Solidarity begins at home. So why watch this week’s Democratic presidential debate by yourself, when you can watch it with The Nation? Join our commentators as they trade insights, quips, and factual corrections as part of our live debate commentary.
National affairs correspondents Jeet Heer, John Nichols, and Joan Walsh will be joined by Nation contributing writer Elie Mystal (who’s also the executive editor of Above the Law) and Nation editor in chief D.D. Guttenplan to provide insights on the Democratic presidential debate.
LIVE CHAT
After a robust debate in which he ripped into “unfettered capitalism,” @BernieSanders is back... with a late Tuesday night endorsement from @IlhanMN and news that endorsements are expected in coming days from @RashidaTlaib and @AOC.https://t.co/zgmyrjsX6V
— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) October 16, 2019
Bernie Sanders Is Back via @thenation https://t.co/5RvdWmM94v
— D.D.Guttenplan (@ddguttenplan) October 16, 2019
My take: the Dems are getting tribal: https://t.co/t7C1Fi9yBM
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) October 16, 2019
How did we make it through a 3-hour #DemDebate that included a question about “Who is your friend?” but not “How are you saving our planet?”#ClimateCrisis #ClimateActionNow
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) October 16, 2019
Democrats being friends with John McCain is not surprising.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
Now, a Democrat being friends with Joe Lieberman, THAT would be surprising. #DemocraticDebate
?SCOOP with @WaPoSean: @AOC is the "special guest" at @BernieSanders's Queens rally, and is expected to support him for president.?https://t.co/H1I9woghzG
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) October 16, 2019
My most surprising friendship was with Dracula, a really nice guy once you get to know him, even though he's a Republican.
— (((Katha Pollitt))) (@KathaPollitt) October 16, 2019
TO BE CLEAR: If you asked me this last @CNN question about being friends with Republicans, MY answer would be simple: "NO. I don't make friends with evil freaking people." #DemocraticDebates
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
Jesus freaking christ. TERM LIMITS are not constitutional. COURT PACKING is. Why is this HARD to understand?
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
Jesus freaking christ. TERM LIMITS are not constitutional. COURT PACKING is. Why is this HARD to understand?
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
How can @JoeBiden take credit for defeating Robert Bork without taking the blame for Clarence Thomas? #DemDebate
— D.D.Guttenplan (@ddguttenplan) October 16, 2019
I cannot believe @KamalaHarris is pushing this suspend Donald Trump's twitter account bullshit at a presidential debate. It's so small ball. She is bigger and better than this.
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 16, 2019
IF they don't talk about the Supreme Court here on abortion I'm going to scream. @KamalaHarris pre-clearance plan will NOT PASS ROBERTS. So what are we going to do about that?
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
Welp, I agree with something @JoeBiden said: that if you *really* go after guns, you have to take back the immunity for gun manufacturers.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
I wrote about that here. https://t.co/Xio1VlulOB
Mayor Pete continues to define himself in opposition to the candidate offering radical, wholly unrealistic signature proposals
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) October 16, 2019
Welp, I agree with something @JoeBiden said: that if you *really* go after guns, you have to take back the immunity for gun manufacturers.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
I wrote about that here. https://t.co/Xio1VlulOB
Warren pretty much vanished from debate when it turned to foreign policy — not her strength or interest and nobody even bothering to attack her on the subject
— Philip Gourevitch (@PGourevitch) October 16, 2019
Of course, the substance of Biden's answer there could have been the substance of GWB's answer there. Which is kind of why Biden lost to Obama the first time.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
Nice: @KamalaHarris: "This is the 6th Debate we've have and not one word has been said about women's reproductive rights."
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
This is the answer.@CNN immediately pivots to jobs.
#DemocraticDebate
Amy Klobuchar says that we can't bash Obamacare and we should do Obamacare with a public option.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
Warren: I didn't spend most of my time in Washington, I spent most of my time figuring out why people go broke.
This is a good exchange.#DemocraticDebate
“I’m proud of the judgment he made” is not the sound bite Biden should have been going for here.
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) October 16, 2019
Joe Biden on the inevitable Hunter Biden question is:
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
I followed the laws. My son's statement speaks for itself. George Washington didn't like foreign interference. and Trump knows "I will beat him like a drum."
Uh, drink. #DemocraticDebate
So far, I've liked @KamalaHarris's impeachment answer the best. Weirdly, she's the only one who didn't sound like a lawyer about it. "I know a confession when I see it." Boom.#DemocraticDebate
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 16, 2019
.@JoeBiden, my invitation to sit down still stands. When it comes to healthcare, voters deserve more than debate stage quips. Let’s talk. pic.twitter.com/hmjJujiAbf
— Ady Barkan?? (@AdyBarkan) October 15, 2019
Small-dollar grassroots campaigns, aka what Buttegieg insults here as “pocket change,” out-fundraise him by millions. Our nation’s leaders should be working to end the era of big money politics, not protect it. & Beto’s gun policy isn’t “picking a fight,” it’s taking a stand. https://t.co/a6k7rgXHiD
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 14, 2019
Buttigieg claimed in a conversation on the Snapchat show "Good Luck America" that: “My competitors can go with whatever strategy they like, but we're going to make sure that we have the resources to compete because we are going up against the sitting president of the United States.”
Arguing that Trump “has tremendous amounts of support and allies at his back,” the mayor said, “we're not going to beat him with pocket change.”
Democratic strategist Rebecca Katz warned that Buttigieg’s message could hurt with grassroots activists who have kept Warren and Sanders at the top of the fundraising competition in recent months. "This is legit insulting to the millions of folks who are participating in the process and giving what they can.” Noting that Sanders raised $25.3 million and Warren $24.6 million in the third quarter of 2019, while Buttigieg took just $19.1 million during the same period, Katz pointed out that “small dollar donors powered the two candidates who out raised Pete last quarter.”
But I'm also going to be paying closer attention this time to Booker and Julian Castro.
Here's the story I promised, via @DispatchAlerts.
There's videos and more on @JulianCastro visiting @LetEdithStay in sanctuary at a Columbus church. Don't miss him and others on the #DemDebate stage tonight in Westerville, Ohio (near Columbus).https://t.co/m4jOpHV6Nb — Danae King (@DanaeKing) October 15, 2019
I'm looking for Dems to talk about the courts. And, failing that, I'm looking for them to talk about nuking the filibuster. And, failing that, I'm looking for them to talk about trapping Mitch McConnell in the Phantom Zone like he's General Zod. And, failing all that, I guess I just want to see them all dunk on Tulsi Gabbard.
.@PeteButtigieg is out with a digital ad hitting Warren and Sanders on Medicare-for-All. https://t.co/ZGSSzObdRK
— Kevin Robillard (@Robillard) October 15, 2019
So let’s start with Gabbard and Steyer: Is Gabbard gonna go all out against Senator Kamala Harris again, to have more claims debunked by fact-checkers but go viral and disable a woman rival? Or is she gunning for another middle-tier candidate this time? Most important: How will she talk about what’s happening to the Kurds at the hands of Syrian and Turkish leaders right now?
Can Tom Steyer do more for his impeachment crusade than he could have done with well-conceived commercials produced by his organization “Need to Impeach”? This feels like vanity; he will not be the nominee. Can he convince us otherwise?
Now back to the candidates who (clearly) matter? Will Joe Biden and/or Bernie Sanders go after Elizabeth Warren, who is eating their lunch lately and rising steadily in the polls (she's ahead of both men in recent days). And can Kamala Harris do something—with policy or with ferocity—that vaults her back into the top tier?