Two weeks ago, the first Democratic Debate happened and put in light a divided party. On one hand, some candidates expressed their hesitation on whether to keep the Obamacare.
On the other hand, some candidates expressed views that aligned with president Donald Trump, when it comes to immigration.
While former U.S president Obama and his predecessors always shared liberal views radically opposed to Republicans, several candidates did not seem so far away from Republican values.
U.S media Bloomberg described the debate as a milestone that “exposed ideological fissures” within the Party.
Here is what to remember from this two-day televised debate where then last ten candidates shared their projects – and what to expect from the next debate.
“Take back the Senate”
While the Democratic Party’s candidates seemed to disagree on -almost- everything, it seemed that they all agreed on the following: “the economy benefits the most wealthy, women should be paid equally to men and have access to abortion, and climate change poses a grave threat”, as Roll Call summed up.
The first question united the candidates from the get-go: how would they manage their potential future relation with the Senate, as Republican Mitch McConnell, who is the Majority Leader of the Senate?
“Democrats must win back the Senate”, replied Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Several candidates agreed with Warren, including New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
Medicare for all?
While the second question was about the healthcare system, candidates expressed radical different point of views.
As the current president Donald Trump said he would revoke the Obamacare, some Democratic candidates confirmed that they were sharing the same opinion. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar said: “I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years, which is exactly what this bill says,” hinting at the “Medicare for All” legislation.
“Medicare for All” is a bill created by 2016 defeated candidate Bernie Sanders, that would cover long-term illnesses. “I’m with Bernie on Medicare for All” said Warren. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was the only other candidate to be “in favor of single payer health care”.
The Democratic healthcare debate I’d like to see: https://t.co/HCUBP8sNs6
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) July 8, 2019
Other candidates, such as Booker, Ryan and Hawaii Republican Tulsi Gabbard expressed their support, without fully endorsing the bill.
As long as two hours live on television might seem to be, many burning topics were covered and Americans voters are looking forward to the end of the month to watch the second debate.
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Second round on July 30-31
Yesterday, CNN confirmed that 20 candidates out of the 24 running for the Democratic 2020 president nomination will be recorded live on July 30th and July 31st from a unknown location in Detroit.
According to the American channel, each candidate will be allowed to do an “opening statement” – which was not allowed during the former debate in Miami, broadcasted both by NBC News and Telemundo.
Second U.S. Democratic debate sets TV ratings record https://t.co/f6a78gZMLj pic.twitter.com/QQkTz5Shm1
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 29, 2019
As there are many candidates, the debate will last for two days, starting on both days at 8 p.m. and will last for two hours each. CNN announced that it would “randomly determine” the 20 candidates who will “make the cut” out of the 24.