Democrats aim for front-runner Biden at debate
DETROIT — After a poor debate a month ago in Miami, a more aggressive Joe Biden took the stage at the historic Fox Theatre in Detroit on Wednesday night, forcefully going after plans put forward by other candidates as impossible or impractical and repeatedly defending his own proposals and record.
The clear front-runner in a Democratic field that includes nearly two dozen candidates, Biden, the former vice president, blasted complaints that his own proposal to expand health care access would leave millions without coverage as “a bunch of malarkey” and chastised Sen. Kamala Harris of California for a plan he said will cost $3 trillion and eliminate employer-based insurance for some 180 million Americans.
“Obamacare is working. Build on Obamacare,” said Biden, who helped pass the health care plan as former President Barack Obama’s vice president. “Provide a public option for those who don’t like their employer plan ... My plan costs $750 billion ... not $3 trillion.”
But even as Biden — who appeared caught by surprise by attacks from the other candidates, especially Harris, a month ago in Miami — battled back, he faced withering attacks from opponents who sought to boost their own standing, going after him during an often rollicking debate that saw them sharply trading barbs.
“You do nothing to hold the insurance companies to task for what they have been doing to American families,” Harris said.
Biden spoke directly about why he would be able to win in Michigan, a state won by President Donald Trump in 2016, noting his role in the administration’s efforts to save General Motors and Chrysler in 2009 and in propping up Detroit during its municipal bankruptcy in 2013.
“I spent the better part of two years out here,” Biden said. “We invested significantly in this city. We made significant investments in this state and I suspect that’s why the mayor endorsed me.”
The debate began with Biden shaking hands with Harris, saying, “Go easy on me, kid,” but his campaign staff had made clear beforehand that Biden, while not looking for a fight, was ready to defend his record if Harris or any other candidate targeted him as she had last month in Miami’s debate.
Meanwhile, it was an amazingly diverse group on stage Wednesday, the second of two nights of debates for the Democratic presidential nomination next year. Of the 10 candidates debating Wednesday, five were people of color and three were women.
Besides Biden and Harris, the candidates included New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro; businessman Andrew Yang; U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
On Tuesday night, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts debated with eight other Democrats at the Fox over their plans to create a single government plan to cover all Americans. Moderates hit them, saying those plans were impractical.
On Wednesday, health care was front and center again, with the 10 candidates arguing over the particulars of their plans and whether the nation should embrace a government-run plan for every American, offer a Medicare buy-in or some hybrid of the two ideas.
Harris tried to outline her recently announced plan that would, after 10 years, insure every American but would do so by allowing private insurers to create plans that would operate as Medicare Advantage plans currently do. But Biden — as well as Bennet — took her to task.
“You should wonder why it takes 10 years,” said Biden, who also accused Harris of having flipflopped on the question of whether she would allow private insurance or not.
Harris said Biden’s own plan — which calls for a Medicare buy-in for any American who wants it — leaves out some 10 million Americans, a claim Biden denied.
“We must act,” Harris said. “Sen. Biden, your plan will keep and allow insurance companies to stay with the status quo, doing business as usual.”
Booker said Democrats should stop attacking each other over their health care plans.
“The person who is enjoying this debate most right now is Donald Trump as we pit Democrats against each other,” he said. “I’m going to work to get us to a point where ... everyone is covered,” he added, but said Democrats shouldn’t divide the party “in the face of the real enemy,” meaning Trump and the Republicans.
De Blasio — who is in danger of not making next month’s debate in Houston if he doesn’t improve his standing in the polls and his fundraising — continually hit at the other candidates, saying candidates like Biden should stop fear-mongering on universal care.
“Why are we not going to be the party that does something bold?” he said. “Donald Trump won this state of Michigan by saying he was going to disrupt the status quo. The Democrats should be prepared to disrupt the status quo.”
As expected, immigration and the call for reforms at the southern border — where reports have shown families being separated and men, women and children being held at times in unsanitary conditions — also became an important topic during the first part of the debate, with the candidates arguing over whether crossing the border without documentation should be a crime.