The Debates, Part 1 (Miami, Wednesday, 2019-06-26)

Last night, ten of the Democrate candidates for the Presidential election of 2020, had a face-off sponsored by (the DNC, of course, and) the NBC and MSNBC networks.  Some of the candidates were:
Bill DeBlasio (Mayor of NYC),
Tim Ryan (Ohio Congressman),
Julian Castro (Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and former Congressman),
Cory Booker (Senator for NJ, and former Mayor of Newark),
Elizabeth Warren (Senator for Mass, and former Academic),
Beto O'Rourke (Former congressman from Texas),
Amy Klobuchar (Senator for Massachusetts),
Tulsi Gabbard (Former Representative from Hawaii),
Jay Inslee (Governor of Washington State), and
John Delaney (Former Representative from Maryland).

From the Economic point of view, the candidates were all pretty much on the same page.  The present economy---even before the GOP, and then Trump, tinkered with it to its detriment---was stacked against the typical citizen, and in favor of the most wealthy; the so-called 1%.

From the point of view of Health, there were small differences.  Some were adamant that only the public 'option' should be permitted; that is, Medicare for all; others said private insurance should be permitted.  But all of them supported universal coverage, which is the important thing.

Immigration was another issue where approaches differed; Julian Castro and a few others were adamant that the specific paragraph that permitted undocumented immigrant children to be separated from their parents should be struck down; others wanted a more holistic approach to reforming immigration.  But it was a mistake to try to debate such a technically tricky subject in real time.  Bill De Blasio made the important point that there was wide belief that immigrants were ruining the economic well-being of the US population.  Rather, he said, it was the large corporations that were responsible.

There seemed to be universal agreement on the subject of sensible gun control legislation.  The moderators tried to ask whether the government should try to remove certain sorts of guns from the hands of owners, but that idea did not get far.

Foreign policy was an issue that Tulsi Gabbard stressed, and there was agreement that the current administration had mishandled it, and continued to mishandle it.  Amy Klobuchar said that she had participated in the Obama agreement with Iran, which Trump abandoned.  She said they would negotiate something better if the chance arose once Trump was gone.

The problems with International Trade (read: tariffs), and much frustration on the economic burdens placed (by the Trump Administration) on our closest trade partners, namely Mexico and Canada.

Bill de Blasio, among several others, stressed the importance of paying attention to childhood education, and making Kindergarten free for all children.

Generally speaking, I was pleased that so many Democrats---not all of them experts, by any means; some of them were merely former Congressmen, which does not guarantee expert status in any department, though anyone running for President should have some expertise in most areas---I was pleased that so many of them were so much more knowledgeable about so many things than Trump has been.  Their attitudes were almost invariably appropriate, and their solutions were mostly quite sensible.  Tim Ryan seemed a little confused about Iraq and Afghanistan, and their relationship to 9/11, unforgivable in a Presidential candidate, really.  But the Bush Administration tried to confuse everyone about the facts, just so they could invade Iraq, with a view to stealing some of their oil.  Sad.

Day 2

I just took a break from watching this second part of the debate, and it seems to me as if it is not going as smoothly as did the first part.  The candidates seem a little more desperate, they seem more at odds with each other; the consensus on issues we saw yesterday seem absent.

Vice President Joe Biden, though he is the favorite of a lot of Democrats, seems an undesirable choice.  To me, he appears to have yesterday's answers to tomorrow's problems; he seems to be banking on his record of past achievements, which are certainly numerous, but I believe he does not have the ideas that will work for the present era.

There is a lot of Presidential Rhetoric flying around; a lot of podium thumping that really isn't necessary; the measured speeches of Pete Buttigieg is a pleasant relief from the emotionalism of even my favorite candidates, including Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand.  Even Bernie Sanders seems to be trying to finesse giving straight answers about ways and means by supplying abstract principles instead.

More to come.

Archie