DETROIT – The first night of second round of Democratic Presidential debates featured questions about healthcare, immigration and foreign policy. Ten of the twenty candidates who met the criteria for the debates were randomly selected to share the stage on July 30 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. The ten candidates who participated in the first night’s debate were:
- Author Marianne Williamson
- Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan
- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
- Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
- Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
- Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney
- Montana Gov. Steve Bullock
The Debate Begins
Well folks I'll get it started… welcome to my live thread from the debate in Detroit. You've come to the right place if you are looking for interesting observations and somewhat keen analysis. And some pictures and stuff. Enjoy the show!
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 30, 2019
Moderators are doing their best to stick to the hard time limits. At this point, they aren't really succeeding
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Immigration and Healthcare
The personal stories are making a big appearance during the healthcare debate. I wonder how successful that tactic is
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
This question about the legality of crossing the border is a continuation from the last debate. I wonder if the question of healthcare for undocumented immigrants will come up again
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Some gaps in policy between the people on stage, but the contenders most agree about decriminalization. Healthcare for undocumented people is maybe something that can differentiate
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Gun Control
Gun control is another topic where the differences between candidates are hard to really discern. Some want to change policy-making procedures, some want to take on the NRA, some want to declare it a public health crisis. But those are solutions all on the same side of the debate
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Dark money made its way into the debate via a discussion on gun control. Didn't have that on my bingo card.
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Bullock's point about winning the left and the center brings up an interesting question … Who are the candidates arguing for tonight?
Are they just looking to win the nomination? Or are they trying to speak to the nation as a whole?
Could lead to different strategies
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Climate Change
Climate debate now begins with people laying out their plans. This requires viewers to remember what everybody said, then listen to a new plan, then remember what was different between multiple plans.
Again, hard to draw serious delineations
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
It's a good chance to maybe draw a more stark contrast with Trump's current environmental policies
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Bernie's point about a just transition is something that came up during a hearing I went to last month.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee hearing focused on learning how to provide jobs for coal miners as the world moves away from fossil fuels
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Unions and Voters of Color
Separate question… How many voters in the country are union members? I'd like a number. Something I'll look into
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
From the US Bureau of Labor Statistics "The number
of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.7 million in 2018"That's a 10.5 union membership rate. State breakdown for union members could also be interestinghttps://t.co/a6e8LiMyIX
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
For comparison and from the BLS release
"In 1983, the first year for which comparable
union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent and there were 17.7 million union workers."— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Now talking about winning support from voters of colors. Strategies and discussions along these lines could be interesting to see
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Reparations get mentioned now. Williamson gets a question about how she arrived at her reparation dollar amount
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
And she just set the market for reparation payments and how they will be politically negotiated.
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Other Topics
Not sure Warren v. Delaney was the showdown people saw coming tonight. Maybe it's just a microcosm of "Progressives" v. "Moderates"
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Going pretty rapid-fire through some important topics toward the end of the debate. I'll try to ask some more questions about tax rates and student debt plans.
These are some topics where there is actually some difference between major candidates.
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
North Korea, leaving Afghanistan, diplomacy getting run through pretty fast. Not the "kitchen-table" topics like healthcare and guns, but still obviously important.
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
Following Mueller, you would think there would be some mention of election security and Russian interference. During those hearings, members from both parties said the Russian interference was a threat to the country.
As of this point in the debate, it hasn't been mentioned.
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019
And it doesn't look like it will be.
Closing statement time on stage, but the night is just starting here in the spin room. Let's see what happens…
— Noah Broder (@Noah_Broder) July 31, 2019