Presidential hopefuls take the stage
Leading contenders back House’s move to impeach Trump
A winnowed field debates for a final time in 2019, assuring voters they are the answer to Trump.
LOS ANGELES — Support for President Donald Trump’s impeachment and criticism of his economy dominated the early moments of Thursday night’s debate with the Democratic Party’s leading presidential contenders.
The Democrats’ debate — the sixth — was set in the heart of the holiday season just a day after the House’s historic vote to impeach Trump, raising the prospect that it may draw the smallest audience yet.
But the stakes were not small in the broader tug-ofwar between passionate progressives and pragmatic moderates who are battling over the party’s positions on core issues like health care, immigration, education and trade.
Despite the potential for intraparty discord, the early moments of Thursday’s debate highlighted the Democrats’ shared criticism of the Republican president’s vision for America.
“The president is not king in America,” said Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is preparing to serve as a juror as Trump’s impeachment shifts from the House to the Senate. Alluding to President Richard Nixon, she added, “If the president claims that he is so innocent, then why doesn’t he have all the president’s men testify?”
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren also will serve as jurors in a Senate trial.
Former Vice President Joe Biden knocked Trump’s argument that less than half of Americans support his removal from office.
“He’s dumbing down the presidency beyond what I even thought he would do,” Biden said. “We need to restore the integrity of the presidency.”
The candidates also railed against Trump’s economy, despite outward indicators that the economy is doing well.
The U.S. unemployment rate stands at a half-century low of 3.5%, backed by consistently strong job gains in recent months that have largely squelched fears of a recession that had taken hold over the summer.
“This economy is not working for most of us,“said Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
“The middle class is getting killed,” Biden added.
Seven candidates shared the stage, but Warren and Buttigieg entered the night at the center of the highstakes clash.
Warren, a 70-year-old Massachusetts senator, has fought for transformative policies to limit corporate influence on the nation’s political and economic systems for more than a decade.
Buttigieg, 37, has emerged as a strong, if surprising, face of the party’s more centrist wing as he navigates his connections to corporate America, both in his work history and as a presidential fundraiser.
While Warren and Buttigieg were among Thursday’s stars, the diversity — or lack thereof — played out prominently. The Democratic field is marked by wide differences in age, geography and wealth, but Thursday’s group did not feature a black or Latino candidate for the first time this year.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who is Asian American, was on stage.
The state of play in California has largely mirrored national trends, with Biden, Sanders and Warren clustered at the top of the field, followed by Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Yang and billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer.
Beyond impeachment, health care is a leading debate issue. And suddenly, the candidates who support “Medicare for All,” which was a litmus test issue for ambitious Democrats a year ago, are in the minority.
Only 1 of the 7 Democrats promised to fight for Medicare for All immediately after taking office. That was the bill’s author, Sanders. The other progressive firebrand, Warren, has settled on a plan to transition to Medicare for All by the end of her first term, while none of the other candidates would go that far. Most support a hybrid system that would give consumers the choice to join a government-run system or keep the private insurance they have.
Two candidates who didn’t make the stage still made their presence felt with ads reminding viewers they’re still in the race. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro aired ads targeting primary voters.
Also missing from the lineup was former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who is unable to qualify for the contests because he is not accepting donations. But Bloomberg has made his presence felt: He’s running TV advertising in California to introduce himself to voters who probably know little about him.