is something their God would condemn. That certainly resonated in middle America far more than Harris talking about school busing.
26
I don’t care who has zingers, who interrupts, who grandstands.
I look at who can unite this country and who can win.
Anyone who is Biden or Bernie’s age has baggage and has had plenty of time to make mistakes. Young people are refreshing and haven’t done much despite their thinking they have.
Mike Bennett is the guy who has the brains, background and capability to do both. Anyone who worked a school superintendent knows how our society operates outside the beltway. He’s a man we can trust, practical, and workable. He’s difficult for Republicans to hate and not extreme. His background is compelling and he is trustworthy.
He also knows having worked in the schools, that bullying, name calling, lying, obfuscating, marginalizing, etc. are not winning strategies.
Take a long look at Mike.
8
It seemed to me that the singular mission of Hickenlooper was to repeatedly bash socialism, or what he calls socialism, even to the point of making up that "everyone was going to get a govt job". It was bizarre to see him go off topic and not finish answers to questions and use his time to return to that anti-socialism topic and repeat the same socialism bashing line.
I also noticed that Beto attempted to introduce into the conversation that medicare for all isn't possible as if that were a fact.
It would seem that some candidates are using the debate platform to interject paradigms and perspectives to the public viewers that are suspiciously inline with industry and republican talking points.
Is Beto taking money from the healthcare sector?
6
@JC
Robert O'Rourke is a distraction and a fake. He could win his Texas race, he won't win the popular vote there either. He is a Dem version of Mittens...too much time and money on his hands.
Sure Medicare for all is possible but it is not the solution. Medicare only covers 80%, does not cover Rx, and has other costly out of pocket charges. Gap insurance is costly. Bankruptcies are increasing amongst the Medicare cohort as are medical driven bankruptcies. We need another plan. Single payer for basic care and treatment is what is needed. Anything else is trying to use a tiny Band-Aid to cover an amputated limb.
6
Having followed politics my whole life seeing what is happening to Joe Biden is amazing. Being hailed as "The only one who can beat Trump" the more radical extreme left wing candidates and the more extreme left wing media are picking him apart as they are more in favor of an extreme left wing candidate. Since Liberals only make up 20% of America and that America is a Center /Right country this is political suicide.
2
Reading the comments section has me so disheartened. Kamala Harris struck me as strong, smart,
passionate and capable. Yes she attacked Joe Biden but the attack was based on a policy position he held and that she had personally experienced (bussing). So many criticisms of her seem somewhat misogynistic and racist. We need a fighter to go up against Trump. She’s got that. My only concern upon reading all these comments is that racism and misogyny will make her victory too difficult.
7
@Sarah
Please, Harris' family would have been the rich kid getting bussed to the poor school. I benefitted from busing as did many of the kids in poor in poor neighborhoods. But understand that busing was pretty much ended by 1980 and never really implemented in many places. It was, for the most part, replaced by school choice.
6
I am tired of Kamala Harris cheap grandstanding. Instead of attacking others and using her race to score points--her mother, by the way, was South Asian (from India), not African American--I wish that she had some ideas. All she does is moralize.
10
But you are fine with Trump doing that...while he is already president?
1
@loco73 No I am not fine with Trump or anyone else doing this. What I said does not imply that. Deflect, deflect, rather than engage what I said about Kamala Harris. I hope that she will stop using race in this way or I hope that she will just fade away. We don't need this.
2
And Biden is not grandstanding?! What do you think his constant nostalgia laden appeals and his constant Obama linkage are?! So Kamala Harris should fade away because you don't agree with her. I have problem with how Biden treated Anita Hill or the fact that his stance on the prohibition of federal funding for women's health services affected their reproductive rights. But I don't think he should fade away. He should have the same chance as all the other candidates...
1
It was lame that Harris brought up busing. Reality is if you want desegregate schools you need desegregate neighborhoods. Biden was right - you can’t force neighborhoods to desegregate. They have to want to do it.
11
Unlike Biden and Mayor Pete, I have never made a single mistake.
I have accomplished this epic feat by lying to myself about it.
16
Prepared dramatics of Harris. with narrowing eyes, attacking gestures and loud trembling voice, can hide a lack of substance and absence of positions - for a debate or a couple of Senate hearings. But any serious discussion will reveal her emptiness for everybody to see.
14
As a committed independent immigrant, the two shows (rightly called by the writers "performances") only entertained me. Trying to out-Lefty each other will get none of them elected. Having the rare good ideas does not make voters overlook the nightmarish weirdness, such as talking about men becoming pregnant. Alas, this means four more years of Trump.
3
“Anyway, my time is up. I’m sorry.” Biden cuts himself short tonight not once, but twice! Weak and feeble.
Please stop giving him a pass. He’s coasting on name recognition and nostalgia for Obama. I’m center-left. Plenty of vibrant and sharp candidates with cross-over appeal. And if you’re further to the left, there are also great options. We don’t need Biden.
He’s not working for our votes. We deserve better.
6
JFK's inaugural speech challenged American youth "to not ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." 45 asks daily what our country can do for him. So the emoluments trials proceed. These ten, twenty, and more Democratic candidates for POTUS are responding to the challenge with their ideas and policies, and not with rhetorical slurs.
1
The man who can and will beat Donald Trump was not on stage but you'll get to know him soon: Steve Bullock Gov. of Montana. If you think you support Biden, just check him out, I stumbled across him today - watched an interview, did some research, and he's what Trump voters actually wanted and has an extremely progressive agenda as well in Montana..
7
Undocumented immigrants broke the law, they should be given health care. food and housing if they need it, until sent back. If they are working in the US, they should be allowed to stay on work visas as long as they pay taxes. Follow the law. Or change it.
For border policy, add triple the number of judges so that asylum requests get adjudicated promptly. Expanding the number of judges and keeping families together is worth spending some money on. Congress is corrupt on unlimited campaign money and lobbying, so the above will not happen, and the US sinks under its own corruption that its own people are ignoring.
4
Bennett hammered Biden pretty good for caving to Mitch McConnell ... that was the second most significant moment ... Mayor Pete came off as not only the most intelligent, but also the best informed candidate on the floor. Biden also let a bit of entitlement show through. Sorry Joe, the fact that you are not Trump does not somehow translate into voters seeing you as some sort of a savior.
13
I’m glad Biden contrasted his history as a public defender with Harris’ history as a prosecutor. She should have to answer for making a career as a willing instrument of mass incarceration. Where was her commitment to civil rights then?? Honestly, with that in her background, it is hard for me to take her rhetoric about racism seriously. She can take all the identity politics pot shots she wants, but when she had a chance to meaningfully interrupt systemic racism in this county, she did the opposite. She should have to explain that.
13
Democrats should not criticize other Democrats. Harris and others should have attacked Trump not Biden.
The existential threat to the US is nuclear war with Russia or China whether accidental or intentional. We should improve our relations with Russia and with China. Trump’s trade war with China and Democrats’ harping about Putin have worsened our relations with both countries. North Korea’s weapons are no big deal.
The way to deal with global warming is to tax carbon and use the tax to finance social security and Medicare. Tax carbon, and engineers will give us power from the sun, the wind, and from uranium and thorium.
2
@Kevin Cahill
Candidate need to limit their talking point s to their ideas and what they will do. Oh yeah, they don't have any ideas and will only take bribes and campaign for re-election so they talk about everyone else bit themselves.
2
A gaggle of teenagers could provide more thoughtful discussion than this group. Bickering, accusing, moral signalling. Anyone else just want more policy discussion and innovative ideas?
6
Kamala Harris to Joe Biden: "I do not believe you are a racist.." comment spoken just before she attempted to paint Joe Biden as a racist might score debate points but it is a sleazy, cheap shot that distorts Biden's recent segregationist comment. The majority of Joe Biden's exemplary Senate career as a strong proponent of civil rights and the fact he was hand picked by our nation's first and only African American President to be his running mate, speaks volumes about Biden's character and humanity. Kamala Harris is a smart and passionate women but she has lost significant credibility with me over these Biden comments. Being critical of your opponents is one thing but trying to distort or destroy their character unjustly is something I would expect of deplorable Donald Trump, not a fellow Democrat. Besides, it is exhausting and depressing listening to all the anger and rage festering among so many Democratic candidates. Yes, we all despise everything Donald Trump and Republicans stand for but it is honestly refreshing to hear some Democratic candidates speak with less agitation and rage about every injustice. Both Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg didn't yell or ferociously attack their opponents, and many of us took notice.
5
@Jeff My impression/opinion is that Obama chose Biden as his running mate because he thought Biden could help him win the South and "Middle America", not because Biden was a great supporter of civil rights. If Obama had wanted a great supporter of civil rights, he would have chosen someone like John Lewis.
6
@Frankie
Apparently, you are no fan of Obama, either based on your assumption of his motive in picking Biden as a running mate just to get elected.
1
I love listening to Kamala Harris. She is extremely articulate and quick on her feet. No doubt skills that she learned with her many years of work as a prosecuting attorney. However, there is just no way that this country will vote for a black woman as president. And I feel comfortable saying this as a highly educated black man married to a highly successful and career-driven black woman. There is just too much unspoken and undealt with racism and misogyny in this country. I don't think even Michelle Obama or Ophrah Winfrey could win the presidency with foreign interference as help. I think Ms Harris' performance showed that she would make an excellent attorney general in a new democratic administration. I would actually prefer her as speaker of the house. I could also see her as a vice presidential candidate but I have a feeling she wouldn't want that. There is also a potential weakness with Ms Harris in terms of her many years as a lead prosecutor. Prosecutors will often do anything to win a case. Sometimes this can lead to unethical or immoral decisions that could come back to haunt them later. See also Ms Linda Fairstein and how her actions during the Central Park 5 case have come back to bite her just recently. Ms Harris could have some similar skeletons in her closet as well. All the same it was refreshing to see lively debate from all of the candidates and how everyone wants to make our country a better place for all Americans and not just for a select few.
6
As it had been clear before:
This was Snow White and the ten dwarves - but without Snow White and some of the dwarves were sounding like spry retires telling stories about the old days to some grandchildren who came to visit.
Alright, too much old school satire for civility.
1
Let’s be social:
Bernie’s back, but his is not the Second Coming that will make the lion the lamb’s willing keeper.
When hard evidence led you to choose Darwin over Genesis you affirmed a permanent imbalance between the strong, whose instinct history has taught you is to bend capitalism and socialism equally to their will, and the weak, whose only strength is in uncomprehending and potentially violent numbers.
I share with Libertarians the view that the most fundamental human “right” is to be left alone, but Darwin will no more leave the strong alone than the weak. As technology rewards innovative enterprise ever more richly and ultimately eliminates much manual labor, a pragmatic equilibrium will be found between inequality and chaos. Sanders gets this emotionally with “rights” to this and that. Yang seems to get it cooly.
4
I can understand the interruptions, many of these candidates are not gonna make to September, so it's important they they stand out in these debates in order for their campaigns to remain afloat
2
Kamala Harris was wrong to attack Joe Biden, 70's Federal Court ordered integration busing has been an educational failure. The former prosecutor should look back at her own actions and ask if they were racially sensitive. Harris and Booker seem to be stirring discord by continuing to seek "reparations". Both of their candidacies are hollow, playing for loaded primary numbers, that can not translate to a victory in the general election. Simply, Trump-like, racial divisiveness.
6
I liked Yang & Buttigieg. I've had enough of politicians whose talking points only resonate with force. The sabotage tactics demonstrated by some of these candidates remind me of the current POTUS. Give me some calm intelligence. Warren and Inslee ( who was slighted ) are my favorites from night one.
So, recap:
Warren
Buttigieg
Inslee
Yang
They can win. Easily.
The shouters will be crushed by Trump. He has a record of crushing loud opportunists. Especially if they think they'll sabotage him. Fact check the past 2+ years of daily of newspaper articles how well those who've tried to get "Gotcha" moments on Trump have succeeded. He's still standing.
9
As Major Garrett thoughtfully chided his CBS colleagues on the morning news show, and I paraphrase here: “We should not be reviewing these debates like a bunch of Broadway critics”
There are important issues to be decided here. This is not America’s Got Talent or the Bachelorette.
17
Even talking about busing is bad for Biden, because this is about an issue that was in the early 1970s when most Americans had not even been born yet, but Biden was in the Senate working with self identified Southern segregationist Senators. Watching Biden is like watching The History Channel. This is not a good look for Biden. It makes him look like a relic, a fossil. Think about the optics - Biden was a Senator during the busing era. He was a Senator when Nixon was a first term President , and gasoline was 0.35 cents/gallon, and Hank Aaron still had five year to go before he broke Babe Ruth’s homer in record. Biden shouldn’t be running for President, he should be in a museum.
2
My guess is, watching from the sidelines, that the misogynistic republican president will profit the most from democratic candidates ripping themeselves apart. Combined with blowing up the thread of socialism, LGBTQ overemphasizing and intellectual coastal arrogance this might be enough for the bully in charge to stay. That is what I would - with a bad taste in my mouth - bet on. It is like watching a car accident: You can’t stop it, and you can’t look away. That is what got him in charge in the first run.
3
If you buy in the premise of tonight’s debate, you would think the most critical issue of our time is that an old politician thinks he can work with other racist politicians. An unthinking earlier version of me would get all excited about this, and tally the scores of the competitors accordingly.
Well, Andrew Yang, who got least amount of talking time, says there are more important things: workers losing jobs and retraining is a fantasy, valuing all aspects of humanity thru market is ridiculous, 9 justice of life time appointment shouldn’t be set in stone, free college makes no sense when half won’t graduate, and so on. So step out of the bubble and check him out!
8
There may be "six takeaways" but a seventh verdict: not one of these individuals will ever be elected as president of the United States of America.
5
Looking to the future of America, how is our democracy supposed to function as the mainstream ideological gap goes from a gap, to a canal, to an ocean?
Democracy relies on a consensus meaning something. And that is generally driven by most people having not identical, but at least mostly similar views. This is one of the reasons that democratic institutions flourish in nations where people tend to be ideologically similar, such as in Scandinavia, yet it tends to gradually fail in areas where there are large fundamentally opposed groups, such as in Iraq.
It seems that today in politics this central mass is becoming as polarized as the radical wings once were. Offering free healthcare to individuals in the country unlawfully is but one example of a divide that seems insurmountable. One group wants to deport individuals in the country unlawfully, the other group wants to incentivize and reward those that choose to enter unlawfully. These are such radically different positions that it makes me wonder if we might be headed towards the sort of divide that democracy does not really provide the answer to. We have faced such divisions in the past, and that is something nobody would like to repeat.
Perhaps this divide is unavoidable, but I find it peculiar nobody else seems to wondering where this is all headed in the years to come. Can the American political system continue to operate if we continue down this trajectory?
3
“Do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose busing in America then? Do you agree?”
Do the Democrats really want to run on busing?? That maybe the battle Kamala thinks she can use to bring her the Democratic nomination, but it's political suicide in the general election.
9
@Pat The Federal Court's Ordered busing, not Joe Biden. And Biden made it easier for local school boards and governments to implement the programs when needed. Harris completely misstated his role during that time. And during that time, she was either being potty trained or going potty at school. She has not a clue of what it must have been like to work with those bigots. Joe got the job done so that Harris could stand on that stage - just her being there is a tribute to Joe's success. And no good deed goes unpunished. Joe Biden is the country's best hope to beat Donald Trump - Count on It!
3
The best candidate should not necesserally the one you like most, it should only be the best person to beat Trump;
And all inter candidates criticisms which demeans any of them will be used by Trump against his opponent.
If candidates are sincere in their search for a bettrer America, they should never loose track of this fundamental fact, unless of course if they are only on an ego trip.
3
Kamala Harris is a once a decade political talent.
Who else has her combinations of strength, intelligence, charm and warmth?
1
@Luciano
"Who else has her [Harris'] combinations of strength, intelligence, charm and warmth? "
My cat Sylvester, among many others.
15
Biden was unsteady and occasionally dazed. Harris was smarmy and overly theatrical. Sanders was predictably pompous and unrealistic. On the other hand, Buttegieg came across as sincere, thoughtful, and confident, while Bennet seemed level-headed and wise. It's still early in the process, but the front-runners were the least impressive Thursday night.
12
We need a Biden-Warren ticket to win. But if such a ticket wins, Sanders should get a prominent role in the administration.
5
Healthcare:
After an emergency operation and two nights in intensive care my hospital billed my ACA insurer $160K and my insurer negotiated an actual payment of $48K.
All the staff who rescued me were top notch, competent and caring, but if 10 of them were at my side constantly for 48 hours at $100/hour, there’s the $48K, not $160K.
Lots of staff in and out of one’s ICU nowadays, but over the entire 48 hours the average was at most 2 at a time (and very few pills). Toss in my share of staff unseen by me, plus generous overhead, and you’re maybe back up to the $48K, but $160K?
I generally go along with the assumption that Evil Big Insurance and Evil Big Pharma are the roots of all Evil, but if the Dems’ plan is to recognize the right of every citizen, plus millions more, to the Saudi Suite at the Cleveland Clinic (or just the ICU at my hospital) they may have to discomfit more than the demons Democratic debaters decried.
1
@Ben Both political parties and all of the candidates are completely wrong about health care today. Right now, the health care industry is consuming twenty cents out of every dollar of GDP according to a 2014 World Bank Study. Medicare for All or Single Payor WILL NOT stop this economic train wreck in progress. Just look at the ACA - it didn't even slow the disaster down. That's what kind of trouble we are in.
The United States must have a National Health Service. A US NHS could immediately be commenced by taking components of the VA and then expanding into a national system. In about one decade, the country would have a completely integrated health care system and save us Tens of Billions of dollars annually.
The train is coming and all of our politicians are looking the other way while standing on the tracks.
4
I completely disagree with Mayor Buttigieg’s performance being characterized as “flat”. By what standard? By the shrill, calculated, scripted ambitions of some on stage tonight? Though in (refreshingly) muted tones, his honor, earnestness and brilliance came through tonight, which are the nutrients for which this country and world are deficient.
16
Trump twitted “That’s the end of that race!” He might be right. As an immigrant, I would like the democrats to stop talking about immigration because their policies will give Trump a path to reelection. The millions of people who have entered the US illegally have taken opportunities away from those who played by the rules. Why should they be rewarded with a path to citizenship, while legitimate asylum applications are rejected, partly because of the resentment that illegal immigration has created?
5
Harris impressed with her planned prosecutorial takedown, but after the dust settled, it seemed that her performance didn't demonstrate any particularly useful skills for a president. Fortunately, she has the makings of a great senator.
2
What is clear is that Bernie has won the battle for the heart and soul of the democratic party.
I am so grateful and amazed.
Whether he wins or loses the Presidency....his legacy is MASSIVE.
8
Forget about the racial talk. Forget about finger pointing. All the energy right now needs to be aimed at getting Trump out. Most people have no idea how odious he is. Numero uno. Educate the people to what he has done to this great country. Most have no idea. Worst President ever!!!
11
This is 2019. We have had a black president for two terms.
President Obama pointedly said that he is not someone who thinks that talking a lot about race makes it better.
Enough is enough. America’s days of racism are over.
Senator Harris is ill advised to play the race card at a debate. The subject matter is who is most qualified to be the next president!
7
These debates are not fair. each candidates deserves the same time. There could very easily be a gem in the lesser known candidates. MSNBC did a poor job of allowing the American people to get to know ALL the candidates on the stage equally. I still don't know much about Mr. Yang and this was a missed opportunity. At this point I like Warren but then again that may be partly due to the lack of media coverage of the others.
3
I'm surprised Sen. Gillibrand didn't get more attention in this write up. At first, I think her injections may have been too aggressive. Yet, towards the end I found her overall performance to be very compelling. She was like Sanders, only she actually gave a bit more detail in her answers. While Harris delivered memorable punch lines, I found myself agreeing the most with Gillibrand and Buttigieg. I'm glad to see that there's a good mix of progressive candidates.
4
@Caleb
The detail I’d like to hear from her (but in a less grating voice please) is how in good conscience she could have a part in taking down the career of Al Franken.
I was turned off by Harris' attacks on Biden. Her focus should be on beating the current administration as opposed to false differentiation between leading candidates.
Buttigieg handled the police shooting by showing accountability and compassion for the victim. What a refreshing change vs. the existing administration.
Sanders is still running on the 2016 platform. I'm still bitter about his attacks on Hillary's character. I hope Democrats remember that it's about winning the general election. Tearing each other down only helps your opponent.
16
KUDOS for the 4 authors of this well written analysis of the debate last night , if 1 can call it that. TRUMP's characterization of Biden as "Sleepy Joe" may be more perceptive than many realize, and "Sleepy Joe" may be a reference to Biden's complacency, his world weariness after so many decades in politics and 1 wonders if, understandably, he still has the energy, the will to win, and I do not say that disparagingly. If he does still have the competitive spirit, and has not become "l'Indifferent,"he might have, should have gone on the attack,defended his interaction with Senators Eastland , Talmadge Rivers(Mendell Rivers)and other southern politicians by saying You all, to the rest of the panel, were not there, were not in some cases even alive when SC decision of 1954 was handed down, and many believed SC had no business legislating, and education was a right reserved to the states. But I want to address ur superficiality on this issue and others!"He should have gone on the attack, rather than on an apology tour. Valid criticisms were raised about the Warren Court, its assumption of a legislative role in that era. Final observation: Everyone on the stage was for the same things:open borders, free health care, socialism in theory in any case, and soak the rich, and at the end of the day--another cliche that should be retired-- what will have changed?As 1 wag remarked that after years of class warfare, Warren Buffett was still paying less in taxes than his secretary.
2
Biden is a more likable and congenial Hillary Clinton, but he is as empty as she was, and as obsolete in this day and age.
6
As a conservative, it’s wonderful to hear these candidates go so far left.
And they wonder how someone like Trump got elected!
3
@Longtime Japan Hang on there, kemosabe. Many conservatives laughed at Trump's theatrics and gave their smug predictions about his performance too. People mocked Obama and said he'd never get elected. If we've learned anything over the last 12 years it's not to jump to any conclusions until all votes are in. Trump only has a lock on his hard core supporters. Meanwhile, independents, moderate Republicans, college-educated women, people with not-so-great tax returns, people beginning to suffer from Trump's trade war, people with no financial relief from high medical bills or expensive medicine costs, factory workers who still lost their jobs despit Trump's promises, and die-hard Hillary haters who no longer have Hillary to hate are keeping their options open.
4
@S A Johnson Keeping their options open? Yeah, maybe. But which of those groups do you think are going to swallow things like health care for illegal aliens and reparations for slavery? Which will think that the rights of sexual / gender minorities are at the top of the list of the nation's problems?
To be clear, I'm no Trump fan, and I actually wish the Dems had someone with their head somewhere besides way high in the clouds.
2
Kamala Harris for someone who wants to look to the future spent a lot of time on the past.
She also seems out of touch with the present, why would anyone with private insurance want to give that up.
To solve our domestic problems we need to find solutions through evolution.
Fair tax act to eliminate tax loopholes for rich and corporations and ease FICA for the middle class. Minimum federal wage of $15
Public option for health care , limit prescription drug prices to European levels.
Infrastructureplan funded by an import tax of some 4 percent use only American material and focus on building renewable energy .
Just a few ideas that are possible with good management and the ability to reach across the aisle.
We also need a President that uses our Global leadership for the good and reestablishes positive relationships with our Allies.
We need a Candidate who can beat Trump and enable Democrats to also win the House and Senate.
We do not need to turn the whole country upside down , create chaos as Trump has done we need a steady hand , experience and finding Solutions through Evolution.
As my mother used to say moderation in all things
3
Trump can be defeated by simply ensuring that the alternative is not unacceptable by virtue of being too radically left. The Democrat candidates - save Biden - have not understood that message.
One hopes that Democratic primary voters have more sense than the candidates that have lined up to be their nominee.
1
Harris may have distinguished herself by her combative approach but I thought Biden did just fine in his own defense. In point of fact, he was right in his opposition to the (forced) busing of schoolchildren, the result of which was the mass exodus of white kids from the public school system. I suspect that the majority of Democratic voters in the crucial Midwestern states would agree with that premise. As for his working relationship with racist senators, he probably should never have brought that up in the first place but, even so, he never stated that he agreed with their positions but merely insisted that he needed to find ways of working with them on other issues of importance- and so he did. My progressive brethren need to come to terms with the fact that winning a battle while losing the war doesn't offer an escape route from four more years of Donald Trump. I was, in any case, envisioning a Biden-Harris ticket as the best one available. That's not likely to happen now...
4
Good for Kamala Harris! It was time for her to step to the forefront of the candidates where she belongs. She is by no means perfect. But to be honest she is the only candidate hopeful who stands out from the sea of other indistinguishable Democrats.
She has an interesting and compelling story, a foundation in law and order but also a keen understanding of the power that a system, political or otherwise, can wield over the lives of ordinary people.
The fact that she is a woman, a visible minority and a child of immigrants makes her that much more compelling in my book. The time for a candidate of her pedigree is NOW.
To me given the proper team, guidance and support, Kamala Harris would be the ideal candidate to challenge Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections.
As I've said she is not the perfect candidate, she has yet to hone her skills even more, polish her image and campaign to a certain degree, but she could be formidable.
Besides as the saying goes... don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good. Something the divided and warring factions amongst the Democrats, may want to pay attention to!
4
Although he under-performed in the debate, I'm not sure that that's enough to sink Biden's chances. There have been journalists and historians who have written in the past about how we tend to view the president as a father-figure, but it didn't become clear to me how prevalent that was until after Trump's inauguration.
Donald Trump is, in many ways, the least father-like man to ever occupy the Oval Office. Messy personal life aside, he is not one to calm the people in times of crisis or give us the confidence that he'll figure everything out while we carry on with our lives. Seeing the way that Mueller was idealized made it clear to me just how much the public desires an older, respectable man to come in and clean up Trump's mess, the same way presidents in the past have done during times of need. When Biden entered the race, his polling numbers surpassed what most pundits had predicted, and he was met with a collective sigh of relief from millions of people across the country. Joe Biden is, in many ways, the perfect encapsulation of the father-figure president: well-spoken, experienced, willing to shake hands, fight for what he believes is right, and offer words of condolences to those who need it. That matters to a lot of people, and it may well be enough to outweigh his flaws come election day.
13
Seeing them standing side by side with a younger generation of politicians, it is clear that both Biden and Sanders do not incarnate the change that the country needs, a change that does not relate just to policies but also to style and personality. Enough with them! Warren, however, has the major advantage over Harris and Buttigieg that she can bring the Democrats together without alienating the Bernie bros. My winning ticket is any combination, in any order, of Buttigieg, Harris and Warren. Being a progressive is also wanting to be represented by an image of progress - a renewal in more than one dimension.
15
After two evenings of democratic debates, I think the claim of democratic socialism has been made completely obvious. With Medicare for all, free University education for all, government wealth transfer, and many other things, the Socialist credentials of the democratic party have been laid bare. With Senators Warren and Harris having done so well, Vice President Biden will have a lot of explaining to do. And with mayor Pete, the bright shiny new kid on the Block, having faltered, the polling Dynamics in the Democratic Party are totally up for grabs. As one commentator wrote, the big winner after two nights of debates is really Donald Trump. The president sustained little damage from the Democratic attacks, and the candidates provided an immense amount of political fodder that will come back to haunt them in the general election.
4
We are experiencing a political movement of the likes we haven’t seen in living memory. There has never been a better opportunity for change in the ways we are governed. This is a revolution that is not going to fade away with time either. These rapid changes are developing in all the public sectors, not just politics, events which won’t even wait for the next election. If we look to pre Trump politics, there's not enough left back there for any sort of substantial revival. Time has turned the corner on the old ways which are now rapidly approaching their ending. America is waiting for a new type of leadership, people who understand the scope of this Spring time restoration, and can lead us from here in the right direction. One thing is becoming quite clear, we are not going back to where we came from.
22
@Joe Gilkey . That would be foolish. Where America "came from" is the greatest nation in history.
As for your fairy tale...there is indeed a movement and it's world-wide destruction of the loony, perverse hedonism and power grab. You've lost every single confrontation from Merkel, to Brexit, to Australia to Macron and Trudeau...because your "change" is toxic. We aren't interested in your ideas on how to destroy Western Civilization and we'll fight to defend it.
1
@Joe Gilkey
And this is where you and your ilk are making a colossal error: you think the electorate's personal disapproval of Trump means they are ready for a full swing towards socialism. You couldn't be more mistaken.
But sure, you and the candidates please continue to indulge your far-left fantasies, because they will surely hand Trump a second term.
Kamala Harris would clearly "win" any debates with Trump, but Clinton "won" all of the debates with Trump too, and she isn't President. My heart is with Warren and Buttigieg, but the most important question is who can beat Trump. Right now, I still think Biden has the best shot. He can get the working class and African American vote, and older Americans prefer him and they vote. Add in the "never Trump" folks.
40
@Patricia Avery I respectfully disagree that Biden has the best shot of beating Trump. He is by far the best known Democrat running, and yet he is only polling as high as 35% with Democratic and Democratic leaning voters. That means 65% of those polled don't want Biden. I think that Warren and Sanders combined have more support than Biden. If Sanders were to drop out and back Warren, she would get almost all of his voters, putting her in at least a tie with Biden in the polls. I think as some of the less popular candidates drop out, she would pick up at least as much support from those voters as Biden would. I think in a general election against Trump she would definitely get a majority of the woman vote, and that African Americans would turnout for her. That said, I honestly think all of the top 5 Democrats could beat Trump in the general election, but Warren is my choice because I agree with her policy positions, and I think she would make a great president. The fact that she is a woman doesn't hurt, either.
4
@Patricia Avery 'The First thing we should do is defeat Donald Trump' Joe Biden is that man, period.
2
Buttigieg stood out as being respectful and allowed others to speak without choosing to interrupt. He shows confidence. When asked a question, his responses were clearly stated, and he demonstrated that he didn't need to show off like some of the others. When he was asked to contribute, he was thoughtful and provided a lot of deep insight regarding the values and issues he would like to put forward. His statement about the "Christian base" supporting Trump could not have been stated any better, with his being an active Episcopalian, having deep knowledge of the Bible's scriptures.
85
The Democrats' strongest ticket is Biden-Harris. The question, after tonight's clash, is how to bring them into enough alignment that they can run on the same slate. Biden needs to make a speech on racial issues similar to the one that Obama made in 2008, laying out his views and on what he has learned over the years. He can't merely repeat that he doesn't have a racist bone in his body. Maybe it's time for Barack Obama to invite these two over for a beer and some frank talk aimed at healing the breech.
15
Attacks on Biden from the Left are just going to win more votes for him. What Americans really want is a center-right candidate to pull us back from the extreme right. Trump will always have his base, but he's lost the millions of swing voters who put him in the white house and he has absolutely no interest in winning them back.
Maybe it's a brilliant plan or maybe Biden's just stumbling into it, but thanks to his Democratic rivals and the Media's narrative Biden now seems like the perfect candidate for Americans who long for the comfortable old days of Reagan and the Bushes. Every gaffe, stumble and senior moment Biden gives us makes us think "Hey, remember when America was great?" After all, in comparison to what we have now Bush wasn't all that bad. If it weren't for Iraq, we could laugh off his pratfalls as mostly harmless.
So if the left wants to show us that Biden isn't a liberal, maybe that's the best thing he has going for him. America may hate Trump, but they don't hate him enough to elect a moderate like Sanders or Warren. Americans still want right-wing leadership, they just want it to be sane for a change.
9
@Ryan, you said
"What Americans really want is a center-right candidate to pull us back from the extreme right."
The thing is that Dems had a center-right candidate in 2016 with Hillary Clinton, and look how that turned out.
And as much as I like Biden on a personal level, do you really believe a man who is proud of involving "the other side" in his decisions is the best bet for America when this already failed when Biden was VP? Don't forghet that Republicans don't negotiate.
4
Trump is going to be history if Kamala Harris shakes him down.
The ideal candidate to take on Trump IS a prosecutor, and now we have the proof. Wow.
27
I'm not a Biden supporter, and some (OK, a lot, even) of what he championed in the past, like the Rave Act, was downright pernicious. But when you've been in a leader politics that long, you leave a long record behind you. (Sanders' record in the Senate is practically a tabula rasa.) And ditto going after Buttigieg for having to preside over a city with all its attendant problems -- a lot easier for a legislator or an ex-whatever to throw stones.
16
I thought Mayor Pete's calling out Republicans' religious hypocrisy the best moment in either debate, and his, "Because I couldn't get it done" the most refreshingly honest answer from any politician ever.
To my surprise, of the candidates (both nights) who actually had decent speaking time, Biden was the least eloquent.
I'm most excited about: Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Harris, Sanders, Warren and Yang.
49
Bill in Yokohama
I agree that Pete’s comment about the religious right & the importance of the separation of church & state was the highlight; actually very daring. He also took a chance with his brief but pinpoint accurate statements about China. Appeared to go over the head of the other candidates, tho.
My vote is definitely for Pete.
15
Wow. Even among the "well-educated" and "liberal leaning" NYT readership, it amazes me how many people here are propagating the racist "angry Black woman" stereotype.
Senator Kamala Harris delivered a Masterful performance tonight. She exuded brilliance, compassion, toughness, and Leadership. Her personal revelation of being bused to school, and the pain of hearing Biden say that he embraced past senators that supported segregationist policies and, in turn, denied the humanity of African-Americans - resonated deeply with me. She has my support, donations, and Vote!
46
@Edwina Yes, she was brilliant in her criticism of Biden, but she also shamelessly stole the words and ideas of Elizabeth Warren's position on economic inequality, and Jay Inslee's quip that Trump is the greatest threat to our nation. I think she is a phony who will say and do anything to win.
8
Biden is not aggressive in getting himself out there probably because there is “ no out there” for him. He appears to be running on his past only.
Harris is outspoken and thoughtful with command. Buttigieg is smart but maybe too young.
89
@NOTATE REDMOND Actually, I consider the fact Biden has one foot in the past to be one of his key advantages. Harris knows only the present and seems to have no understanding that her own position today was built by the votes the likes of Joe Biden cast over time. As Faulkner said, “the past is never over; it’s not even past.” We need someone who understands where we came from as well as where they want to go. I came away thinking Harris can’t beat Trump. For me the choice is now between Biden and Warren. I’m leaning Biden. “Pass the torch” — to what exactly. Of course, nothing that was said last night may matter after the SCOTUS decision yesterday to legalize Republican gerrymandering. The real story yesterday may have been the end of liberal democracy in America. Too bad no one noticed.
17
"Harris is outspoken", right, or is she brash and myopic, distorting Biden's accomplishments in a shortsighted run at a job she is not qualified for because she has no insight. Court ordered busing has and continues to destroy education.
Kamala "in command" because she is rude and racially devisive? Trump would love to ride her demands for "reperations" back to the White House.
10
@NOTATE REDMOND. Never vote on a point in time entertainment like a debate. And sorry, being mayor of a small city next to a college ain’t good enough to be president.
4
Kamala Harris took a very cheap shot at Joe Biden. Like Corey Booker she took his statement about working with segregationists and twisted it into something disgusting – that she was “hurt”. Please. And she rudely interrupted and shouted over him; he was too gracious to try to out-shout her. Every responsible black leader (and CNN’s Don Lemon’s mother), except Charles Blow, knew exactly what he meant. That he could work with people he didn’t like and whose policies he even hated, in order to get the country’s business done. He was demonstrating how he could work even with odious people to pass needed legislation and get things done. That’s what we need. And blaming Biden – a single senator among 99 others - for failing to cause the federal government to over-ride local decisions on busing was another cheap and irrelevant shot. And Blow’s expectation that yet again, Biden had to apologize for nothing, was petty and shameful but not surprising coming from him. But while the commenters see the debates as a ninja contest, the election is more than that. She is not electable to the vast majority of Americans – a large bulk of who live in the Mid-west and South. Her experience as a Senator measured next to Biden’s is laughable. Her qualification on the international scene - measured next to Biden’s – is non-existent. If she gets the nomination, I will hold my nose and vote for her because I find Trump way worse.
35
Agree completely. I could not make sense of her busing accusations. She grew up in Berkeley and Oakland after all. This was perhaps the most progressive district in the country back in the 70’s. Reagan may have been governor but her city and county were decidedly liberal. If she has a beef about being or not being bused (its not clear to me which one it is) then her state, city and county also failed her. To cast aspersions at Biden 40 years after the fact seems like a cheap political maneuver. And I had a positive impression of her until her stridency tonight.
6
@styleman, so when Kamala Harris becomes passionate she's "shrill" but when Hillary Clinton did it it was because she's so passionate?
The fact is that Biden has made a lot of politically bad decisions, simple as that. Back then it may have not meant much (for white people) but today it's comming home to roost.
@Wurzelsepp Do you want to defeat Trump or not? I want a return to normalcy with someone with integrity and experience who can win. There is a reason Biden was instantly the front runner the moment he announced and that is the reason everyone else attacked him, dredging up moments from 20 – 40 years ago because they have nothing else in their arsenal. I didn’t say she was shrill, I said she was rude, which she was. She was a prosecutor and prosecutors are particularly aggressive. Harris is a phony and an egotist. She has barely been in the US Senate and already is using it as a stepping stone to the presidency. As a Californian, this is not why I voted for her. As an American, I see her attack on Biden as cheap theatrics – loved by thrill seekers who perceive these debates as American Idol contests. If Biden doesn’t get the nomination, I’d prefer to lose the election (which we will) with Elizabeth Warren who at least will record a strong showing, albeit in defeat.
2
I cannot tell you a single position that Sen. Harris holds on the major issues of the day. Shame on me? Or shame on her?
It is not the responsibility of the voter to inform himself of the candidate's position on issues. That job falls to the candidate and her campaign. It is our duty to be informed before voting but with 24 candidates and dwindling news resources, that duty is a heavy burden.
Perhaps now that Sen. Harris has broken away from the pack, we will get a better picture, through the news media and press, of what she stands for beyond bussing.
I hope so. I also hope that the news media and press will focus more on the candidate's positions on the issues of the day, rather than the horse race, which means nothing to anyone but the campaigns.
24
Senator Harris grandstands on the national stage:'oh it hurt! Senator, without Senator/VP Biden, you wouldn't even be standing on that stage. It was just sickening.
Oh, and the country needs an NHS, not Medicare for All. We could start using portions of the VA to start building a NHS ( National Health Service ) today and it would be completed by the end of the decade and we could save Tens of Billions of dollars each year.
Even our leaders - both actual and current, older generation or Millenial - are confused and the Democrats are just as messed up as the Republicans.
Our country's policy debate about medical care is in a world of hurt.
19
I don't like that this article bases the winners and losers of the debate solely on who managed to have the most dramatic moments. Harris' moment was not the impactful in my mind, but it can certainly generate a headline. It was a valid point, but did nothing to address how to move the country forward.
Why are you criticizing Biden and Sanders for raising their hand and politely following the moderators instructions? Why does Sanders get chided because he did not take "a swipe at Mr. Biden"
Buttigieg had a flat performance aside from the most dramatic, human interest question? I disagree. I thought Buttigieg gave fantastic, well thought out, well articulated answers. He isn't sensational, he doesn't need to play up his identity, he's just a smart, compassionate man that wants to make the country a better place.
This article is far too caught up in controversy and drama to focus on the real responses given by the candidates.
131
I agree with your assessment of this article 100%. When does quality take the backseat to theatrics?
15
If we couldn't elect Hilary Clinton, what makes people think we could elect Joe Biden? Tonight he seemed to represent the old-time pols we are trying to shake off. He was there during all the failed legislation and half-hearted reforms of the past.
Too bad we can't have two women topping the ticket: Elizabeth Warren as president and Kamala Harris as vice-president. I'd vote for that.
24
@dutchiris
And you think Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan will elect either Warren or Harris?
1
Here we go again with the circular firing squad. That was a cheap under-handed swipe by Kamala Harris at Joe Biden's expense. She was desperate to score points, feigning hurt, and she picked on the guy that hasn't a prejudiced bone in his body. Reminded me of Hillary Clinton’s tactics. We know how that turned out. Democrats ought to watch out they don't beat themselves again. It's their election to win or lose.
The country won't go socialist, they don't want to give up the healthcare they get from their employer. A public option or a voluntary buy-in to Medicare might work for most who don’t have employer coverage.
The voters also don't want to pay off everyone's student loans. You want to go to college; you have to pay for it then. I certainly don’t want to. I worked my way through college. Took me more than 4 years but it was worth it. How about those who paid off their student loans? Do we reimburse them for it? You can't have open borders either, they must wait their turn like everyone else did in the past for their green card. Biden stands out as the most moderate and the best candidate to take on the Donald.
21
Trump must want to run against Biden. A Fox News analysis of the debate claimed that Biden held his own and emerged unscathed. That wins the spin award for the evening.
18
“I do not believe you are a racist.” How very generous of you, Sen. Harris, considering that Joe Biden has been fighting for civil rights his entire career. And by the way, Biden also served as vice president for 8 years under a guy named Barack Obama — the first and only African American president in history. I think it's safe to say that if Obama had any problem with BIden's record on civil rights he wouldn't have pick him for VP.
39
She was polite but tough. No need to get testy.
11
@Jeff B
Joe Biden referred to Barack Obama as "clean and articulate" during the 2008 presidential race... How "generous" of him to accept his appointment to VP under the first African-American President.
You mention that he has spent his entire career fighting for Civil Rights. What precisely has he accomplished in this vein? (besides being Obama's supposed "bestie")
1
I wanted to like Harris more because she is my senator. I really admired how when Obama spoke on race it was uplifting and inspirational and never used as a weapon against his opponents. I wish Senator Harris could be more like that. I respect Joe Biden and his lifetime of service, There is no way he could have been a politician for as long as he has and not have some decisions look bad in light of today’s liberalism. And representative Swalwell, if young people are to lead than they should show they are the best for the job, like Jack Kennedy and Obama did, not cajole older candidates into stepping aside.
52
It doesn’t matter. I’ll take any of these or last night’s candidates over Trump any day. Let’s flip a coin and randomly pick one so we can get busy uniting behind them and laying the groundwork for the only thing that really matters: beating Trump.
15
Joe Biden has never been successful as a presidential candidate. He is only the favorite because Obama choose him.
There are, for me, based on their performances, three front runners: Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker. I could imagine them as very credible presidents. I love Bernie, but Bernie is Bernie, and I just don't see it. I think Biden has had his chance.
But the strongest I think will be Kamala Harris. I think, after tonight, she will have real confidence. I'm on her email list, and will be sending her some money. Warren is intellectually my favorite, but I just think Harris is the best candidate.
15
@David I respectfully suggest that you do a little research on Kamala Harris, especially her time as Willie Brown's mistress, and how that jump-started her career. Also, take a look at her record as a District Attorney and Attorney General in Calif. As for her current campaign for president, I have noticed a pattern of Harris copying the best bits of other candidates and passing them off as her own. I think she is a phony who will say and do anything to win.
2
I thought Harris was ridiculous talking about busing. She was over-dramatic and wrong! Either she is misinformed about Biden's position which isn't a plus for her, OR she was deliberately misrepresenting his position to make him look bad. But those of us who were paying attention now know that Biden simply did not want the Federal Gov't controlling busing. He felt it was better handled on a local level. Now...taking care of it locally is democracy. Letting the Federal Gov't control and dictate it is.....socialism. Interesting!!
18
That is the point. Left to states, cities and towns, integration would never have happened. Precisely why the federal government had to step in.
21
@J G Smith Really? States' rights is always the cry when a state wants to continue policies that are morally wrong and violate Americans' civil rights. I am shocked that in 2019 anyone can defend trying to continue keeping part of our citizens in substandard schools while giving white children extra benefits. Court ordered busing helped provide equal protection for black citizens. The Constitution demands equal treatment. Many states failed, and continue to fail, to provide equal quality of education.
My top 3 picks from tonight, in order of preference:
1. Harris
2. Sanders
3. Buttigieg
5
@JEdwards If you are talking about tonight's winners, I respect your choices, but if you are saying that Harris is your first choice for the nomination right now, I suggest that you take a deeper look at her background and record. Also, I think she is just copying the best bits of other candidates and passing them off as her own. I don't trust her sincerity.
It's weird that many newspapers think that Mayor Pete had a great night, but not the Times. In the live coverage, the journalists were even ignoring him. Is there a reason behind that?
20
Harris and Buttigieg are the big winner if you as twitter. But I'm sorry I don't see it that way. Harris did not respond to Biden on the issue of her being a prosecutor, she does have a lot to respond to from those years, now why have been a good time and Buttigieg fail to come up with a real answer to what is going on in South Bend after the shooting, a lot of very well throughout words on absolutely no plan of action. For me the big winner was the one person on stage that cannot make a splash because he has the most consistent record of anyone, Bernie. When trying to trap him with statements from some 2013 interview (correct me if it wasn't an interview) he cited his move to ban assault weapons in 1998! Most of the time the other candidates spend doubting if things can be done, where Bernie again and again state that we can do it together, if we mobilize and realize our true potential. Of course Bernie couldn't make a splash tonight, because he is still saying what he have always been saying—and what others a slowly making a splash saying themselves.
7
As to busing - how many candidates and NYT readers attended or sent their own kids to racially and economically integrated schools?
13
@Retiree Lady, I consider myself lucky to have been bused as a (white) child in Detroit in the seventies. It helped shape who I would become as an adult. I and my husband, who went to an elite private boarding school overseas, choose to send our mixed race daughter to a public charter school where children of different races are integrated by choice. Her districted school told us that the kids from 'the neighborhoods' brought their problems to school but not to worry because our high-achieving daughter would be protected in a special area of the building, only mingling with those 'other' children for PE and electives. I got angry hearing that then went and cried in the car. Maybe we would be living in a different country now if 40 years ago more children had been bused.
4
@CK I’m not commenting on the value of integration. I’ve taught in integrated schools and lived in integrated neighborhoods. I’m commenting on the fact that the politicians who espouse busing don’t put themselves on the line. I also think that integration by race is not the biggest issue. That is economic integration.
Kamala Harris was impressive until she swung low and played the race card against Biden. She showed both an intemperate impulse and poor judgment. Busing is not an issue in 2019. Harris hurt the party and it’s cause to help herself. Obama would not ever have displayed such a lack of grace when addressing racism in America. It’s what made him great.
43
On what basis did the writers of this article decide that Buttigieg was flat? Focus, substance, brilliance energy, depth, passion and intellectual precision not enough? Are you looking at this as journalists who are ever in search of conflict?
45
I sincerely hope that those who don't know Pete Buttigieg got a better sense and feeling about him tonight. He was composed, cognizant, compassionate, clear, communicative, committed, and candid...as he always has been. He is a gift, America. Employ him wisely.
66
@John H I agree with your assessment totally! Pete Buttigieg is a thoughtful, well educated, experienced, compassionate and thoughtful candidate who didn't need to bully others. This is the kind of leader I would like to find replacing Trump. I found similar qualities with Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker in last night's debate. We need to have civility and the ability to govern coherently , which all of these candidates demonstrated under pressure.
10
Lol...Bernie found his VP on his left tonight.
She checks off an awful lot of boxes and has his fight and grit to go along. She might be a good Yin to his Yang. Bringing in the less Leftish side of our tent.
Putting her in the catbird seat to own the Presidency next election.
The kiddy table was ok, this was the adult table with long knifes on full display.
GOT had a Red Wedding; could do without that much bloodshed, but as OK with the bare knuckle back hands as they elbow for position under the net.
Bring on the talent show of our contest.
5
@Dobbys sock -- Yang would actually be a good Yin to his Yang.
2
Biden seems to not only look his age, but demonstrates a lack
of energy in demeanor and in responses...in startling contrast to his competitors - even to Sanders. I've been a huge fan of this good man, but see that perhaps his "reserve" of energy has receded. it may be time to pass that torch.
13
I watched both nights and all 20 candidates. The ones who impressed me the most and who I will follow more closely are: Warren, Klobuchar, Castro, Booker, Buttigieg. Deeply disappointed in Harris, O'Rourke, and Gillibrand.
13
Look at the states Trump won and look at the states the Democrats have to take from Trump to beat him. Kamala Harris cannot win any of those states. She may get millions of votes in California, and may, even like Clinton, get more popular votes than Trump, but if in the wrong states, Trump will win again. Only Joe Biden can take crucial votes from Trump where it is truly needed. Emotional appeals to African-Americans may help in the primaries but not in the general election. The nomination of Ms. Harris would assure Trump of 4 more years.
8
@Paul B I disagree that only Biden can win the swing states that Trump won in 2016. Bernie Sanders appealed to many of the same voters as Trump and would have beaten him in Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016. Current polls show Sanders with a 10 point lead over Trump in the 2020 election.
3
@Paul B, so you believe a centrist candidate like Biden can win when in 2016 the similarly centrist Hillary Clinton failed to do exactly that? You know Einstein's definition of insanity?
The one thing you're very likely right is that Harris would not be able to draw sufficient voters in the Trump states. Buttigieg however could, especially with his appeal to the religious base there.
1
The troubling thing about Biden's remarks on working with segregationists is that they were gratuitous. Of course he's not a racist himself. He doesn't need a rival to credit him with that. But he could have talked about bipartisan legislating (if he really thinks it's a timely subject) without making those particular allusions.
If Joe Biden seems to have blundered into hot water now, just wait till he starts to reminisce about his outright bonding with Jesse Helms.
6
Kamala Harris looked like she could beat Trump.
She was absolutely confident and pushing forward.
Nobody else looked like they could beat Trump. Certainly not Biden, who as always was defensive and talked endlessly about the past.
11
Haven’t been a Harris fan and still am not. If she doesn’t think Biden is a racist, as she herself said, then what exactly was that whole rant about?
She would be the one who would turn their inter- candidate exchanges ugly. Let’s hope that all stops right now. She knows how to fight. I have never doubted that. Just not sure she knows when to fight. I am not a Biden fan either, but I am old enough to remember that some black people did see anti-busing as a black pride issue, wanting wanted their children stay in their community and have a good school there. People can disagree about the best way to do things.
I understand that it is time for a new generation. Let’s hope it’s not time for a mean, unkind generation intolerant of others’ point of view and changes over time.
My opinion of her was confirmed. And sorry, but wasn’t Yang also a minority there? Can she not see him? That says a lot.
30
@JO
Harris and Yang are the two Asian candidates in the presidential race. Harris downplays her Asian heritage (her Asian mother raised her in California and Canada) and only admits to being black although her father is of mixed race. I guess this is a "thing" now because Coleman Hughes, reparations hearing speaker, said in a separate video that he is latino and black but feels black has better "social capital" so he doesn't identify as latino. I guess Harris has the same view.
3
Elizabeth Warren should have been on that stage tonight. She belonged there, with the heavy hitters, and it would have been meaningful for us to see her stack up her credentials against Biden, Sanders, Harris, Buttigieg.
The most impressive characteristics of Warren are her gravitas tempered with warmth—her intelligence, experience, preparation, honesty and yes, let's be honest here, her age.
25
What on earth possessed Kamala Harris to start a food fight with Joe Biden? I wish she had not.
On the other hand overall busing was probably a plus for fairness in this country.
5
Ironically and notwithstanding their little tiff, Harris will make a fine running mate to Biden.
2
Last night was so much better.
4
Who was the calm, well spoken, and unpolitician-like person? Pete. All the others acted as if they were in a cage match to the death. Debate or cage match, veteran Pete will win.
30
4 years ago it was all about the “Middle Class”, not the working class. Same thing this time, no discussion on either true factory workers or homeless people. For those Colorado candidates, have you seen the Denver streets recently? And Kamala, fit all your rhetoric regarding migrants, have you walked through down town San Francisco this week?
9
@Purity of, while the Republicans solely serve the top 1%.
Besides the fact that every financial crisis in America happened under Republican watch while Democrats always cleaned up the mess and brought some stability back to the country.
In what's essentially a two party election it should not be rocket science to see which party is the lesser evil despite all its faults.
1
@Purity of
What? Democrats don't work?...news to me! Oh, by the way, it wasn't the Democrats who gave the
wealthy a huge tax break and instituted tariffs that hurt "working people".
Last night was better. Why? Warren.
14
My two cents on who appears most electable so far in no order: Harris, Buttigieg, Booker, Warren. As much as I like Biden and Sanders, it was apparent that they aren’t up to the challenge. Any of those I named can handle Trump. That I don’t worry about. Question is who is the best to deal with the issues we have to face as a country in the decade and beyond.
11
Warrem, Buttigieg or...Harris! Glad she showed her strengths.
Any of them in any configuration would thrill me to no end.
They are spectacular, would all make for stirring moral leaders.
23
@moosemaps
Warren that is. Warren Warren Warren.
7
Kamala Harris attacking Biden for working with Senators is ridiculous. Segregationists or not, it was his job to work with all Senators. And his whole point was, Here are people I fundamentally disagree with on so many things, but just the same I did my job, found common ground, and got some needed things done. That's commendable. Not something to criticize.
34
@YaddaYaddaYadda, working across the aisles is commendable until it becomes the only argument for being elected President. Even more so when "working across the aisle" clearly failed when Biden was VP and the Democrats wasted the opportunity for proper health care overhaul to "work with all Senators", which gave us the bondoggle that is ACA.
The two leaders were a police state man and a prosecutor?
I'm having trouble staying interested.
4
I don't believe last night's debate or tonight's will result in any statistically significant movement in the polls at this early stage. Biden, ahead in most polls, was predictably the target of his opponents in this debate. He acquitted himself as well as anyone could under similar circumstances. He retained his composure and responded civilly and confidently. He could have turned the tables on Ms. Harris by asking her how many African American men she has prosecuted, but he thankfully did not engage in petty sniping. It does seem like a stretch for anyone trying to frame Joe Biden as a racist or racist-lite based on some decades old votes in the Senate. He has a well earned reputation a strong proponent of civil rights, not to mention being chosen as the VP to our first and only black President.
There is so much anger and rage on display in today's politics. Donald Trump and Republicans instigate so much of it, practically daring any sane, democracy-loving individual to respond with rage. That being said, it's exhausting listening to Bernie, Kamala and any other candidate railing angrily against every and any injustice. Civil, no drama, thoughtful candidates (the anti-Trump persona) like Joe Biden and his former boss, Barack Obama, hold appeal among all the yelling, gesticulating and cross faces.
Why does Maggie Haberman and other many NY Times columnists despise Joe Biden so much? Shameful and offensive bias on display, especially if he wins the nomination.
16
What keeps me up at night or wakes me at 3 in the morning;
1, Climate change, Climate change, Climate change,
HAS TO BE JOB 1 OR ALL ELSE IS FUTILE
2. War war war
We have to solve this destructive impulse. Look at Hypersonics
3, Plastic waste choking the oceans
4. Guns, guns, guns
23
So Kamala Harris has to get her 'breakout moment' by first acknowledging that Joe Biden is not a racist and then immediately attacking him by falsely characterizing his record on civil rights? Her histrionics may have pleased some, but I found it not only unfair but revealing of her ethics and temperament. America needs a leader who is intellectually honest as well as passionate; in this case, she was self-righteously disingenuous.
53
At long last Joe Biden managed to provide the epitaph for the entire Baby Boom Generation: "My time is up."
4
Wrong generation dude, Joe Biden is included in the “Silent Generation”. Useful ideas are not the sole province of the young.
My retort to Swalwell would have been: “Would you care to set a ceiling on passing a torch”? Or the President you mentioned John F Kennedy never had to ask anyone to pass the torch. He went out and earned it.
6
@James Hickman’s OK. Point taken about the generation. But if "I want to beat Trump" and "I'm BFF with Barack" are Biden's best ideas I think he needs to go in search of a more inspiring province.
Joe was OK and won't lose his standing because of this debate.
Harris and Buttigieg performed well.
Unfortunately for Gillibrand, she has a high pitched, strident, and unappealing voice that no one will be able to tolerate for long.
One-note Johnny Sanders will "fight fight fight" for you, but never says how would win that fight. Besides, he has this in common with Trump: he is too much of a demagogue.
7
Kamala Harris wasn't concerned with equality while committing rampant Brady violations as a prosecutor. Her desire to win in spite of exculpatory evidence mirrors the corruption across the justice system and proves that she can't be trusted. At least 1,000 of her cases were dismissed. How many innocent people are in prison now because of her?
17
@C Where is your source that "at least 1000 of her cases were dismissed" due to Brady violations? How could one prosecutor even have that many cases dismissed? Are you speaking of systemic prosecutorial misconduct while she was the prosecuting attorney?
What facts are you relying upon?
All 20 are better than what we have now. Tonight, we saw two people demonstrate experience that counts and a willingness to put themselves on the line: Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand. Last night, there were three: Elizabeth Warren, Julián Castro, and Cory Booker. The rest range from rising but not there yet, to has beens, to never has beens, to simply out of their league.
1
The big takeaway from both debates (as well as the Kavanaugh hearing) is that we need a new generation of leadership. It is time for the old white men to retire in BOTH parties so that all branches of government reflect the nation.
Many Founding Fathers were younger than 40 years old in 1776, with several qualifying as Founding Teenagers or Twentysomethings. And though the average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was 44, more than a dozen of them were 35 or younger. And they did all of this in their SPARE TIME.
7
@whipsnade, true, but then back then being 40 was the equivalent of being 80 today. Life expectancy in 1776 and 2019 is completely different. Which means that many of the Founding Fathers were, actually, old men.
2
The first presidential candidate I voted for also promised $1,000 payments. Now we have that proposal along with free healthcare, and elimination of student debt. And like '72, the Democrat will run against an unattractive incumbent.
Well, McGovern got 17 electoral votes and less than 40% of the popular vote.
1
Buttigieg had a "flat performance?" What are these opinions based off of? He always speaks with intelligence and is spot on with so many issues. I thought he and Kamala Harris were the stars.
31
If he were overly performative and charismatic, they probably would have criticized that too (given what’s been going on in South Bend), and claimed he wasn’t being somber enough
12
These "debates" have shown me that Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are the best at both defense and offense. They would be best to go toe to toe with Donald Trump. While Joe Biden displayed the ability to defend himself, he showed no inclination to produced any offense, no desire to attack his opponents. As I see it, that lack of a counter punch would be a disastrous strategy against Donald Trump's tactics of redefining opponents through misrepresentation. Kamala Harris demonstrates exceptional offensive skills, but is untested defensively. While I believe that she would do well to put Trump on his heels, I would like to know more about how she handles being attacked, particularly with misrepresentations.
5
Harris finds Biden working with segregationists, the Senate reality when he entered it, "hurtful." Forgetting for the moment that a Democratic President will have to know how and be willing to work with a Republican Senate to get anything accomplished after 2020, a candidate who makes a major point of being hurt by Biden's comments will be easy roadkill for Trump when it comes to debates and public sparring.
9
It looks like four more years of Trump are assured. The 20+ Democratic Party candidates appear to be have no understanding of the populist wave sweeping Europe and the U.S. If you are not going to strengthen the border and not going to deport illegal immigrants, you’re not going to win. Period.
9
@Zara1234, well the "populist wave sweeping across Europe" seems to have stalled slightly, after bring a whole country (UK) to the brink of economic suicide and Italy's populist government refusing to pay for the restauration of a large bridge which subsequently collapsed and killed several people it appears people start to realize the truth that is that populists have no real solution for their problems. Which is why the party of right-wing populists like Geert Wilders and Marie LePenn have failed to make any real dents in the last elections.
The other thing that should not be forgotten is where the populists get their money from, which is usally from someone from Russia.
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.” — Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
2
The Green New Deal is a poor one. It promises things which cannot be accomplished in the promised time frame. Attempting to achieve the objectives will require a maximum use of fossil fuel energy system even though there cannot be found enough new wealth to fund the effort. It will flood the atmosphere with carbon gases that take decades to cycle out of it. All it does is convey the sense that we are doomed because the task is impossible.
We can and should reduce as much production of carbon gases as we can. We must cultivate plants that capture carbon gases, too. But we have to live our lives and that means that we have to solve this problem in a measured way.
2
@Casual Observer. I hope you don’t live in a coastal city or vacation in Florida. This is an emergency. It’s too late for a measured response.
5
@Casual Observer, that is all well and fine but unfortunately nature and global effects like climate change don't really care if it inconveniences you or your fellow humans or not, it's happening wether you like it or not.
After decades of squandering time and opportunity to improve emissions, humanity will have to face the music soon.
That's the simple reality. Better get used to it.
Seriously. We are in trouble because people have just done as they felt rather than take the trouble to do it so it lasts and you think that the solution is to just follow our feelings?
I would like to see universal health care coverage that everyone can afford, easily. The medical system that we have cannot do that. I think that a single payer system is a reasonable alternative to our current system. Health care insurance just is not a good fit with market realities when all must receive it as needed, no exceptions.
However, the argument that Medicare is better than all insurance plans is just untrue. Many plans offered to employees of huge institutions actually offer as good care and less costly than those under Medicare Part B. The Democrats need to step back and reconsider this attempt to address a key concern of voters.
12
@Casual Observer, which is why Single Payer is a folly. Just look at Europe, only a few countries like the UK use Single Payer and the system is as poor as the Canadian system (long waiting time, rationed health care). The vast majority of countries use the Bismark model which is modelled after the German system, which is the oldest public healthcare system in the world. It has similarly low costs as Single Payer but better outsomes and quality of care, and is not too unsimilar to the U.S. system so the latter could be converted to Bismark easily.
It will take time and money to revise what we have, and we have no idea what the end will look like nor how to pay for it. The Democrats feel like they have to offer solutions before they have any, before the electorate sees the problem to be fixed clearly.
Trump and the Republicans never saw a health care problem in the first place, and they only see health care services by the government as somehow a perversion of government. They have no intention of offering a working working health care system, except their legal constituents won’t give it up.
Did I read correctly? Did Biden say Iraq was good for alliances? My perception is that our going into Iraq, alone, considerably doused the enthusiasm of our allies fighting with us in Afghanistan. As for health insurance, allowing or not allowing private insurance is a non-issue. If we get good gov’t heath care, like in the UK, France, Denmark, etc, no one will want to pay for rip-off, profit-driven insurance. Maybe some boutique plans would survive to serve the 1 percent, but even that’s in doubt, as they are, essentially, self-insured.
4
@Anonymous, the thing is health care here in the UK is not good. It's actually pretty poor, with rationed care and lack of ressources which means long waiting times and many problems which people literally cost their lives. While you won't have to be afraid to be out of money if you get sick, the quality of care here depends pretty much on your post code.
The NHS is government-administered misery.
Senator Harris surged, Biden sank, and Pete's going to be keeping his day job. Senator Sanders makes the same points he's always made - we heard you last time.
But here's the thing: only one of them can beat Trump - Harris.
She's tough, speaks directly and "connects." Her speaking directly to the people in her closing comment was excellent.
She's the one who can connect with and excite the electorate and - critically important - get the voter turnout that Obama got - or more - and win.
21
@Random
So why is she so low in the polls? Of course, she will never win a national election. Biden is the best choice and the only one so far who can.
But Harris certainly got her vicious attacks in. She can never beat Trump, but she can destroy everyone in her pathway.
I will never connect with someone who has public temper tantrums, who attacks based on decades old matters, and who only cares about herself and her political agenda.
26
@Random But Kamala may not have such a good day tomorrow.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/06/she-lied-kamala-harris-says-she-was-in-second-integrated-class-in-berkeley-but-yearbok-pictures-prove-shes-lying/
8
The post-debate analysis tends to pick winners and losers with a very limited basis for that. Many seem to be rushing to declare Kamala Harris had the strongest showing, but that's pretty superficial. She certainly had her moments and was ready with one-liners that would be memorable, if not exactly substantial. I think several of the candidates performed fairly well in addition to Harris: Buttigieg, Gillibrand and Bennet, in particular. Biden and Sanders, meanwhile, seemed less impressive, though Bernie's one-note attack against corporate interests and Wall Street still resonates as part of the need to make big changes in our country, not just minor or incremental ones.
I live in California, represented by Harris in the Senate and where she served as the state's AG. I remain unimpressed with her record and her authenticity as a progressive candidate. I think she talks the talk but often has failed to walk the walk of a progressive who gets things done. She can utter one or two coherent sentences on policy and ideology but then seems incapable of more substance. She also lacks the likability factor, in my view. Her personality has a certain edge that doesn't give me comfort or faith in her. I feel much more positive about Warren, Booker, Buttigieg and Gillibrand in the current field. More than anything, beyond the ability to dismantle Trump and his hideous legacy, I want someone I believe will be an agent of real change. Warren scores highest on that metric.
37
@TRJ
Harris is a prosecutor---good at overstating the attention-getting claims whether or not they are accurate. I have spent 30 years trying to slow down those kind of folks and mostly been run over (and then have had to listen to folks like her tell me the system wasn't fair, though of course she personally was always right. oh! gee! never noticed!). If she is the Democratic nominee, I will vote for her, but tonight decided me that i will not be with her unless and until that happened.
7
Biden looked and sounded old. He can't be the nominee. We need an inspiring candidate. For all of Trump's faults, he inspires his base. We need to inspire ours. I love Bernie, but our country (I don't think) is ready for a revolution. Warren is very left for the general population. I don't see Kamala or Corey being the candidate. I think our best shot is Pete. He has the best chance at inspiring the Dems. I was impressed with his answers about the incident in South Bend too. I hope he gains traction.
19
May be, or may be he was ill and not feeling well. We shall see.
1
Barring a miracle, a Democratic President will have to work with a Republican Senate in 2020. Thus it boggles the imagination to see Democratic candidates for President essentially bragging about not being willing to work with Republicans. You play the hand you're dealt, and if you can't handle it, get out of the game.
What America needs is a President who can talk with, not at, the opposition, a man or woman who is excellent judge of people with which to surround him or herself with, not an Emmy Award candidate, a polished demagogue, or someone who pretends to know all the answers.
Promises are meaningless without the political skill to translate them into actual programs. Obama was a brilliant candidate, but he did not have the political acumen and experience to deal with the realities of Washington. Biden's vision may be less aspirational than that of Sanders, Warren and others, but he has the political understanding and experience to actually get some things done. At the moment, repairing the damage is a necessary prelude to developing the ability to enact the vision.
9
@Steve Fankuchen,
"What America needs is a President who can talk with, not at, the opposition,"
Because that worked so well in 2008 when Obama and Biden squandered Dem control of Senate/House for "working with the opposition", a party that vowed to refuse to work with the democratically elected President of the United States, right?
“The best argument against Democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” (often attributed to Churchill).
I am very conflicted now. I thought the debate tonight was fantastic and most of the candidates were great. My list of candidates grew!
I fell in love with Kamala Harris. I may not agree with every policy she has, but she is flawless, super clever, elegant and a fighter.
I still love Joe Biden. I think he has the most beatiful smile of all and I think he is super decent. Part of me wants him as President, but I can see other candidates who are as atractive as he is.
I really do like Mayor Bittigieg, he is very endearing. He has a fantastic resume. I really like his demeanor and I think he is super clever.
I was very pleasantly surprised by Governor Hickenlooper, he is a pragmatist and he defended his policies & resume well.
Senator Gillibrant was also formidable and I want to hear more from her.
I even thought that Marianne Williamson was an interesting person. I definitively cannot vote for her for President. But I would love to see her as a strong voice of our collective conscience.
Sadly I am also going to exclude Bernie Sanders from my list of presidential candidates. While likable, he is stuck in 2016 and he does not seem very realitic at times.
Man.... What a night...
Oh! - one last thing, the one difference I could draw between the debates (yesterday and today) is that Experience Truly Matters !!!!
5
Am I correct in saying that under the Democrats' plans an illegal immigrant could just walk across the border and go to a American hospital and get treatment at the expense of the American taxpayer?
Do they want to lose again? Open borders won't get them elected.
"BuT ThEy ArNt FoR OpEn BoRdErs"
They are, they just aren't saying the actual words. This might work in the primaries but it won't work in the general election.
18
@John I think they ( illegals) can do that now. If you walk into an ER and are gravely ill, you will be treated, and no one will ask to see your passport.
It’s the reason for the ACA..to life the burden of treating the uninsured and illegals from certain hospitals, and spread the pain and cost around to us all.
7
@Cheryl -- in my part of the country to refer to another human being as an "illegal" is considered deeply offensive to all human beings.
1
Most economist say that that there is going to very likely be a recession upon us next year, and that is going to be the major issue at hand . It will be the huge matter that will have to be dealt with. Is it possible that all of the candidates are just unaware of this ? Or is it simply a matter that no one dares to bring it up or discuss it. Is it a forbidden subject,both with the press and with the candidates?
7
@Harveyko How can they address something so hypothetical? Most economists did not think there would be a recession in 2008.
Why was it necessary to have a live audience?
3
@TRF
It's so much easier to respond to a live audience than to a tv camera. Ask anyone who does theater / dance / etc.
what the difference is between a dress rehearsal and an opening night. I'm all for the live audience aspect !
2
Talk, talk, talk about climate change. Ho-hum.
You really want to do something about climate change? Fight the world's rampant, epidemic obesity.
Just in America, in terms of fuel alone, the recent increase in airline passenger weight adds up to $5 billion more than it would have cost using the standards of 1960s weights. This also causes the waste of $4 billion in extra gasoline for cars. Overall, between cars and airplanes, we’re talking around a billion gallons extra burned per year. If you have a car that operates at 30 MPG, and you drive 12,000 miles a year, that comes to more than 2,700,000 additional cars on the road every single year in the U.S. alone.
Clearly, we will not lower the much-feared American carbon footprint until we tackle obesity.
You claim you want to Save The Planet for the children? Prove it:
18% of American children are obese. 8-year olds now suffer diseases once seen only in middle-aged people. They won't be alive to see the planet we purport to save for them.
Why isn’t obesity included in the usual “Save The Planet” litany? It offends the Sugar/Agricultural/Fast Food lobby. That's why.
Get serious. Fight obesity.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
8
@Rev. E. M. Camarena, PhD
It's no longer within the scope of what people are allowed to discuss, because we are all supposed to believe fat is beautiful and healthy. Or else we're "fat shaming."
6
To think that this cartoonish collection could come off winning an election is laughable.
5
Kamala Harris misrepresented Joe Biden’s prior comments on working with people in the Senate whose views he disageed with. His point was that in order to get legislation passed, you need to work with members across the board, even those whose views you find repugnant, like the segregationists. Similarly, decades earlier, Biden felt there were more effective ways to achieve quality education than busing. Biden, chosen by the nation’s first African American president as his running mate, had a strong history of promoting civil rights and protective legislation. To imply otherwise and pander to audience reaction is a cheap shot and a distortion of the facts. Shame on Harris, and shame on the media for lapping it up.
59
@Southern Scribe
She didn't misrepresent his views at all. Biden wasn't just working with segregationists out of expediency's sake, he actively opposed busing for school integration and took the initiative in approaching Southern senators to win their support in doing so. As for "there were more effective ways to achieve quality education than busing", quality education for whom? The reality is that since the demise of busing American public schools have become much more segregated, and people like Joe Biden are to blame. Underscoring that fact is hardly a "cheap shot," on the contrary it speaks directly to the persistence of racial inequality today.
1
In 2016 I watched all of the Repub debates and concluded that Trump was a lying buffoon. I find it hard to watch the Dem debates because the actions being proposed will never pass Congress and are unaffordable if they pass. Hickenlooper and Bennett made the most sense to this independent voter. Last night Tulsi Gabbard made the most sense.
6
The New York Times summary highlights both the positives and negatives of Bernie Sanders' performance (about equal in the narrative)- but chooses to foreground the negatives. True to form for this news outlet.
11
These candidates promised more for illegal aliens than they did for American citizens.
18
Millionaires arguing about income inequality. LOL!!!
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
5
Harris is out for me.
What a ridiculous statement: I don't believe you are a racist".
Why not, "Look Joe, I know you're not a racist."
The first version loses my respect for Harris, who plays the race card every five minutes.
I have given my whole life to fighting prejudice. Who's Harris think she is??
37
@Dan
I am totally with you. I was on the board of the local civil rights museum and friends with Mr. W. W. Law, the late great civil rights leaders.
i could not be more offended at Kamala Harris's vicious, opportunistic attacks.
She doesn't understand the context, the battles that were fought, the deals that were made, although she personally benefited.
Even the Obama/Biden presidency made real gains that helped millions.
And thank you for fighting prejudice.
9
Watched in Seattle. The Democratic debates/auditions were better than I expected. I learned something both nights about all candidates except Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. As a supporter of both, there wasn't much they could say I didn't already know. When Sanders is speaking he appears serious and short tempered. I think his demeanor reflects his concern about the seriousness of our situation. I like Kamala Harris better each time I hear her speak and appreciated her questions for Biden. It seemed, most of the time, Biden was defending past votes, and issues he has supported and was not very convincing. Washington governor Inslee would be outstanding as head of the EPA. These candidates have given me hope I badly needed.
2
As a physician, I have to say that I support Mr. Sanders in expanding Medicare for all. ACA really got washed out after , the lobbying done by medical health insurance and pharmaceutical companies and ended up by most of our middle class paying higher premiums, higher co pays , and having higher deductibles and higher costs for medications. Note the United States spends more on health care , yet we rank amongst the lowest in first world countries in health metrics. Sure Medicare for all is not a panacea but a step in the right direction. It is time to get rid of profit as a motivator in health care, but get the care back in.
25
Yes! However, we replaced our public health model of care with the disastrous business model in large part because physicians and hospitals were raking in exorbitant fees and driving up the cost of health care because of their self interests/greed.
1
When my daughter spent 1/3 of her high school life in the hospital, it was Kamala Harris's bright idea to go after parents of chronically truant kids. So, not only did I have to worry about my daughters health, or the medical bills, I also had to dot all my I's, cross all my T's on her medical excuses, but hire an advocate to help with the school's.
Ms. Harris, you kept me up at 3AM
I hope she never gets nominated again.
43
@Jill
I wish your comment had been a New York Times pick. This is what I've heard from others in California, but she was actually near the top of my choices until her vicious attacks tonight. What you have said confirms what I saw. There's a ruthlessness and an egotistic frame for everything she does.
I hope your daughter is doing well now.
15
@Jill
I will never forget the video of Harris laughing (!) while speaking of jailing a mother for a child's truancy. How cruel.
1
I thought both Pete and Kamala were very strong candidates. That made me feel very optimistic about our political future. We have a gay man and an African-American woman who are interesting, viable candidates. It's not that we should vote for a candidate because of their diversity, we can vote --and vote for either of them-- based on policies and other strengths. But we should rejoice that being truly open to diversity gives us the larger pool of talent we so desperately need.
9
Too many people on stage. None of them could go into any depth on the issues and they could not really show themselves nor reveal what they really believe that guides them.
Harris expressed her feelings and the segment will be widely covered but Biden could not clarify his positions way back when because of Harris’ outraged responses, so it kind of just raised a lot of heat but not light. Harris expressed herself in a way that made clear that there is nothing about any aspect of race in this country’s history that is behind us from her perspective. It’s a warning, there are deep feelings in a huge proportion of our citizens that have been kept and passed along for centuries and for Democrats the reckoning is here. It is going to get very unpleasant and will not be resolved in the time before the Presidential Election.
4
Too bad media like MSNBC, CNN, and Politico are praising Harris for that hypocritical attack on Biden. Hypocritical in that she scolded the other candidates about not indulging in a food fight, yet she did that very thing. Those tactics are divisive and will help ConDon get re-elected. She, like a few other candidates, are making unrealistic promises to pander to the audience. Biden may not have been totally prepared, but at least he didn't indulge in divisive behavior. Gillibrand had a lot of good, solid answers. Buttigieg had a lot of great answers and a lot of courage to admit mistakes. Biden is still my choice because he's the most experienced candidate of the pack, with some mistakes in the mix, certainly. But no one can have that much experience without some lapses. We need a candidate who can win over independents and disillusioned Republicans, not another one, like Harris, who will exacerbate divisions. Gender, race, age will be played to pande to large niches..and that's not what a divided nation needs. And the media seems to be gullible to it.
29
I heard and saw three people on that stage that I thought had the genuine potential to be a good, effective President. Biden was one of them. Harris, despite her many admirable qualities and talents, was not.
20
No need for Biden with a younger version of him, Bennet or even Hickenlooper, in the race. Same can be said for Sanders with Warren. It is time to pass the torch for those 2, no need for either to take up a stage spot in the future. The democratic candidates I would like to see continue: Harris, Castro, Bennet, perhaps Gillibrand or Booker. Quite optimistic about the strength of the female candidates. I think the Democratic party is about to learn the potential of the right female candidate rather than a forced one. Harris seems tough enough for the fight to come, not sure about the rest.
2
20 candidates in two nights - it's exhausting to hear them speak over one-another and difficult for them to bring substantive thoughts and arguments to the proceedings. It's almost rather see this go down like the NCAA tournament - we'd get brackets for 1-on-1 debates with each candidate seeded. debate for say 45 minutes - 1 debate a night and play it down until the final 4. I think more people would watch and we'd learn so more about each candidate's position (and how they defend it).
3
If Harris gets an A+ to night Mayor Pete gets a very solid A. Think Harris is getting too much credit for going after Biden. Mayor Pete is right on every stance, Harris has said things she will regret. Still, I would love to see her debate Trump. I believe she and Mayor Pete are the two true front runners, but I'll go with the war vet.
21
It's important to remember that sen Biden has been in the political arena for 40 yrs during every conceivable situation, including racial strife. To work with all kinds is a talent and the man is wrongfully accused when he was credibly doing his job working with those who we today see as very wrong. They were elected by their constituency. Anyone with a 40 year record is going to be fair game for those who wish to find fault. Times change and we must measure him on today's terms.
21
Kamala had my vote before tonight. She lost it. Warren and mayor Pete are clearly the adults in the room. What a great ticket.
133
Kamala Harris’ authenticity, calmness and balanced approach to describing the grotesque situation she and millions of other African-American children endured moved me to tears.
She was strong without being overbearing, calm and level-headed on a topic I can only imagine is extraordinarily painful and personal to her.
I am truly dismayed to see the number of comments in this “liberal” newspaper decrying these calm and reasonable statements as baseless attacks.
We still have so far to go, apparently, before we’re able to hear Black Americans speak honestly about the damage we’ve inflicted — hear them without lapsing into defensiveness and outrage.
Hats off to you, Kamala, for fighting the good fight with dignity and courage. You are extraordinary.
10
@ae
"But when it came to taking on the Catholic Church, survivors of clergy sexual abuse say that Harris turned a blind eye, refusing to take action against clergy members accused of sexually abusing children when it meant confronting one of the city’s most powerful political institutions."
10
I have to say I admire Kamala Harris for her sheer cynicism, hypocrisy, and demagoguery in going after Joe Biden in such a misleading and unfair way in saying, "It is personal and it was actually very hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputation and career on the segregation of race in this country." What does "talk about the reputations" mean other than "praise"? Joe Biden did no such thing.
You can accuse Joe Biden of being artless and inarticulate, but his original point was about his ability to work with bad guys, not that they were good guys. From now on are Democratic politicians to be excommunicated if they refuse to shun Mitch McConnell? And I say this as someone who realizes Joe Biden is not the answer in 2020.
And here this statement is coming from the former SF district attorney and CA attorney general who has a long record of appearing to tip the scales of justice against minorities for cheap political gain.
We know the Kamala Harris playbook: divide and distract us over race just enough to gain power, then make sure that the corporatist neoliberal status quo continues to go unchallenged. We can see why so much of the media and Democratic establishment can't stop fawning over her and pushing her as one of the front-runners. It's still hard for me to imagine an America where this is not an irresistible winning formula.
69
Dear NYT:
Sen. Kamala Harris had her short knife out and she got close enough to Biden to inflict a major wound. Whatever her merits and faults, she has a killer instinct, especially with respect to dispatching privileged white men.
However, Harris seriously distorted Biden's position, and also mislead -- perhaps out of ignorance -- about her own anti-segregation experience. A few historical notes are in order:
1. Biden explained that he strongly favored court-ordered busing to redress racial imbalance; however, he opposed the use of busing by school districts absent a court order. This is very different than a generalized opposition to busing, as Harris seemed to accuse Biden of harboring.
2. Harris was not telling the "truth of segregation in this country," as she claimed. This was not a federal program, as she kept claiming.
3. Her own childhood busing in Berkeley was due to a voluntary busing program that caused a huge disruption in the school district, and caused many liberal white families to attend private schools. She was able to attend Berkeley schools despite living in Oakland, claiming a relative's residence.
I like Harris, and am not a Biden supporter. but she sometimes comes off as ruthless in her pursuit of power.
40
@Jorge
I disliked her before the debate and really dislike her now.
12
@Jorge
She was raised by her East Indian mom, who was a medical researcher at UC Berkeley and strongly identified herself as Asian Indian when she was SF DA. Her father, a Black Stanford Economics professor separated from her mom and wasn't a factor as a child growing up in liberal Berkeley, but mostly in Montreal where she graduated from High School. She dated Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, then the most corrupt and powerful Democrat in California. He was married and 60. She was 29 and an assistant DA. He had her appointed to two state boards known as political sinecures, paying her $72,000 and $100,000 respectively for a few hours each week. She gave up one post after 6 months because of the obvious perception (actually true) she was appointed solely because she was Willie's girlfriend. Her boyfriend -- and political mentor -- Speaker Brown was the go to guy for corporations to get what they wanted from the State of California. Brown even wrote an initiative for Big Tobacco (mainly Phillip Morris) that deceptively claimed to be a tough anti-tobacco measure but in fact allowed them to circumvent local smoking restrictions by giving regulatory power to the California legislature controlled by Brown. As Willie's girl, Kamala Harris would attend society events in SF clinging to his arm. Her political profile took off and Willie engineered her election as DA, running against progressive DA Terence Hallinan who was hated by SF's racist police union.
Going after VP Biden for decisions that were made 50 years ago is totally bogus. Look back at your own opinions back then and how much they have changed as you've aged and as society has changed. K Harris is running an attack campaign that's reminiscent of what Sanders did to Clinton in 2016 - the enemy is Trump and that is what all Dem hopefuls need to remember!
37
@John M
VP Biden is basing his whole campaign on what he did 50 years ago. He can't stop talking about what he did 30, 40, 50 years ago. And lots of what he did was dead wrong. If he keeps this up, more people are going to take a piece out of him. Harris did it well.
2
“Biden gave different answers on deportation.
In the span of just a few moments, Mr. Biden’s answer to a question about deportation evolved.
“Depending on if they committed a major crime, they should be deported,” Mr. Biden said.”
That’s not “different answers”. He clearly said that if they have committed a “major crime”, they should be deported. Otherwise, no. What don’t you get about that answer? Stop interpreting the news and just report it.
7
Still no questions on cybersecurity, either night !
Are they trying to Not Scare Us ?
(I certainly don't want my power supply hacked at fifty
degrees below zero . . . although we are prepared for power outs). I've read that it would only take 72 hours or so for Total Chaos to set in, should a regional or larger power out occur.
And I don't like the idea of us hacking other nations' power grids either. What goes around, comes around.
5
I do not understand all the hang-wringing in the commenta about Harris going after Biden. Biden CHOSE to run, everything he has done is fair game - kid gloves are off.
The Democrats need a smart, tough, fighter - Harris showed her mettle.
6
@Annie
Except both of her major attacks were lies.
6
Senator Kamala Harris' outburst at Biden was a low blow even for her, and it did not did not distinguish her in the least. Her "get Biden" tirade was no doubt rehearsed and she waited for an opportune opening to insinuate it with characteristic but misguided ferocity. Her claws were sharpened and all the way out for Joe. Surprise, surprise -- she won the night -- rippingly.
22
Less stories. Candidates inject personal anecdotes to show empathy, understanding, relatability. While it helps to know their background, no one has all bases covered: gender, gay, black, white, young, old, immigrant, war vet, inner city, rust belt, etc etc. Makes it seem only they have special insight. You don’t have to be a parent to care deeply about kids or be black to favor reparations.
2
Mayor Pete won
34
I love Joe, but coming from Boston I know that it was the federal court that ordered forced busing here. I have no idea what he came up with the idea that the Department of Education that ordered busing. The school committee and the city council had many, many chances to rectify the racial imbalance, but they dug in their heels.
5
Harris was really stupid (suicidal?) to attack Biden the way she did since there has been talk about her being VP. Face it, Harris is NOT going to be the nominee but she has a chance of being VP.
I'm still voting for Biden, but if not Buttigig....Harris had my vote earlier, but not anymore.
35
@Dolly Patterson
somebody was gonna do this to joe sooner or later...even swollwell took a swing at him...he knew it was coming....
3
@Dolly Patterson
Maybe she has no interest in 'being Biden's VP' and is running on her own merit ? I'm not in the Harris camp
and realized that her 'interruptions' were probably a result of her getting schooled by watching last night's debate, where the women did NOT interrupt and therefore were not allowed to 'speak when not spoken
to first' (for the most part, kudos to Tulsi for correcting Tim Ryan on the Taliban). So Harris is a quick learner and I have zero problem with her calling out Biden on
his egregious comments about Southern Segregationists. (To whom he owed his seat on the Judiciary Committee which resulted in the seating of
Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court.)
One look at Biden's face as he left the stage tonight and you knew his heart is really not in this race.
6
Nope - she just sealed the nomination.
1
Sen Gillibrand should speak about her success passing the 9/11 First responders Act. Her focus on women's rights is much too narrow.
6
The fiercely loyal running mate of the first African-American President, a decades long champion of racial equality and women’s rights, is hit with a strategically planned question about busing legislation in the early 70s and that is supposed to be somehow “devastating”? The right wing is correct about one thing, the media and it’s Washington based pundits can often be extremely disconnected from reality.
95
@AndyW Some of us women don’t appreciate Biden’s support of the Hyde Amendment or his treatment of Anita Hill, that gave us Clarence Thomas on SCOTUS. So no, I never saw Biden as my champion. I was a teenager when I watched those hearings and I was horrified and appalled. That feeling never left me when it comes to Joe Biden, speaking as a woman. As for racial equality, well the opposition to busing is questionable, and it is a part of Harris’s story. Biden’s bit about getting along with career segregationists is tone deaf in the current era, especially since so little has changed on racial equality since then. Finally, Michael Bennett was right when he pointed out that Biden’s “working with McConnell” resulting in making the Bush tax cuts permanent and gave us sequestration. It’s time for him to go, with appreciation for some of his work, but go. He isn’t right for women in 2020 when we are under attack, and wherever he was on Civil Rights back in the day, he isn’t with the program that we need now.
My question is why do you belittle the busing “question” when it directly impacted Harris? Her lived experience doesn’t rate? That’s another version of being tone deaf and I don’t see educated women and young people getting onboard with that.
3
@AndyW. ....re Biden's record of supporting racial and women's rights....hmmm ask Anita Hill about that. Voted w/ the Neo Cons to invade innocent Iraq? End of subject.
If Trump is defeated, the eventual winner could easily staff half their cabinet out of this field. Even among some candidates that are polling low, they have terrific resumes. Hickenlooper knows the energy sector inside out, Gabbard knows the military very well, others have researched healthcare extensively, and there would be little trouble finding an Attorney General from the field. I hope the eventual winner is filing away how smart some of the competitors are and takes a long look at them before some cable network hires them as a commentator.
13
The debate topics were the old stuff, relics of the 20th century: race, busing, immigration, gun control. Although these issues are important, the challenges of the 21st century are rather unique and unprecedented because of the global economic, political, cultural and scientific upheavals that the countries of the world are facing. They are posing special challenges to the United States and its quest for peace and prosperity. For most parts, the candidates were silent on these issues.
9
I had a hard time watching the debates over all the shouting and candidates struggling to be heard, trying to differentiate themselves.
But I suspect that problem will be resolved soon enough.
5
I would expect the NYT to choose a headline that better represents a multi issue debate than Ms. Harris’ opportunistic, self-aggrandizing, crowbar moment.
I don’t subscribe to the NYT for cheap sensationalism.
52
I am for all 20 of these candidates!
What a outstanding group of Americans!
Form a government with all 20.
OK, we are not that grown-up as a Nation or people, so my money is going to Warren and Harris.
MB
4
While some may disagree, I found Harris’ critique of Biden to be over-the-top and unfair.
The point he was trying to make is that a Senator has to be able to work with everyone, in order to get things done. Teddy Kennedy said the exact same thing in the final book that he wrote.
115
@adm3
yeah, but he didnt put his heart into statting his position...she was leaning into him, he was just standing there....and he was right, that is how it was then...now not so much...different vibe...old dynamic doesn't work
@adm3 Agreed 100%
First she sounded like the voice of reason with the 'food fight' comment and then she turned around and attacked Biden for a vote almost 50 years ago.
9
The distortion of the "segregationists" issue is going to turn me off to any candidate who intentionally mischaracterizes it.
That said, if I had to vote primary tomorrow I'd go for Buttigeig even though I know he's unelectable in the flyovers. They have far too much power over the vast majority of the population. We need to deal with the greatly antiquated Electoral College and senatorial system. One person, one vote.
Lastly, I might consider Sanders if he'd loosen up and make a joke about himself, like talking about the banks chaining pens to desks. https://bit.ly/2ZQncnG
18
Buttigieg and Harris were the strongest. They owned the night, IMO.
10
OK, obviously the ticket is Kamala and Julio -- it is Julio, not Julian, right? Whatever, either works for me -- but I digress. That combo gives women, African-American and Latino voters skin in the game. Plus, Castro probably couldn't win Texas but he could scare a lot of money out of the GOP to hold it. Finally, both are at least tolerable to young voters. The Happy Days Are Here Again train now departing from Miami.
3
@james haynes
Harris actually lost whatever chance she may have had tonight.
2
I do wish the NYT and other major news outlets would give more coverage of Williamson and the lesser known candidates and stop writing about only whether Biden is too old or whatever the latest spat is. This is how Trump won last time - negative air time is still advertising.
6
I can completely empathize with Mr. Biden's working segregationists a generation or so ago. Even though I'm in my mid-50's, I remember George Wallace clearly. I remember the news with all of the civil rights clashes and Vietnam body bag counts.
I remember working for and with jerks. It doesn't mean I liked them or their stances, but I got paid to do what was assigned. Biden was elected to get things accomplished for his constituency. I'm sure there are GOP senators who abhor McConnell, but they are elected to serve their constituency and that sometimes means working with McConnell.
Do I wish Biden would apologize for past votes and decisions? Sure, it's a sign of maturity and leadership to feel differently about choices when history teaches you otherwise. Personally, I think Biden is a bit too eager to embrace the indecisive Trumpie. You don't need to pander to them if you bring home what they need economically.
I'm old enough to know purity tests are stupid exercises in circular firing squad logic. What do you most need? Then vote for the person who will eject Donald Trump from office. We need to make Trump a one term President. Gender, sexuality, progressive purity are all potential bonuses. They shouldn't be THE reason to elect them. Identity politics will not win you the Oval Office. You can't make change if you don't win.
30
Watching Biden all I can think of is the Rolling Stones' Baby, baby, baby, you're out of time.
6
Sen. Harris had a noteworthy exchange with Joe Biden. It was the drama high point of the evening. In so doing, she revealed a lot about herself. Did she help herself? She raised a question. Is America ready for a woman of color as President whose manner can be quite aggressive, standing her ground as she waves a finger at the former Vice President, who is white, not just putting him on the spot but giving him a scolding before millions of viewers? Viewers, in their responses will answer that question.
9
@blgreenie
I think that Kamala was having a real conversation about race. She shared her pain. I have also heard other pundits discuss the very real pain they suffered and continue to suffer because of their race. It's getting real. But people like Biden and Bill Maher refuse to listen. Instead they deal in memes. It's time for African Americans' pain to be heard, not merely to be discussed. WE need to listen.
5
@blgreenie
She spoke from the heart and mind, and allowed herself to be completely vulnerable, but not weak. I appreciated that, and believe that is what is her driving strength. She's very real. And very smart. And her identity is not utterly entrenched in Washington politics. Her political investment and legacy quite differs from Biden.
4
@blgreenie
Mean angry woman brings up issue from decades ago with no context. Sure, that will appeal to voters. Not.
I had such high hopes of Harris, and have been deeply disappointed.
14
I love Bernie. I find it to be so ironic that MSM refuses to embrace him, and trashes him when possible. Literally all but two candidates took positions that Bernie originated. Kamala Harris virtually parroted Bernie's platform. Kamala did have a great night. Biden, on the other hand, is just not visionary, and has a bad record on important issues, and seems to dig in when questioned about it every time. Backward Biden should not be the nominee, and we can move the country forward AND beat Trump, whereas Biden won't do that. Biden also supported oil and gas yet again. He also refused to take responsibility for his past. He never apologizes and like Trump seems not to get it.
9
It was Harris and everybody else. Pete did fine, Joe and Bernie meh. And Trumps advisers are thrilled.
I’ll vote for whoever promises to install a Public Morale Officer.
That there is even a possibility of DJT being re-elected is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps instead of simply legalizing marijuana, it would be better to make it mandatory. I don’t think I could face four more years if I wasn’t high.
3
I prefer Kamala to Biden, but I didn’t appreciate or respect her attack on him for the people he’s worked with. It was calculated, opportunistic, and self-serving — which is exactly what we’re trying to escape from from right now.
79
I was reading the NY Times commentators and I have to say that I had a very different impressions of debate sequences. For example, I thought Harris was very good and personal in her sequence with Biden but I thought he handled it fine. Harris is impressive in settings like this or when she questions people on the judiciary committee. I find her less clear on policy positions though.
The real challenge is this format is not much of a debate and not informative of who would make the best president and have the best chance of beating Trump.
2
Kamala Harris was toxic. Not only did she attack Biden, she stayed angry for several minutes. We don't need someone who has a public temper tantrum.
The former vice president kept his dignity. Harris has no idea what was going on at that time except in her school in Berkeley. What does she understand about integration in the South, or problems in the Midwest, or in the Northeast?
I had very high hopes for Kamala Harris and am deeply disappointed.
This left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The president is supposed to represent the entire country. Harris can never do that.
110
@SMB
How exactly was that a temper tantrum? This is a debate, and she rightfully AND respectfully called him out on his record. As someone directly affected by the issue, she also highlighted its significance. And it is insulting to suggest that Harris's knowledge of the issue was limited to her six-year-old self in Berkeley. Plus, this was a stance that Biden continued to hold for years even after segragationists gave up on this issue. I applaud Kamala for taking him on; he's a big boy, so if he can't defend his record maybe he should sit this one out.
4
Lets be realistic and use common sense . We have to beat Trump. As Donnie Deutch said last night Joe Biden is the only one who can beat Trump. America needs someone with experience to restore the world order that Trump has turned upside down. Since when is having experience a bad thing. Obama who was a Senator for only 2 years picked Joe Biden for his legislative experience realizing he lacked that. Harris, a very intelligent woman has been a senator for only 2 years. Biden is a decent human being who cares about this country deeply. He is respected by world leaders. I am a progressive democrat but want to see Trump defeated as I believe all Dems do Many of these candidates would make a good VPs like Harris , Klobachar Ryan among others. But Joe Biden is the only person who can beat Trump
14
@Jeff B
what makes you say that? what qualities do you see in him that get you there?
I watched the debate tonite through that lens of beating trump..on the stage with him...and my sense of joe was that he was hanging back...added to perception of harris strength...waht did i miss?
1
This is why everyone should watch & listen to the debates themselves rather than relying on the media for summaries & interpretations. Kamala Harris's comments were relevant & well expressed, but were certainly not the most "dramatic" of the evening--not even close. How about you just report & not opine, & if you are opining, make it abundantly clear that you are doing so. Most of us are intelligent enough to & would prefer to form our own conclusions.
26
Our schools are a mess. Bussing took kids out of their neighborhoods, isolated them from their friends, and introduced them to long commutes rather than a few block walk to a local institution. That money should have been spent on improving the local schools, improving pride of neighborhood. Does anyone really think that an hour or two on a bus is conducive to studying? Or to after school activities? Kamala Harris is wrong. And she is wrong to attack Biden. Only strengthening Trump. Bussing has resulted in a windfall for private schools as the quality of all schools has plummeted and parents are desperate . Maybe Kamala enjoyed her bus ride but almost no parents who put their kids on a bus to be carted far away would agree with her. Her confrontational style is tiring.
36
The biggest predictor of SAT scores in the USA is household $income. Been that way for decades. Busing was an attempt to equalize educational content and outcomes since schools are mostly funded by local property taxes.
3
@Honeybee
...And what great neighborhoods! Shame on you.
2
@Bascom Hill Bussing only worked to ruin what were good schools. Those with large household incomes do not send their kids to public schools anymore - especially in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Equalizing educational content is an appropriate goal. That should be done by improving the local schools. Not by bussing kids for hours away from their families. That experiment with our kids did not work and is not working.
2
Bernie Sanders sounded anti-gun during the debate, but he voted against the Brady Bill. None of the other candidates mentioned this. I don't understand why they didn't refer to his pro-gun past.
3
It's 2019. Who cares about busing? THAT is what they're using to go after Biden? Most people don't even understand the concept at this point and the majority of those that do were opposed to it. In Northern Cities that vote Democratic 80+% people opposed it, vehemently. White families moved or enrolled their kids in private or parochial schools. That's why we barely do it anywhere anymore. Honestly these Democratic debates are starting to feel like they're on another planet. One closer than the GOP one, sure, but certainly not on this world.
35
The Dems need to keep their collective eyes on the objective. All their plans and ideas sound great but the bottom line is, if Trump gets reelected nothing else matters. My feelings about (my) Sen Harris took a bad hit when she attacked VP Biden for something that occurred before she was born!
13
She’s trying too hard I think, she can be seen for being another holier than thou politician.
Like that moment when she made herself out as the “grown up,” “Americans expect us to focus on their issues” to paraphrase. I thought it was a cheap sanctimonious attack throwing her colleagues under the bus. I look for them to attack her and point out some of her own hypocrisies and failings. What does she really stand for?
14
Buttigieg was weak on the recent killing of a Black man in South Bend. He continues to say "We are hurting", meaning 'we as a community', but he needed to say "I am hurting", to make it personal, because we already know his community is hurting. That is was is missing from the video responses I saw of him - the personal. Could he fire the current police chief? I don't know. He fired the last one, an African American he hired, because he was illegally taping officers' calls to investigate racism on the force, something Buttigieg should have been investigating. In the recent case, a forceful response was necessary. Instead, Buttigieg said he was waiting on the investigation. He will not carry the African American vote. He's just not engaging on an emotional level, and it's difficult to tell what he really feels. But intellectually, he's on the right page, in my opinion. It's just not enough.
3
@muslit You didn't like his response because he didn't show enough emotion. I found his response refreshing for the same reason. Someone who waits for the results of an investigation into an incident before taking sides and mouthing off about is presidential -- and a striking contrast to the current president.
1
My heart says Warren, second choice Harris (loved how she handled Barr, and would love to watch her debate his majesty) But my brain says Biden. Biden/Harris, Biden/Booker, Biden/Abrams. Trump won Michigan by like 17,000 votes, but in Detriot alone 70,000 people voted for down ballot candidates, but chose not to vote for a presidential candidate? We can not afford four years, we have to be ‘NoKaOi’ (smart) this time.
3
I am a 68 year old white guy and was not impressed with the Biden and Bernie tonight. I just heard Bernie say that Kampala Harris was being ageist tonight. Call me ageist too?
It feels as if this country needs new, fresh leadership. And I loved Pete Buttigieg saying that we need to get serious and save our democracy!
16
We do not live in a perfect world.
So you have to make compromises.
We made compromises during World War II
to defeat Hitler.
One can be a Segregationist and not be Racist.
From what I understand most Progressives and
Liberals hangout with each other and do not count
to many supporters of Trump as their friends.
There are Liberals who would like to build a giant wall
around "Flyover Land" and anyone who voted for Trump,
which I did not, I rather have had Bernie, is denied
the right to enter.
If we want to remain the United States of America then
we have to be willing to negotiate, make deals, yes, even
compromise to do some good in Congress.
Harris' attack was beneath her.
As for busing, my understanding is that she went to school
in Berkeley. Berkeley is about 18 miles square, the students who
were bused, were not bused for and hour and half as many children were during the Court Ordered busing of the 70's.
At age 12 she moved to Quebec where she finished her secondary schooling, she really knows very little about being bused in America.
Ms. Harris is very bright and she is very mean spirited.
I will gladly vote for Senator Warren.
16
It seems highly underrated that in 2019 you have 20 candidates for president taking some form of universal health coverage as a given, something that most Americans were barely aware of (or outright afraid of) a decade ago
Sanders is entirely responsible for this. Even if he doesn’t win, that contribution is larger than most politicians in history. For anyone laughing at Yang and UBI: keep this in mind.
12
Biden has a very long record. The other candidates can take anything he did 40 years ago out of context in an effort to score points against him. Harris did that tonight. I guess she felt she needed that. I don't think she did. She was doing great without it.
10
Incredibly, amazingly, unbelievably, the Democratic Party is finding its way to giving the worst President in American history a second term.
34
Bernie won the debate tonight and I am not a fan of Bernie, but it's too little, too late for Bernie.
Biden is toast and watching Joe walk the tight wire of coherent grammar is thrilling....
Watch for Kamala to rise n the polls.
2
I thought Biden did great. Listening to CNN/MSNBC you would think Biden had no idea. Seems the media just looking for a reason to say Harris did so good. Of course everyone is going to attack him... So What..
13
Well, I agree with the media and I watched the same debate you did. Biden, at times, could not even form a coherent sentence. He will be swallowed whole by Trump.
5
We are all weasel enough not to elect Bernie or Warren!
1
Harris/Biden 2020!!!!
Joe would make a great VP !- He's got the experience!
Bob Herndon Decatur GA
2
Congratulations Mr Biden, you won by not loosing.
No one came close to damaging you.
Onwards and upwards, this nomination was cinched tonite.
Just to be clear, am not a fan, but I am also not dumb, this guy has this in his pocket.
4
Over the entire two hours, the moderators gave Andrew Yang only 3 minutes to speak. 3 minutes!! That’s disgraceful.
19
@KJ
oh come on, he had one thing to say. everyone deserves a salary. a wonderful vision, but in today's political game field, a punt. everyone knows that. including him.
6
Good for you Kamala!! Old Joe needs to move out of the way and let true progressives take the point
5
It pains me to say this but if any one of the people participating in tonight's debate wins the Democratic nomination we just lost the election. How tone deaf can they be? I'm a Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris supporter but why have immigration laws at all if being undocumented is not a basis for deportation? Why even bother to ask people to enter legally? If citizens from other nations are entitled to free health care, will that not naturally encourage people to immigrate here unlawfully? I say that with no disrespect: it is a natural response. How will we be able to afford such a system? It would collapse immediately. Such policies are not the way to appeal to people in middle America who are struggling to make ends meet working three McJobs. God help us: it's going to be Trump in 2020.
123
I agree with you... you cannot have free everything for everybody AND open borders which the majority of these candidates are supporting. The country will collapse. They’re all being disingenuous especially Biden who has to go along even though he must agree its nonsense to appease the radical left.
17
@Mackenzie Healthcare for undocumented people is not only a moral and humane issue, it is also a public health issue. Contagious diseases must be contained, and prevented. It isn't free. Everyone will be expected to pay into it, just as people pay in today for Medicaid. This contributes to a more just society. Plus, disease prevention benefits all with more workers on the job, paying in to Medicare, Social Security. Even seasonal workers pay in to SS even though as noncitizens they will never be eligible to draw benefits. And Americans would also eligible for the same benefits, so Trumps tweet just shows his ignorance.
4
@Cynthia Adams I agree that in theory, providing health care for everyone in the US (citizens and undocumented people alike) is both moral and humane. Practically speaking, however, where is the money to fund such a scheme going to come from? Are there jobs and schools enough to support an endless influx of people?
But back to the debate: of course, it doesn't matter what I think because I'm voting Democrat no matter who gets the nomination, but it matters what the people who have been left behind by the elites' embrace of neoliberalism think, and the people who voted for Obama twice and switched to Trump in the last election think. They are hurting, working three jobs, unable to pay the electric bill or put food on the table or buy medicine. They don't want to hear about policies that will benefit people who don't play by the rules. They want to hear about policies that will help them get back on their feet. Yes, universal healthcare would benefit them, too, but I've had conversations with many right-leaning relatives who say "Why play by the rules if nobody cares? I've worked hard all my life, tried to do the right thing, and if it's just a free-for-all, what's the point?"
What's shocking is that the Democrats don't seem to have learned anything from the last election. They seem to think pandering to a few special interests will curry enough favor to win the day but they're wrong. I think the ten people onstage last night just handed the election to Trump.
3
Every one of these candidates has expressed the idea of providing a path to citizenship for "undocumented immigrants." I was an immigrant. The only time I was undocumented was when I left my green card at home. I never went out without it.
They are so wrong. The folks they are talking about are, in law, "illegal aliens." A path to legality rewards them and encourages others to follow. That must not happen. And, on stories here in the NYTimes on that topic, the most "recommended" comments agree with that position.
I will not vote for any candidate that rewards the invaders. Even if that means Donald Trump, a person I abhor, gets a second term.
275
@Austin Liberal
They may well think the way you do, BUT they need the votes.
4
@Austin Liberal There are around 11 million illegal aliens in this country and they are not going to be sent back home (wherever that is). Good for you that you entered legally: so did my parents. But that's beside the point. The reality is that they are here and most of them are going to stay here. They contribute, they pay taxes. The discussion has to focus on sensible terms regarding the path to citizenship. That's it.
300
@Austin Liberal You should not vote for Trump over a disagreement about a single issue – especially if you truly are an "Austin Liberal."
227
Come on, give us break! There was far more agreement and cordiality than otherwise. Why do you feel the want to sensationalize?
With a few exceptions (a couple people had no business being on that stage), this was good group of candidates.
Overall, I like Eric Swallwell, but I don't want to see this process devolve into a unproductive debate on age or generation.
Joe Biden did a decent job of defending his record. I suspect his front-runner status will not change as a result of this debate.
I hadn't previously heard much about Michael Bennett. Good Democrat, good man. I am glad he is in this thing.
Kamala Harris did well. She will go far.
9
Look,
Biden got more done with Eastland and Talmadge than he got done with McConnell, Boehner, and Ryan.
The Uncle Joe Unifying Mojo is mythological.
And Biden's claim of local control of busing is simply a "states rights" argument by a Yankee. If integration was left to the State of Mississippi or Birmingham Alabama how would that have gone?
Just say no to Joe.
6
When is Gillibrand going to be called out for her anti-Semitism. She is an associate of Linda Sarsour, a supporter of Farrakhan , and Gillibrand supports BDS. Shameful. And many of my co-religionists continue to support her. Even more shameful.
8
@Bob
Thank you. I was not aware of that.
She's toast. And if she is the nominee: Here's Trump II!
2
Saying we'll provide free complete healthcare to everyone here illegally--when there are still a lot of people paying monthly premiums of $1000+ with $5000+ deductibles--is not going to be a popular stance with a lot of voters.
Especially if 100,000+ poor people are entering from Central America every month.
18
@Talbot: My understanding was that the candidates were saying that with Medicare for all or some version of it, illegal immigrants would have health care benefits because they, too, pay taxes. The candidates were NOT saying that under the present US health care system they should get free health care while you continued to pay your heavy premiums, deductibles and co-pays
9
Debate ended.
Kamala Harris carried the evening.
Pete Buttigieg quiet, calm, incredible accomplishing all his goals.
Bernie and Biden looking older and older as the evening wore on.
In fact, at times I was embarrassed for Biden since next to Buttigieg and with the addition of the dark blue background he looked like a drag version of the Golden Girls.
I foresee this as the beginning of the end for Biden. All he could talk about was his past and really nothing about a future. Kamala and Pete were the best in convincingly addressing this.
The others will scramble to pick up the pieces.
41
Gillebrand (sp?) went way down!! She kept interrupting and couldn't keep her mouth shut. I'm not looking for another president who doesn't think the rules apply.
17
Biden was as tongue-tied and inept at responding coherently to a question as W. The only reason he came off halfway presidential was due to the company he was keeping. Had he been mixed in with the group last night he would have looked like a caricature of a president. Oh wait....
4
Always swoon for your lead-in pics - but this is one of the best ever...
Makes Bernie look centrist and restrained...
And not even a drop of photobrush ink...
Biden looked like a 20th century man in a 21st century debate.
18
It's hard to pick the most unlikable candidate but I think Senator Christine Gillibrand won that distinction by a mile. Wow, she is annoying.
50
When was the last time Kamala Harris stopped to help a black homeless man on her night out on the town ? Joe Biden did just a year ago with his daughter.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/03/13/joe-biden-homeless-man/422097002/
17
Pete Buttigieg’s takedown of the religious right on moral grounds was a highlight of the debate for me. He is thoughtful, intelligent, fought in Afghanistan, and is a shining example of how civil rights affect real lives. I disagree with the Times commentary, he had a strong night. He’s awesome. Happy Pride, Pete.
882
@RS I agree that Buttigieg had a good showing and said some strong things in an articulate way, that remark about the religious right being an especially powerful and much-needed rebuke of those who claim to uphold Christian values but support a man of abhorrent character who uses hate and fear to rally his bigoted base.
87
@RS...yes I too was impressed by his talk about religious influence and the separation of church and state.
52
@RS Agreed. The religious comment was the most significant point of the debate for me as well.
50
Kamala Harris tried hard to exact the past and score points. This country needs a forward-looking leader. Constantly gluing our eyes to the rearview mirror won't lead us to the future. We have to be forward looking.
32
Buttigieg was impressively articulate and thoughtful. He’s got my vote.
74
Bernie Sanders owned the debate with laser focus on what needs to be done specifically without any sugar coating.
Both Warren and Sanders are way beyond ready to make change as President. I'd like Warren as POTUS but Sanders is right there as well.
13
I fully understand that the top candidates are going to have more time than others, but the way Andrew Yang was deliberately kept from talking for more than a moment was glaring. Based on past history of the DNC I have to conclude that this was deliberate, and it's not hard to believe that MSNBC was in on it.
13
Biden has been in politics too long. For many reasons, he is out of touch and over estimates his ability to work with corrupt Republicans. Sanders is almost to simplistic in his message. Again, his age means that he assumes a certain collective mind set that no longer exists. Buttigieg was strong, current, and highly intelligent. Harris is extremely talented, strong, and intelligent. If I were to choose one, it would be Harris.
7
Without a doubt, Kamala Harris commanded the debate and proved she has what it takes to spar with Trump. An impressive performance from an intelligent, passionate woman.
15
Would love to see a Harris-Warren (or Warren-Harris) ticket. I love listening to Bernie; I think Mayor Pete has youthful energy; I found Castro's candor refreshing.
But, I'm tired of the mansplaining, and the macho posturing in today's politics. As a man, I want more women in power, and Harris and Warren have the plans and the guts to move the country forward.
9
Senator Sanders should be given credit for consistency - four years ago when he was campaigning for president he made it very clear that income inequality needed to be solved before racial and gender inequity could be addressed - he clearly maintains that position today. It is bizarre that Sanders does not understand that there can be no income equality without addressing systemic racism and misogyny. On a very deep level it appears he is primarily concerned with helping white men who are struggling.
2
Kamala Harris is an opportunist and proved it well during the debate. She knows very well the reality. Biden has a long history in the legislature. As a pragmatist, he needed to work with others in the senate. It was a different time. You are all familiar with the environment we live under the regime of con man. Politicians need to be well aware of the political scenario and act accordingly to do the best for the people. Biden did well to protect us the people. Kamala Harris showed her true color,today- she is a typical opportunist used the debate to go ahead in the poll. I had a great impression of her. Sorry, I can’t support her after the opportunistic performance. Go Biden- the. Country need you!
64
I supported Harris until tonight. She played every cliched progressive card in the deck, all the while masquerading as a strong woman. A strong candidate would think for herself. What a disappointment.
73
As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, it is beyond offensive that Sen Bennet can dare compare immigrant children at the border with families affected by the Holocaust. They are nothing alike. In fact, they’re polar opposites. Holocaust victims did not have a choice whether to watch their families starve and be incinerated. They didn’t ask to have their homes looted and burned. They were tortured. Drop out of the race now, Mr Bennet. You obviously have no pulse on reality.
8
@Westernstater
Harris was certainly in “the trenches” in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Read your history, “Westernstater.”
3
I was leaning Kamala before her baseless attack against a great American for the sole purpose of scoring cheap political points. Now I’m not sure. I will keep watching closely. I would advise keeping the fight about how to best serve the country in the future.
301
@Dave I don’t see that the two are inconsistent. Biden’s the front runner and she’s right to highlight his weaknesses.
23
@Dave
My feeling exactly. I really thought she had high potential, as a vice presidential candidate with Biden.
We need aspirations for the future, not this kind of vicious attack about an issue that is decades in the past.
I do not care about her experience in busing. Everyone I know had their own issues.
42
@SMB
White people may think segregation is an issue decades in the past. Black people don't.
83
Has anybody thought about what might happen with the money that employers would save on insurance premiums with Single payer?
Not only would employees save premiums, deductibles, copays and uncovered expenses; in a competitive job market like this, stagnant wages should go up.
13
@dr. c.c. You are quite correct. With all the money the employers would save, they could afford to give raises.
1
@dr. c.c.
"Has anybody thought about what might happen with the money that employers would save on insurance premiums with Single payer?"
Stock buybacks and higher dividends. We've seen what they did with their tax cut
While Trump takes the cake where boorish behavior is concerned, a few of the candidates tonight seemed to be following in his footsteps. Swalwell should be ashamed of himself.
7
Joe Biden again illustrated here, along with Anita Hill and the woman whose hair he smelled, his inability to offer any sort of genuine apology, and that will hurt him with ALL voters, Democrat and republican alike. We all make mistakes, but Biden seems incapable of acknowledging his.
7
Biden didn't lose his first wife in an 'automobile accident'. She died in a car crash.
Weasel words are the hallmarks of Trump and other shysters.
They are unacceptable in the newspaper of record that prides itself and has built its reputation on penmanship, straight talking and reporting the unvarnished facts.
2
Kamala Harris is the biggest gainer and Biden is the biggest looser. She really nailed Biden on busing. The worst thing about the typical politician is they always have trouble admitting wrong when they were wrong. They tiptoe around the issue. Biden has just done that.
9
Kamala hammered Biden and rightfully so ... then Senator Reed called Biden out for making deals with McConnell
2
Wednesday night candidates were much more impressive.
7
@jusme
Not to mention (for the most part) being more polite !
3
Actually, busing was a terrible idea.
23
I think I just watched the Democratic Party commit suicide tonight. Open borders? Health care for undocumented immigrants? These are not top issues for most Democrats like myself and will certainly not play well around the country. And, the way that Joe Biden was attacked on legislation he supported 40 years ago? It may earn points in some circles, but the winner tonight is Trump. He just got hours and hours of material for political ads...
94
@Hexagon sadly i think you're right, that's my biggest fear from last night's debate
1
Kamala President; a woman as Vice President.
Nothing terrifies Trump more than a gang of intelligent women. Look how well Kelly Anne et al has done. She terrifies me as well!
3
@Anonymous
The fact that you can say "Look how well Kelly Anne et al has done" shows you're a mindless single issue (woman good, man bad) voter
"Kelly Anne" has committed more Hatch Act violations than any other person in history.
5
@drejconsulting
You misunderstood me. I was making a joke. Kelly Anne is monstrous, and so are her minions like Ivanka. She is smart, and this dangerous. That is the problem.
1
In last two hours I got:
2k per month, free college, free healthcare and love. I could live with it but I am sitting tight since it was just a first round.
Senator Harris, who won hands down, also wants to know what gets me up at 3 am. (I have to go to bathroom.) So far so good.
18
Not counting last night, other than Bernie Sanders I would stay home and maybe even vote Republican,. could be it's fatigue. Sanders says what I want to hear .. the rest really the same old thing. And the questions. Nothing about Pot legalization or the drug war. They didn't ask about Iran, at least they touched it last night. Too much time on abortion, too much time on Race. And the moderators letting Kamala Harris go on & on. Why don't they ask a question & then go down the line. Williamson, what is she doing there, who said to her run for president, talk about delusion? .. Plus Chuck Todd is such a wimp .. man oh man ... I want Bernie & Warren to be co- presidents .... that's the country where I would like to live .........
14
Bernie/ Warren ticket would be amazing!
6
As a former LEGAL immigrant, and now a US citizen, I deeply despise every presidential candidate making a case to support ILLEGAL immigrants - it is similar to supporting millions of thieves breaking into my house every single year.
64
@rudolf
I have a feeling you didn't emigrate from Mexico, Central, or South America. Citizens of those countries don't normally have the privilege of getting a VISA or green card.
1
It was no doubt also hurtful to many Americans when Biden delivered Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.
11
I bet most Americans can't remember how it was back when Biden opposed the Dept. of Education to enforce "Busing." The truth is, it might be the wrong stance in 2019' but it wasn't back then, it ensured African Americans got the same public education as white Americans (period).
4
Advocating busing is a sure winner with those suburban moms in those purple states. Keep it up.
6
Kamala Harris appears to have a flawed concept of history. It's unfortunate.
25
After two long and tedious nights the winners were Warren and Harris. The gals simply owned the stage. Biggest losers: Biden, Sanders, Booker and O'Rouke.
4
I’m 20, and this will be the first presidential election that I’m old enough to vote in.
I follow the news and try to do my best to inform myself on the candidates so I’m ready when it’s time to vote in the primaries, but I worry that nothing the candidates said in the debate tonight is going to matter to some of the people of my generation even though we’re going to be impacted by all of this, maybe even more than other generations (student loans, climate change, etc).
My brother is 18, and he hasn’t registered to vote and is “undecided” on whether he wants to. I’d ask him what he thought of the debates, but I know he wasn’t watching and won’t read about them.
Too many people in my generation think that the system is so broken that their votes won’t matter, and I don’t think that any of the moderate candidates on the stage are going to inspire them enough to vote.
Right now, I’m leaning towards Elizabeth Warren, abd many of my friends prefer Bernie. But I haven’t talked to anyone my age who is passionate about Biden, and I doubt there’s anything he can say on stage that will change that.
31
If you and your brother don’t vote, don’t utter a word of complaint until 2024.
10
You'll be the one that pays for illegal immigration. Don't be fooled; illegal immigration is a huge net drain on our ec.onomy. And now these fools want to give them free healthcare. #walkaway.
3
@L Brown
Please remember what the Wednesday night candidates considered to be our greatest threats -- several of them said either /and 'Climate Change / Nuclear War'.
They are right. Focus on those candidates. It's early yet. My first vote was for Jimmy Carter and I'm still proud of that vote. November 1976 !
6
IMHO, Mayor Pete was the winner. He came across as remarkably intelligent and very caring. What I also liked about him was that he was respectful of the other candidates.
179
@Zara1234
I’m coming to the same realization.
11
The media personalities pitched softball questions as they did in the first debate. Not a question regarding personal improprieties of Biden. Not a question about the inept senate performance by Harris. Good old Bernie got a lot more respect than he should have. The others simply do not matter.
Nothing new. Another yawner. It looked like another set of dwarfs parading their indecisive rhetoric in public.
4
@Appu Nair Please. A lot of real policy talk -- something entirely absent from the GOP -- has gone on the past two nights.
I am far less worried about moderators not asking Biden about 'personal improprieties' than the deafening silence of today's GOP in the face of Trump's corruption and serial sexual violence. 'Nuff said.
7
@Six Minutes Remaining
Is groping an approved activity?
How about the Chinese connection?
No questions on these...Predictably biased.
1
I hope for the next debates there are adult moderators. I'm tired of Chuck Todd laughing and telling jokes. We want to listen to the candidates, not the moderators.
101
Harris dominated the fight. I liked Bernie’s close but from start to finish it was Harris’ night. I expect her numbers to rise strongly.
I mean, she basically took the position that she was a frontrunner, if not THE frontrunner, and just hit and hit hard.
If I were voting tomorrow, I would go for KH.
21
I didn't think there was the possibility of anyone being as annoying as Gillibrand or de Blasio with their hypocritical actions and level of naked ambition until i listened to Swalwell's pass the torch chant. I am all for passing the torch if a younger candidate is the best choice on the platform, but I don't see someone who doesn't have the common courtesy to not insult his fellow contestants as that choice. I hope I am wrong, but if he doesn't make it higher in the elected food chain, he will continue to feed at the public trough, albeit indirectly with a K Street address.
65
The debates last night were interesting and informative and gave me an opportunity to learn more about fairly unknown candidates.
Tonight’s debates were a major disappointment in many respects due to the moderators. They allowed Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to dominate the evening. I found them to be overbearing and even boring. I learned nothing new from them.
13
Harris is a winner. Let her run.
20
I followed the comments of the NYT writers and was impressed by how they focused totally on the "horse race" aspects of the race. It was all glitz and glamour. Who zinged best; who attacked best? Tear down the leader, sell more scandal. Totally superficial, as befits the paper that brought us the Iraq War. We have a criminal in office. This is not the way to beat him. Get serious. This is a national crisis.
142
Thank you! I lose respect for ANYONE who spends his or her time this early in the game, commenting on the other candidates! That is cheap and suggests a lack of personal integrity and qualification. When someone takes shots at another candidate, they lose my respect and my vote.
20
Kamala Harris. Wow! Could we see you in a courtroom doing your job? Yes!
The experience and determination of this woman will give women courage no matter what they do if they realize some things are just possible - like the little girl on the bus showed us clearly tonight.
46
The most important issue is defeating the incumbent President. All the rest is idle chatter.
24
Here's a problem I see for Kamala Harris and others who want to take a punch at Biden. They weren't in the arena when he was so it's hard for me to see how they can understand or appreciate what he was dealing with. I.e.. their "youth" is showing. They can read reports and history books, etc., but that's not the same as being right there on the line. Biden didn't like some of the senators he had to work with: was he supposed to stay out of the fray?
If these youngsters want to be taken seriously, they have to talk seriously. Some of the pot shots were unworthy and looked like they were done to enhance their own standing. Unfortunately for them, Biden still looks like the best one for the POTUS job given what we are facing. He has his flaws, but they don't begin to outweigh his strengths. From my point of view the debates are of greater import to those who are trying to impress. That's not Biden.
445
@westernstater
Exactly, it might be the wrong stance in 2019' but it wasn't back then, it ensured African Americans got the same public education as white Americans (period).
45
@westernstater I agree. I viewed Harris VERY favorably until she obviously took cheap shots solely for the purpose of gaining a better position against Biden.
I no longer view here a strongly as I did.
99
@manuscriptman same here. She carried herself with grace and dignity until she chose to go low.
53
The mayor is wrong about free college being paid for by working class families. The tax system is progressive and proposals to fund free college would take an even bigger chunk of the money from the well off, so it ain’t going to come out of working class incomes. That’s just an excuse to not fundamentally change the system.
The fact is, it would be much more efficient and fair to pay for public college for ALL students, include children of billionaires if they want to attend, than it is now to means test the tuition bills. The current means tests require many disclosure forms and fail to account for differences in standards of living across the country.
Just provide free college to every student and tax the well off to pay for it. ALL students get the same public benefit and no one needs to fill out those forms and no one need complain that they missed the cutoff for aid. Real Simple!
6
Harris certainly was the sharpest candidate tonight but her support of eliminating private insurance is a deal breaker. Also, her repeated use of the phrase “I will prosecute” was annoying. Finally and most importantly she will never beat Trump.
20
Warren /Harris
That is where I am, and my donations. are at.
That said, what a wonderful group of 20 outstanding Americans.
My faith in America is doing a little better tonight.
MB
24
@Michael Bain, okie dokie then.
1
Williamson has no business on the stage; she hasn’t contributed anything of value to the conversation. Nearly the same could be said for another 4 or 5, including Hickenlooper, Bennett, Yang, and Swalwell. Gillibrand is on the border. Keep the rest, and the debate would have given each more time to explain their positions.
Of the remainder — Biden, Sanders, Harris, Buttigieg— Biden was the clear under-performer. On the occasions when the moderator asked for a show of hands regarding positions, Biden’s timid arm movements indicated his indecisiveness. (Does he have a rotator-cuff problem?) Harris cleaned his clock on bussing, an exchange that showed the weakness of a candidate whose career is so long that the country’s values, policies, and politics have undergone several fundamental shifts. And I have to say that Bernie’s response to the question whether taxes would go up was not very crisp, given the fact that he’s been talking about this for 25 years. One of the most impressive performances was Buttigieg, who was articulate, concise, and refreshingly honest in saying that he just didn’t get the job done on integrating South Bend’s police force. Not often that a politician admits a mistake.
204
@Ockham9 I liked Yang. But Harris won.
@Ockham9
“Clock cleaning”. Sounds like the style of the joker we have in the White House.
I'm annoyed at the false choice between Medicare for All or private health insurance. Most countries with government-supported universal coverage have a private insurance market. It's admittedly a small market, but still, the question is not either/or.
If the moderators' questions on this point--both tonight and last night--are so naive, I have to wonder whether to trust the questions on other topics as well.
15
@Elizabeth Connor
How will you ever control cost with the fox in the hen house?
2
@rebecca1048 It's been possible for most industrialized nations to allow private insurance (and to lower costs) while ensuring universal coverage. No fox in the hen house. It can be done.
10
@Elizabeth Connor
You are right about other countries with government-supported health care. In addition, most people who are on Medicare now also pay for a medicare supplement plan from a private insurance company, as well as a drug plan, also from a private insurance company. This aspect of Medicare could be retained.
6
Kirsten Gillibrand - just go home. Your interruptions, butting in time and again made you look foolish.
Big mistake over Al Franken. Just go home.
494
@MIMa
so true... why I can’t get over that is same reason I can’t get past biden and anita gil.. it just defines you
19
@MIMA
How I wish Al Franken was on that stage tonight.
39
@MIMA Kirsten Gillibrand looked utterly ridiculous constrantly trying to get a word in edgewise. Then on her answer she said such simple platitudes as "greed is bad, capitalism is good" and wasted her answer. There are so many candidates who don't have any unique ideas or policies, they just feel entitled to run for some reason. Some advice for them, when you are at 1% in the polls, don't get cocky or arrogant.
8
The most obvoious thing I'm going to take away from this debate is Gillibrand's inability to respect the rights of others. Everyone there agreed to the same rules, and yet Gillibrand trampled all over the format and the rights of others to be heard. To be an effective leader, one must be able to LISTEN as well as talk. On that basis, Gillibrand is NOT qualified to be a leader.
190
@manuscriptman
Just like she trampled on Al Franken.
72
@Fromjersey AMEN! Franken was one of the best we had in office, and the response was disproportional to the supposed "Transgression". I will NEVER forgive her for that.
78
Gillibrand came in 6th place for speaking time, with a total of 7.5 minutes. I'm not a fan of what i saw from her. But in terms of interruptions, she was just fighting for time. a lot of them were interrupting each other. Why only call her out?
14
Without even allowing the debastes to conclude, the NYT continued its 2016 approach to try to BE the campaign like an arm of special interests that run the Democratic Party rather than to REPORT the results like a model of JOURNALISM. In 2016 I expressed we would have the DNC and the NYT to thank if we ended up with Trump. We did. Please don't help to produce that result again in 2020.
17
Wow, what a debate. I sure hope that the Russians don’t trick me into voting for Trump again.
27
No one doubts there were scores of millions of Americans dumb enough to vote for Donald Trump, even if there hadn’t been Russian interference, which there was.
11
Hurtful. Wow.
2
Every one of them says let every illegal immigrant in and deport no one. That ladies and gentlemen IS open borders
25
I LOVE what Marianne Williamson just said, Yes Love is the way forward, love for freedom, country, the world
66
@Sherry Rollins
Sorry, but Love trumps Hate was Hillary 2016.
11
@Sherry Rollins
Great lyrics from the Beatles, but .... substance? Not so much.
33
@Sherry Rollins...love is not going to win this election
23
I do SO wish that candidates would cease talking when their time is up; why are the moderators reduced to babysitting? At the end of their time, cut their microphones off so they can't be heard. Rules of civility matter, starting with the debates. Their behavior makes it really hard to discern their actual beliefs.....they're just trying to cram in more words than anyone else. Thanks!
429
Biden stopped on time - everytime.
40
@KJ and in the rude climate of the debate it came across as weak. It is time to cut out the bottom of the pack. a 10 member debate is hardly a debate at all. If we only had 5 people on the stage we would have heard a lot more of importance.
26
@Cari Brackett Cutting their microphones is a great idea!! I hope they employ it in future debates
29
It's never going to be possible to talk about the impact of birthright citizenship and post-1965 immigration (much of it negative) has had on the country anymore. At least not for the Democratic Party. For the GOP, it's endless corporate tax cuts while abandoning the middle class labor that built the country which allowed for endless corporate tax cuts. For the Democrats, it's endless identity politicking, people pleasing, border shunning, and thing promising. This is done all while failing to recognize that the middle class labor that created the stability for such promises intellectual debates has disappeared. Perhaps it's time for guys on stage to update your software. You might want to pay attention to the part that shows that the multicultural United States of 2019 is not like the harmonious crew on Star Trek, or John Lennon's "Imagine," which are both based on assumptions that everyone in the world/universe lives by western assumptions. No, on the contrary, the United States of 2019 is a place of great chaos, where billionaire corporate power and marketing are, sadly, the only things holding the country together.
15
Warren has a plan for that! For everything. It’s kind of insane. She’s like a realistic and likable Bernie Sanders.
5
It's all about messaging to the Television audience. The political leaders are accustomed to using it and the audiences are captivated by the psychlops.
It's a well honed machine since the war newsreels of WWII in all the theaters before television.
Do you know how political leaders are elected? Television.
"Socialist", "Demogogues", 'Dictators", and so on.
Politics is a spectator sport. The leaders love to find the cameras and the audience loves to watch.
Right at the beginning, Trump's former Television employer resorted to the "Socialist" bait to control the debate. How ironic that the show is called "Debate". That's just how it works. Television elects our leaders, so who tells Television who to elect?
3
So far, Mayor Pete is the calmest, most articulate and most thoughtful of all 10 candidates. For me, it is coming down to him and Elizabeth Warren as my 2 top choices. The very dramatic confrontation between Kamala Harris and Jo Biden left me with the bewildering feeling of just having witnessed an exchange of bad faith that did not do credit to either.
293
@Vera Mehta The exchange between Biden and Harris had to do with Biden's completely understandable stance (at the time) and Harris' more contemporary feeling (beliefs) now. Joe Biden was completely right (then) and Harris is completely right (in retrospect) now. History changes things.
4
Kamala, we just voted you into the Senate. Don't try to be elected president by knocking out the person who probably is the only Dem who seems to have a fighting chance.
Your ideas are great and need to be presented to be voted into legislation. As a senator you can accomplish this. Thank you for listening.
15
It’s so nice and refreshing to be listening to cerebral people, one of whom will be the next President of The United States!
9
Yang for President!
He is the only candidate who listens to the question and answers the question asked.
43
He certainly is.
9
@Jack
Yes, and they didn't ask him nearly enough questions. Too many questions went to candidates who have already made their positions abundantly clear.
8
There is a fundamental inconsistency in the Democrats, on the one hand, calling for the "rule of law" to be upheld as the press for investigations of Trump beyond the Mueller Report, and on the other hand, all but declaring that immigration laws should not be enforced.
Until this discordance is resolved, the Democrats will not gain traction on an issue that most Americans see as a binary choice: legal, get in, illegal, stay out or be deported.
The Democrats attempt to cast the entire illegal immigration problem as involving nothing more than the special case of legitimate asylum seekers. This is illogical and counterproductive.
19
Most Americans don’t get the complexity of the issue. Should politicians act out of everyday American’s fear and ignorance just to make them happy? I believe we can enforce our immigration laws with compassion. But their needs to be an overhaul of our immigration laws to deal with the challenges we face today.
1
@Martini
Thanks for your reply. I agree with you.
The issues are complex indeed, not the least because both parties have looked the other way as a supply of cheap labor finds its way into America to the delight of many employers.
If we keep adding to the pool of those who enter illegally, the problem gets more and more difficult to solve. People who have been here a long time and living productive lives gain a de facto "status" or at least a case for compassion and leniency. Add children born in the US and, therefore, citizens and you have a vastly different dynamic.
We can address the needs of the nation in selecting immigrants who will supply needed skills and diversity and we can meet the needs of immigrants who make a legitimate case for asylum or joining family members.
Unfortunately, with neither party willing to allow the other any credit as the 2020 election approaches, the can is, once again, kicked down the road.
Its a shame the Miami debate audience isn't smart enough to understand just how intelligent and rational Andrew Yang is. While the rest of the candidates are interrupting and attempting to "out-liberal" each other, Yang remains the only adult on the stage.
31
@Kevin
Agree he was robbed tonight for questions directed at him and for equal time.
He's smart and easy-going, he was terrific on Colbert in past few days, and we were really hoping he'd have a good night. Unfortunately, not.
3
I would love to see in the upcoming debates if Biden can be at all cast out as a strong contender for the Democratic Party nomination. Right now, his polls are the strongest, dominating over the other players in the field, and his unconfirmed donor numbers also appear to be above the rest. He’s positioned himself as a candidate rising above the fray with the ability to truly save this country utilizing his decades of experience. Reminds me a bit of Hillary, but without the same amount of passionate fire behind the argument. Over the past couple months, a lot of allegations and confirmations of Biden’s immoral and ethics-violating conduct have come to light. And in trying to play both fields of bipartisanship, he’s alienated a lot of people who want a firmer stance on concepts that now have unfortunately become synonymous with life and death. He seems to be losing the luxury to play the political game the way he always has, and have that resonate amongst the majority of voters within his party. And yet, there really has been only Bernie and Kamala as far as I’ve heard tonight contending with him. And in my opinion, simply b/c he’s dominating right now in the polls, donors, and general hype isn’t a reason to not fight him on the things that have come to light. Throwing well executed punches about his plagiarism accusations, the inappropriate touching of women and getting in their personal space, etc may be the perfect opportunity to create more space for other contenders.
30
@Ranks Rauf
Or, gray is the world we live in and a middle of the road man is the way forward. There is a reason he polls well. There’s a reason he’s getting money.
13
@Ranks Rauf
I know it's hard to see the forest because of the trees sometime, but we MUST. Joe Biden is the only candidate who can WIN in a "GENERAL" election.
20
@David
Whatever you believe is true for you.
I believe otherwise. Biden came across
tonight as a relic of former times. Sadly.
12
I feel so much better, more hopeful, just listening to these ten brilliant people
156
@Sherry Rollins, are we watching the same show? Yikes. Dunno but looks a tad “off” to me. Concerned no one appears to truly understand what is going on. Talking points in la, la land. Bernie is the only one that truly seems he wants to be President.
15
@Pandora
Really?....Did you not notice , um, Harris maybe,?
Biden? and almost everyone else except Marrianne Williamson.
4
@Sherry Rollins, I agree. There were some annoying aspects for sure but that is expected with twenty candidates. Overall, it is a pretty good venue for observing each candidate and start formulating opinions. Those that are highly critical should keep in mind that we still have 1.5 years before election day.
6
Biden blaming Trump for the awful income inequality in America is laughable. While Trump certainly hasn’t made the situation better, the situation has been bad for a very long time and the gap between poor and rich won’t just be solved by getting Trump out of office. Americans need radical change to reduce income inequality, and I don’t believe Biden offers that
258
@Christian
"Radical change" isn't going to happen in a GENERAL election. 90 to 95 percent of voters have already made up their minds. Trump's supporters are already his, and the vast majority of Democratic voters will support the Democratic nominee. The question is, who can get that small independant that are not passionate about politics, the ones that didn't even watch this debate? The answer, Joe Biden (period).
#sayitsojoe2020' (PEACE)
5
@Christian Agree - Reagan was the one that really made it OK.
5
@Christian, you make a crucial point. Trump didn't create income disparity--he exploited it. The distinction matters because Trump may well win again if he's left to be the sole nominee speaking to the issue (no matter how disingenuous and incoherent his narrative). And it's hard to imagine Biden ever engaging the topic in earnest.
12
Kamala Harris floored Joe Biden on race and busing. How does he recover? I don't think he can, or does, regardless of how the newest poll figures shake out. Everyone else was just there. Bernie Sanders was a tremendous disappointment. I expected more from Pete Buttigieg; didn't get it.
5
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
I thought Mayor Pete was great: articulate, thoughtful, calm, and best part, took responsibility for what is going on in his city. Imagine that? Someone actually saying “the buck stops with me.”
6
Ms. Kamala Harris almost makes me want to vote for Trump. It seems that she wants the Congress to continue being in this Republican hatred stand still.
15
The format was horrible. With 10 candidates on the stage, and many of them talking at the same time there should have been some way to cut off the microphones.
42
I am shocked that all of the candidates are apparently offering comprehensive health care to illegals. I can see offering BASIC health care to illegals as a matter of compassion, but TOTAL Health care to ANYONE who can set foot on American Soil could potentially make the US the #1 tdestination for anyone who needs a million dollar operation, or otherwise prohibitively expensive medical treatments. In the real world,Charity has its limits, and sticking to this view could cost the Dems the election.
59
Surely there must be a better way to control this free for all. How about turning the mike on for only the person being questioned eliminating the interruptions. Then turn on the mikes individually for replies. If they know they can't be heard they'll soon learn to just raise hands. Return some control to the moderators here. BTW I agree Chuck Todd is terrible.
70
Kristin drives me crazy and seems so arrogant and entitled.
And why is Maryann running? She seemed to be in a different world than the rest of them.
51
While I agree that she seems to be in a different world, I appreciated the unintended comic relief that she provided.
In general, I’m not a fan of this debate format. I’ve ended up tuning out on both nights because I couldn’t stand listening to the candidates who were shouting at and interrupting their fellow Democrats.
3
@adm3
An essayist on WaPo called Williamson a 'palate cleanser'. That seems appropriate and welcome.
5
From tonight’s debate, I’m keeping; Bernie, Kamala, Kirsten, and Eric, to go along with Elizabeth, Corey, and Julián. All great candidates.
2
@rebecca1048, okie dokie.
1
Breaking news, the lady who won the last election by three million votes is still massively more qualified than this entire sorry lot
19
HC is much older than the majority of the candidates on stage and should be more qualified. Its unfortunate that her qualifications didn’t matter to the majority of folks who refused to vote.
4
@David
and she is less likeable. what these past two nights have made me think is that likeability is a very specific issue. Hillary Clinton was smug (so was John Kerry). I voted for her (and Kerry), All 20 of these people have more appeal than either Clinton or Kerry. They may not be as smart or as "qualified." But neither was the governor of a small state, or a guy who had been a senator for two years.
3
Andrew Yang is one of the most intelligent people on the stage, and yet the moderators paid little attention. Shameful.
72
Biden needs to stop with the Obama stuff. Time to stand (or not) on his own.
27
Buttigieg was very strong and honest about the crisis in South Bend. His pain is evident and shows a leader who feels responsible for his people.
323
@Steve C.
If he really felt responsible he wouldn't have waited 7 years to address something that has been a significant issue in his city.
7
@Ben
Yes, he proved he was ineffectual at dealing with this problem, which doesn’t recommend him for higher office.
3
@Ben
He's been working on it for 7 years.
Many US cities in all parts of the country have difficulty attracting African Americans to the police force.
10
Harris/Warren or Warren/Harris - let these ladies fix this mess!
8
Astead, Q for you. You seem super impressed with KHs prosecutor bono fides. How do you feel about her record re-Kevin Cooper and other death row inmates?
3
The TV "debates" are essentially entertainment with well-rehearsed lines, where entertainers such as Trump have a distinct advantage, an advantage that plays extremely well to an American Idol-oriented society, but one that bears no relationship whatsoever to one's ability to actually be a good President.
Debate skills should not be a qualification when considering who to vote for. A President, as opposed to a candidate, does not engage in public debates, nor does he or she need to be able to do so.
I was a high school debater. One time the debate was about segregation. I was assigned the pro-segregation role. Though we were all against segregation, I overwhelmingly won the debate, which merely proved I had verbal skills that were not simply irrelevant to the substance of the debate but potentially dangerous.
What America needs is an excellent judge of people to surround him or herself with, not an Emmy Award candidate, a polished demagogue, or someone who pretends to know all the answers.
Promises are meaningless without the political skill to translate them into actual programs. Obama was a brilliant candidate, but he did not have the political acumen and experience to deal with the realities of Washington. Biden's vision may be less aspirational than that of Warren and others, but he has the political understanding and experience to actually get some things done. At the moment, repairing the damage is a necessary prelude to developing the ability to enact the vision.
11
exactly...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm3d43HLyTI
I wholeheartedly understand and agree with your thesis, that over time these debates are not a helpful metric with which to determine a candidate’s suitability to the role of president.
However, I do think that they allow us, the voters, to better assess and humanize the candidate pool; and the ability to acclimate ourselves with them through their interactions with the other candidates, while vocalizing (and at times stuttering and tripping over themselves) their positions on various issues which are very important to deciding who to vote for, and ultimately provides a vital resource in the beginning of the presidential election cycle.
Also, for those of us who aren’t able to find or spend the time to research and look into each and every candidate, especially when voting independent and desiring information enough to settle on who will get their vote, and on each and every candidate from both sides of the aisle, is a particularly time-consuming endeavor. As such, these debates, while obviously far from an exhaustive analysis of the candidates, can be a nice briefing that informs the public just enough to help voters realize, albeit superficially, to which candidate(s), and on which subjects, they should devote more research to.
I'm so excited by these debates. The Democrats are (mostly) highly intelligent, thoughtful, moral leaders. Everything Trump is not. I can't WAIT to vote!!
29
The NYT live update is actually better than the debate.
24
Well said!!
2
@Andrea-maybe. I could’ve done without the inane M&M commentary.
2
Pete Buttigieg is the only one who had the sense to say gun to the head, restoring our democracy is the most important thing he could do.
Instead of pandering, he answered as seriously and intelligently as he could. He has the humility to recognize that our democracy is 1000x larger than him, not to mention the humility to admit his failure with the South Bend police department.
558
@jo_gso
Everyone knows the country has to pull together and most everyone said that--it's not a news flash!
Admitting failure in this case is not a plus--he has not done enough to address the racial aspects of his problems--things he could have done such as fire his police chief after
an incident that warranted it.
As I have said before, he is brilliant and will be a good politician but he is way to green and not green as in the Green New Deal!
1
Sanders won with ease, we no longer need half measures. Faux progressives will fail. The issue becomes, can centerist faux progressives accept the future & the only way to beat Trump. With actual progressive action. We need actual change, not a fake push to being centerist dems which means moderate Republicans. They talk like Sanders but I do not buy it for on second. He's the only one that seems real
6
@Kino. Bernie is ready for a scorched earth policy and that is the only way anything will actually change. The rest just give lip service.
1
I found nothing more offensive than Chuck Todd throwing his hands up and invading the space of Rachel Maddow, a woman who carries the bulk of ratings of MSNBC.
Something is very wrong with the execs at NBC. Right - majority male.
20
Most of the questions and time for answers went to the male candidates. The three women were directly asked to speak so much less, and shut down much quicker. And they simply ignored Marianne Williamson other than one question, while redirecting the discussion repeatedly to the same 4-5 candidates. Bias on moderator’s part? This affects voters views as much as news and tweets. It’s like they decided to go with the candidates who are presently higher in the polls, and already have the most news coverage! So who is “influencing” the elections here?
11
Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow are so staged it's ridiculous. Joe's time has passed and Bernie is too angry. Warren/Castro. Harris/Mayor Pete
25
@mbamom Warren/Booker IMHO.
Much as I hate to admit it and to steal a line from NBC — There is one clear winner tonight. Donald Trump.
14
Who is Maryanne Williamson?
Who cares who Maryanne Williamson is, really?
And, why couldn't we substitute Larry David for Bernie Sanders, as Brenie Sanders in the persona of Larry David?
8
@Ponsobny Britt, Maryanne Williamson is the female Tony Robbins.
3
@Jack: You sure she really isn't Joan Baez without a guitar?
2
Harris chastised, rightly, the other candidates that the american public didn't want to see a food fight, but then threw the contents of the kitchen on Biden. KH...what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
96
Nancy, excellent observation! Kamala was trying to have it both ways. Kinda hypocritical!
19
I think I've heard the "pass the torch"quote too many times. Isn't this ageist?
109
@lizzy
He's old. Too old. Seriously, it's laughable. How else should they say it? If you can't find anyone better than a dude pushing 80 that doesn't say much about America.
3
@lizzy Ageist? It is rude, Obnoxious, Whiny and should have been below his dignity. Swalwell was a disaster and hopefully will remove himself from contention so that more likely candidates can have more air time.
12
@Flossy
The old saying goes, * you come at the king, you best not miss*.
That youngster missed.
If an oldster is still capable, then let the chips fall.
If one can beat him/her they advance. If they make a fool of themselves thinking age makes one stupid or weak, well that egg on Swalwell's face, and him walking away has fixed him of that thought.
5
I found nothing more offensive than Chuck Todd throwing his hands up and invading the space of Rachel Maddow, a woman who carries the bulk if ratings of MSNBC.
Something is very wrong with the execs at NBC. Right - majority male.
48
Let Andrew Yang talk!!!!!
345
@JJ
He does not seem to have much to say.
25
@JJ And let Marianne Williamson talk!
3
@Bubbles: When Maryanne Williamson talks....what is this countering Trump with "love" hooey? If this were "The Gong Show" she'd not only b "gonged," she'd have gotten the hook.
77
This Debate is a joke. The moderators are doing a terrible job. They should ask each candidate the same question and get a response. They are mostly asking questions to Sanders and Biden. The only way anyone else gets a turn is if they interrupt.
19
I will vote Democratic next time no matter what. However, IDON'T think that there should be a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, nor do I believe that they should be entitled to the same benefits as American Citizens. They are , after all, here ILLEGALLY.
Putting ALL people who arrive here, legally or not, on the path to citizenship, takes away every incentive for those immigrants who choose to play by the rules.
101
@manuscriptman
Perhaps with a two-tier system where those who "play by the rules" get priority and maybe even "fast-tracked" there would be an incentive to follow the rules and for some, a disincentive to enter illegally
Just a thought...
10
@manuscriptman you do realize that everyone’s in this country illegally if you ask the native right?
10
@manuscriptman I respectfully disagree but I commend you for your commitment to vote democratic regardless. The one issue voters and "my-candidate-or-no-one" commenters here could learn a thing or two from folks like you. Thank you.
14
And the winner on night two is . . .. Elizabeth Warren.
305
For sure.
22
@617to416
Really?
Bring her onto the big stage instead of sitting with the kids making nice.
1
I am really tired of reading these comments boards each day with the common refrain: Democrats don't want open borders, that's just a lie promulgated by Fox News.
So allow me to explain what some Independents and Republicans see from their perspective:
When California Governor Gavin Newsom declares the most populous state in the nation a "sanctuary state" that will not aid federal law enforcement on immigration matters, then that's a prominent Democrat for open borders. He and LA mayor Eric Garcetti are on the record.
When Trump tried to impose a ban on refugees from war-torn Muslim-majority countries with bad asylum vetting, Democrats resisted.
When Trump tried to limit total asylum admittance from the global community, Democrats resisted.
When Trump tried to limit the intake of legal immigration numbers per year, Democrats resisted.
When Trump decided to enforce EXISTING immigration laws on the books, Democrats resisted.
When Trump compelled ICE to commit to massive deportation raids, Democrats (one Oakland mayor in particular) resisted.
When Trump says poverty or bad jobs or a wife-beating husband don't qualify one for asylum under the international norms, Democrats resisted.
So name me one policy of immigration law enforcement that Democrats can support, and then perhaps Democrats will not be labeled the party of open borders.
48
@Jason W And now, explain why these people are fleeing their countries. Could it be because of actions the US has taken that caused the chaos in their countries?
If this format is the most effective way to choose a candidate available to the U.S., it is no wonder that democracy in this country is in danger.
36
I’m impressed with mayor Pete and senator Harris. Chuck Todd is terrible
165
Right at the beginning of De-bate, came the term "Socialist".
The outcomes of de-bates and elections are determined by the questions choreographing the campaigns.
Two debates and 20 candidates means the network is going to get a lot of campaign cash for the rest of the months ahead.
If you want to know who will be elected President in 2020, ask the Television industry that gave their actor Donald Trump a Billion dollars worth of free airtime last election cycle.
Politics is a Television spectator sport. You know Television makes money on sports. Just look at that staged debate.
3
Kamala Harris is hands down the most informed, articulate, witty, and charismatic candidate on the stage. Her qualifications and skills certainly will not disqualify her. The only things that may potentially disqualify her unfortunately would be her race and gender.
29
Did you look into her record as a DA re death-row inmates? (namely Kevin Cooper)
12
"Angry"? Ah, there's that code word.
@Deborah it is also simply a word! Not everything needs to be "unpacked."
These early debates may be necessary to winnow the field, but it is like watching piranhas skeletonize one another while ignoring the cow standing in the river.
40
@Cailin
"The cow" may be offended if he reads your comment (or if someone reads it to him).
5
This is absurd! I want wheat what Yang has to say but because he isn’t a big mouth jerk, I don’t know what he thinks!
21
@Ann
Yang is the best. He has a lot of great interviews on youtube. It's a shame he isn't getting any time here. The moderators aren't even asking him questions and he has a lot of policies that will appeal to people on both the left and the right. His policies don't follow a political agenda, they're just common sense.
19
I didn't know the WWE was on tonight>
82
@EddieRMurrow- I had to turn the TV off at 10pm. These people are basically colleagues- a team. You should never talk over someone else. And answer the question you were given straight up. That more than anything else shows weakness and immaturity.
Representative Swalwell just lost my support....both in this debate and in California. He took a cheap Trumpian shot against Biden (and by default Sanders and Warren) and I have no respect for his snarky bias against older candidates.
476
@WestSider If he can sandwich MSNBC appearances in with a likely K Street gig. He has the lightest resume of anyone on that platform and he insults other candidates with that cheap pass the torch mini-chant. If they were measuring likeability, after that stunt I would predict him being in de Blasio or Gillibrand territory.
24
@Kathy Berger Ugh, I live in his district he is the worst but I had no idea until now!
13
@Kathy Berger
He's a favorite of mine--he's a fighter and his "snarky" comments? They're warranted.
I'm not voting for him for President but I'd rather have him that Biden or Bernie or Warren.
Go Kamala!
1
Chuck Todd: “Should voters believe there won’t be gridlock in 2021? “
Should voters believe anything any candidate says in a debate like this one?
4
Lots of shouting and interruption. I liked Harris, until she went off on Biden. Mayor Pete clearly is the most articulate. Having trouble visualizing them fending off Trump's attacks.
87
Trump is terrified of going up against Harris, she will eat him up for breakfast.
26
The DNC needs to fix this debate process.
It just doesn't work with 20 candidates.
The 60 seconds or so doesn't give time for a complete answer.
We the people can't get to know each of these candidates under this system.
Moreover, how can we get to know the candidates that were not even allowed to be on the stage.
Think outside the box and fix it.
60
They are not for “open borders” they are for decriminalizing the border and treating it as a civil offense which was what it had been for decades
27
If deportation is impossible, assuming no other issues, how can that not be an open border? If a person is not recognized as a refugee and not one candidate will support deportation that is an open border. None of them can face deporting a teenage Hispanic mother with two or three kids. The border is wide open.
18
Bernie looks like he is wearing Google glass - you know, where you can read out talking points.
I have met him. He is angry, dismissive and very much like The Donald. With so many exceptional candidates, we should vote for someone with compassion. After all, he has been in the Senate for how long? His record does not stand up now or over time. Research it Bernie aficionados!
112
I agree. He reminds me of King Lear--always has. I simply fail to see how he'd win over the numbers of voters including independents and get their votes.
I also take issue with what he said about raising taxes on the middle class because of all the savings they'd have on Medicare for All, with no premiums or copays. That is not how Medicare works: there are premiums for all parts of Medicare, plus premiums for Medigap plans.
That was misleading and disingenuous.
15
@Anonymous Bernie's demeanor can seem grumpy or crusty... but why would he hold such policies such as Medicare for All and Living Wage and reduce the money we spend on the Military Industrial Complex / vote against the Iraq War, etc if he didn't have compassion? Of course, he has compassion! He's not an actor like many other politicians are who ooze compassion but vote for war and vote to benefit Wall St. over Main Street etc.
40
The most telling quote of the night was Uncle Joe angrily saying he wasn't ready to "pass the torch" - he hasn't been ready for the past 50 years. That tells you everything you need to know about that old man's self-importance and hubris.
35
Every time that Marianne Williamson speaks, I have a flashback to that Saturday Night Live skit from the 70s with Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd.
30
@MidtownATL She did seem largely out of place, but I was glad for her comments on reparations & about dealing with the dysfunctional-government issues that are part of the reason the USA has needed to provide asylum to desperate Central Americans.
1
I still do not see, or hear about, a coherent Democratic platform that is focused on winning the majority of electoral votes that will be needed to win back the White House in 2016. The question is not what the candidates would like or choose to champion. The question is what do the voters want to see and hear -- and espcially in those swing districts that decide who wins. Has anyone ever heard of market research and in depth study of what customers are willing and waitng to buy?
116
The only person to have said anything that is big picture is Buttiegieg. And probably Yang except the moderators won’t ask him a question.
65
@Penseur
90 to 95 percent of voters have already made up their minds. Trump's supporters are already his, and the vast majority of Democratic voters will support the Democratic nominee. The question is, who can get that small independant that are not passionate about politics, the ones that didn't even watch this debate? The answer, Joe Biden (period).
#sayitsojoe2020' (PEACE)
2
@Penseur
Steve Jobs famously eschew marketing studies. He never conducted them. In his mind his opinion was the only one that counted.
Bernie surprisingly strong. Mayor Pete is scoring. Hickenlooper for VP!
11
Hicken looper is no scientist if he thinks batteries replace coal
1
Very weak debate. There are no serious questions being asked, so these guys sound like students practicing at school.
8
All this emphasis on immigration means that Trump has determined a large portion of the Democratic debate agenda. Might as well stop ignoring the elephant in the room and just come out and ask the candidates to name the five worst thing about Trump.
10
Every candidate complaining about current health care costs...example given about being unable to pay co-pays and current pricing. Yet everyone on stage wants to add all undocumented immigrants to current health care system.
62
Undocumented get sick too. What do you suggest let them die if they are sick?
124
@Rosemary If a person pays taxes, citizen or not, they should be entitled to health care. Uninsured people cost the rest of us a lot of money.
118
If a person is paying into the system, they’re part of the system: therefore, a undocumented person with a job, paying taxes should have healthcare. It’s both common sense and humanitarian.
80
Again - the most serious issue we face — climate change — is not being addressed.
31
Joe Biden sort of raised his hand when asked about Medicare Coverage for illegal immigrants.
5
@Grantham
Biden is essentially a follower and has failed throughout his career to stand up alone for what is right—he always wants to be sure he's making the safe choice. Clarence Thomas is his legacy. He refused to call corroborating witnesses. Push come to shove he will throw people like me and many others under the bus.
34
Joe on the fence as usual, a leopard doesn’t change its spots
1
Absolutely right and Joes reign is coming to a close; I would vote for any one in that stage tonight over Joe Biden
2
I find it taxing listening to these people. Most of then seem remarkably unqualified to be running for the office of President. Sanders is a bit of a demagogue (he should speak to the facts and discard the drama) but at least he is addressing some of the absurdities rooted in the corruption of corporate America and the consequences for average people. I'm tuning out. I'll read about it tomorrow morning. To me the race is between Sanders and Warren.
54
@Ed
You could rip any random page out of any phone book and every single name on it would be remarkably more qualified than the current POTUS.
3
The candidates are afraid of not being liberal enough because there is a strong reaction to Trumpism. This is dangerous because Americans won’t go that far left when they vote for president no matter that it is the most liberal candidates getting all the attention today. Our greatest danger resulting in a re-election of Trump is a Democratic Party that goes to far left.
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@Tom Kocis If Americans elected Trump, they'd elect a rock, too. None of these candidates are even remotely "far left".
37
Americans were perfectly willing to go right off a cliff in electing Trump. I think going to the center-left (none of the folks are far left) would be a welcome change.
9
Why is everyone pretending all these people are actually running for President? Other than Biden, Sanders, and possibly one other, they are all running for Vice President, to become known for 2024, or to sell a book.
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You’re dead wrong, Harris, Buttigieg, and several others well actually all of them are going to make good candidates for President, I would vote for any of them
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@Steve Fankuchen Who is the "one other'?
@Sherry Rollins
Sherry, I think YOU are “dead wrong”. The bottom 5 should drop out and work to be in or put others in the senate.
As this debate goes on watching it is becoming more and more like watching the Super Bowl. Yeah, I find myself looking forward to the commercials.
6
This is a PRIMARY debate for the DEMOCRATIC nomination. The party has tilted progressive before Trump became President and, now, is even more so. One should not tilt to the middle of the road until the GENERAL election if one want to be the party's nominee. Otherwise, one will never make it to the general election.
Succinctly, run left until the general, then run to the middle.
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@James M. Grandone "Succinctly, run left until the general, then run to the middle."
In other words, Democratic candidates need only employ the good ol' bait-and-switch on the rabble and none of the fools will know the difference come general election time. Got it, James. No wonder only a fraction of people eligible to vote in this country think it's worth their while to cast a vote and no wonder they hate politicians.
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Kamala Harris just destroyed Joe Biden
2
These intermittent shouting matches are incredibly annoying.
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@Jay Orchard
They are also quite revealing and in some cases, refreshing.
3
Why does MSNBC not show the names of ALL THE CANDIDATES every time. I was out for the initial lineup and don't know who some of these people are. Are they showing the names of their favorites and omitting the names of the non
favorites? The well known people's names were shown, but not the lesser known.
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@A
Because NBC is choosing the candidate for us just like they chose Clinton and Trump. Look how well that turned out.
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@Bill Carson
Yeah, I missed the first one, but this is the worst debate I've ever seen. I wouldn't even qualify it as a debate. Basically it's just Biden and Sanders being asked questions and anyone else has to interrupt to be heard.
3
Why all the focus on healthcare when it is up to Congress to change healthcare, not the President?
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@Jay Orchard, it will take both.
8
Initial impressions: Gilibrand, extremely irritating and rude; Harris, best answers and wit; and the heavyweights, almost seething with loathing for the others.
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@christineMcM
Gillibrand is not presidential material, sorry Kirsten. I think Mayor Pete is a voice of sanity amidst all the shouting.
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@christineMcM Harris is too prosecutorial.
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@ST Which makes her great.
2
Debate skills should not be a qualification when considering who to vote for. A President, as opposed to a candidate, does not engage in public debates, nor does he or she need to be able to do so.
The TV "debates" are essentially entertainment with well-rehearsed lines, where entertainers such as Trump have a distinct advantage, an advantage that plays extremely well to an American Idol-oriented society, but one that bears no relationship whatsoever to one's ability to actually be a good President.
I was a high school debater. One time the debate was about segregation. I was assigned the pro-segregation role. Though we were all against segregation, I overwhelmingly won the debate, which merely proved I had verbal skills that were not simply irrelevant to the substance of the debate but potentially dangerous.
What America needs is an excellent judge of people to surround him or herself with, not an Emmy Award candidate, a polished demagogue, or someone who pretends to know all the answers.
Promises are meaningless without the political skill to translate them into actual programs. Obama was a brilliant candidate, but he did not have the political acumen and experience to deal with the realities of Washington. Biden's vision may be less aspirational than that of Warren and others, but he has the political understanding and experience to actually get some things done. At the moment, repairing the damage is a necessary prelude to developing the ability to enact the vision.
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@Steve Fankuchen Did you even watch the debates? You posted the exact same comment yesterday.
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@Tres Leches He posted it multiple times, too.
3
As a small business owner, health care is #1 for me. Hickenlooper is not on my radar any more. "You can't eliminate private insurance..."? Why not?
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I couldn't agree with you more. I'm also a small business owner, and my number 1 is healthcare. Why not, indeed?
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@Frank
I like my private insurance. Why should I lose that choice? I support a public option under Obamacare and subsidies to help people who can't afford the premiums.
9
Health care is different than health insurance
10
Swalwell just scored big with his “pass the torch...” comments.
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@Jim Wright
Perhaps Swalwell is laying ground for a position in a Biden administration should that evolve.
4
@Jim Wright
I have actually found Swalwell just unbelievably rude. Huge turnoff.
12
Kamala Harris had me at food fight. She lost me a minute later at no private insurance.
43
She seemed quite pleased with her food fight comment....which fell flat for me.
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@Jay Orchard
She had me with both.
10
@Jay Orchard
Any one who believes private insurance works better than Medicare is uninformed. Go to your primary care physician, if they are not employed by a large corporate group or an insurance entity like an HMO, and ask them which type of insurance cost them less in overhead and makes it easier for them to provide the best care for their patients. The majority will state Medicare.
7
Hats off to Bernie....his campaign in 2016 utterly defined the issues in 2020.
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@JJ He should be proud he brought those issues into the mainstream and gracefully bow out. We don’t need any more old white men leading the country.
21
Absolutely
6
Yes Bernie is the most trustworthy person onstage
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And the interruptions resume as well as the use of Spanish as a gimmick.
35
The issue of spending taxpayers' money to fund programs which benefit the common good should also be addressed. Republicans no longer seem to care that they are running up the deficit by bloated military-industrial costs. Recognition of this position as being a "public servant" is a much-needed rebuke to the current administration. Recognizing that healthcare and education can be helped if we are less pro-Pentagon spending would be welcome.
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@martina Nicholson
Only ONE candidate voted against all three of Trumps MIC bloated giveaways.
https://vetsforbernie.org/2019/04/bernie-sanders-only-candidate-to-vote-against-all-3-trump-military-budgets/
By the by...The military over runs and costs have had to pass both parties. It isn't just all Republicans.
Yes, Vermont has it's hand in the trough too. If that money is going to be spent either way, he's still paid to represent for his state and constituents. A lot of states need those gov. funds. It was designed that way on purpose. Makes it all the harder to cut.
But cut it must be.
America is crumbling from within; while our leaders play tough guy/gal around the globe.
This is how empires die.
Overextended militarily, broke and friendless.
6