Face of Nation : Fresh off the first Democratic debates, which featured 20 candidates split over two nights in Miami, leading contenders including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris seemed to have kept pace behind Joe Biden, the former U.S. vice-president and top-polling candidate to lead the party into the late-2020 presidential election. The back-to-back showdowns on a performing arts centre stage in the Florida city tilted to the left, and at times seemed to play out like contests of “wokeness” — who could be the most on top of issues of social injustice.
While top-tier candidates solidified their status over both nights, the debates also served as possible clarifying moments — for better or worse — for fringe contenders desperate for visibility.
Biden, for his part, fended off digs at his generational disconnect as a 76-year-old and deflected challenges to his self-portrayal as a civil-rights champion.
In a tense exchange, Harris forced Biden to answer for his friendships with segregationist lawmakers and the former vice-president’s past opposition to 1970s desegregation school busing.
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public school,” Harris said, turning to Biden. “And she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”
In another memorable moment, California Congressman Eric Swalwell twice urged Biden — reciting Biden’s own words — to “pass the torch” to new leadership.
“Biden was the 800-pound gorilla in the room, and look, he should have expected to take a lot of shots,” Colin Strother, an Austin-based Democratic strategist, said in an interview. “He was not prepared. And he definitely had a rough night.”
In a moment interpreted by some as a metaphor for his candidacy, Biden stopped mid-speech to acknowledge, “My time’s up.”
Democratic strategist Rebecca Katz, who attended both debates in Miami, was unequivocal about who made the biggest impression to progressives on the stage.
“There’s no question that the winners of the debates are Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. They dominated their nights. They showed what a president looks like. And they also showed, most importantly, that either one of them can go toe to toe with Donald Trump, and beat him,” Katz said about the Republican president.
Both nights, candidates played up their own progressive credentials while shooting down those of their fellow candidates.
While Colorado Senator Michael Bennett attacked Sanders about his Medicare For All bill, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand interjected to claim credit for writing a transition plan in the proposed leglislation Sanders is pushing.
When Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday spoke about her support for the Equality Act, which extends civil rights protections to LGBTQ Americans, Senator Cory Booker interjected to say that was “not enough,” citing the need to protect black transgender Americans vulnerable to violence.
Those statements and attempts at differentiation worked to make an impression in a crowded, diverse field that has not shied away from being boldly progressive.
But the big question after the first debates of the primary season isn’t just who’s leading, but who will last until the next round.
The culling on Thursday will likely start with long-shot candidates like author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson, who closed by vowing to “harness love for political purposes,” and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who spoke the least during the debate.
Katz said: “I don’t see how [former California governor] John Hickenlooper continues after this. His campaign was already on life support. He needed a breakthrough. And I think it will be uphill for Gillibrand.”
Strother anticipates the sun is also setting on the campaigns of Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan and Maryland’s former congressman John Delaney, who both debated Wednesday.
The first debate of the primary season allows voters to imagine how a candidiate would square off on a stage against Trump in the 2020 general election.
Another goalpost is to simply get noticed and make the cutoff to qualify for the debate in July.
The track already appears to be set for Warren. The brainy Massachusetts senator and anti-Wall Street crusader answered each moderator’s question head-on, and flexed her policy know-how easily within the 60-second time limits.
“She dominated the discussion. Even the questions were shaped by what her campaign had done, and what her plans were,” Katz said. “Of all the candidates on Wednesday night, she was the most comfortable on stage.”
As the best-polling candidate on the stage Wednesday, the first night of the debates was Warren’s to lose — and it was widely seen to have gone to her.
