Man speaking in front of a crowd. Photo courtesy of Miguel Henriques/Unsplash.
The fourth Democratic primary debate featured 12 candidates, the most on stage for a debate this year. Pair that with Senator Elizabeth Warren (NH-D) playing the part of punching bag for the first time, and the debate proved an exciting addition to the 2020 election cycle. Hosted by CNN and the New York Times, candidates sparred with each other over impeachment, healthcare, and a number of other hot-button issues. Notably missing from the conversation was climate change, an omission that was roundly criticized by a number of candidates and political operatives.
Outside of policy issues, Joe Biden strongly defended his son’s business involvement in Ukraine, essentially making it a non-issue early in the night. Senator Bernie Sanders looked well despite suffering a heart attack that kept him sidelined for the past two weeks. He returned to the campaign trail with as much fire and passion that voters have come to expect from the 78-year-old.
Biden might have fared better had his fellow candidates gone after him like usual. Instead, the 76-year-old, was oddly quiet, with the exception of a handful of uninspired talking points. For most other candidates, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but as the polling front-runner, the relative lack of time he had to make his case proved an uncomfortable position for the former Vice-President.
Much of the excitement came from the candidates trading barbs with one another. Biden avoided a lot of damage that night, but his rivals found another target in the newly-minted frontrunner: Elizabeth Warren. The Senator from Massachusetts seemed ready for the fight, for the most part. She parried most attacks but struggled with questions about her Medicare for all plan. Candidates in need of a “big moment,” like Mayor Pete Buttigieg from Indiana and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, hit Warren hard on her refusal to say out loud whether her Medicare for all plan includes a tax increase for the middle-class.
Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar had their moments in the spotlight, a change of pace for two of the more genteel candidates. But Buttigieg, who is polling at an average clip of 5% nationally, near the bottom of the top-tier candidates, had the most firepower among those needing a big break.
In a heated exchange over gun control with former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, the surprisingly sharp Buttigieg responded with a curt, “I don’t need lessons from you on courage –political or personal.”
He also went after Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard with whom he clashed on Syria, saying that her foreign policy would be one that embraces Donald Trump’s “you’re dead wrong,” he declared. Klobuchar had a strong night, digging in her teeth onto the policies of Elizabeth Warren. Both did well in that they hammered home their intent on making the next debate.
The Supreme Court finally got some attention as well. Buttigieg proved an outlier of sorts with his proposal to put 15 justices on the Supreme Court and tied his answer into how additional justices would protect Roe v. Wade. Biden and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro shot down the idea of packing the courts as they strongly believe it would cause the court to, as Joe Biden put it, “lose credibility.”
Ellen DeGeneres elbowed her way onto the debate stage as well. No, she did not join the crowded Democratic field. After her outing with former President George W. Bush made headlines, the moderators took the opportunity to ask what is now called the “Ellen question.” Name a friendship that would surprise people. Most Congress members named a fellow Congressional colleague, which was to be expected. A handful even named the late Senator John McCain. Buttigieg delivered a memorable response describing his friendships in the military and how they learned to trust one another with their lives in spite of their differences.
Not every candidate’s star shone brightly, however. Kamala Harris, whose campaign showed promise after her verbal takedown of Biden in the second debate, has struggled to gain much traction since then. Her most notable moment of the night was an important one as she forced the issue of reproductive rights onto the debate stage for the first time this election cycle. She garnered praise immediately from Senator Cory Booker, which eventually led to the moderators asking each candidate how they might protect abortion access. Lower-level candidates like Tom Steyer, Tulsi Gabbard, Julián Castro, and others faded into the backdrop with little fanfare.
What’s next? As more candidates are shoved to the sidelines on the debate stage, the field will begin to shrink. November 20th is the next debate and will feature a raised donor and polling threshold courtesy of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Candidates must poll at least 3% in at least 4 polls, either nationally or in a poll conducted by a state with a caucus (Iowa, South Carolina, and/or Nevada) or they must poll at 5% in at least 2 polls in a DNC approved early-state. The donor threshold is as follows: 165,000 unique donors and a minimum of 600 unique donors per state in at least 20 U.S. states, U.S. territories, or the District of Columbia. Candidates must meet both thresholds by November 13th in order to qualify for the debate.
So far only eight candidates have qualified for the debate. Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, and Tom Steyer. As of this writing, the remaining four candidates are not all that close to making it in November seeing as the polling requirements are far more difficult to meet than the donor requirement they have already reached.
Until then, candidates will continue to jockey for position and will move up and down the polls. Some will drop out while others will remain in far longer than is probably necessary. Nevertheless, there is still a surplus of time left until November 2020. Messages will change, truces will appear, and endorsements will enter the fray. This will hardly be the last night in which the candidates have a few spats, and it remains to be seen whether Democratic voters have the patience to see it all the way to the end. •
