ROUND TWO FOR DEM HOPEFULS
Warren, Sanders join together to defend idea
Moderate candidates warn against liberals during the first second-round debate of presidential candidates.
DETROIT — The signature domestic proposal by the leading progressive candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination came under withering attack from moderates Tuesday in a debate that laid bare the struggle between a call for revolutionary policies and a desperate desire to defeat President Donald Trump.
Standing side by side at center stage, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren slapped back against their more cautious rivals who ridiculed “Medicare for All” and warned that “wish-list economics” would jeopardize Democrats’ chances for taking the White House in 2020.
“I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for,” said Sen. Warren of Massachusetts, decrying “spinelessness” among Democrats
Sanders, a senator from Vermont, agreed: “I get a little bit tired of Democrats afraid of big ideas.”
A full six months before the first votes are cast, the tug-of-war pits pragmatism against ideological purity. The fight with the political left was the dominant subplot on the first night of the second round of Democratic debates, which was notable as much for its tension as its substance.
Twenty candidates are spread evenly over two nights of debates Tuesday and tonight. The second night features early front-runner Joe Biden, the former vice president, as well as Sen. Kamala Harris of California.
The issue of race emerged in the second hour. The candidates, all of whom are white, were unified in turning their anger toward Trump for using race as a central theme in his reelection campaign.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota aligned herself with the pragmatic wing: “We are more worried about winning an argument than winning an election.”
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, in his first debate appearance, took a swipe at Sanders: Working people “can’t wait for a revolution,” he charged. “Their problems are here and now.”
While he avoided any direct confrontations with his more liberal rivals, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg tried several times to present himself as the more sober alternative in the race. He rejected extreme positions, quoted scripture and abstained from calling out his opponents.
Perhaps no issue illustrates the evolving divide within the Democratic Party more than health care.
Sanders’ plan to provide free universal health care, known as Medicare for All, has become a litmus test for liberal candidates.
In targeting Medicare for All, the more moderate candidates consistently sought to undermine Sanders and Warren. The moderates derided Medicare for All as too costly, ineffective and politically untenable.
Yet Sanders and Warren did not back down. While they are competing for the same set of liberal voters, there seemed to be no daylight between them.
“Health care is a human right, not a privilege. I believe that. I will fight for that,” Sanders said.