Immigration politics exploded to the front-burner of the Democratic primary process on Wednesday as presidential hopefuls took turns blasting President Trump in the wake of the deaths of a Salvadoran man and his two-year-old daughter, drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande.
‘It’s heartbreaking. It should also p**s us all off,’ said former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro during the first primary debate of the 2020 election season.
Castro called for a change in federal law that would no longer ‘criminalize desperation’ by reclassifying border-jumping as a civil infraction instead of a crime.
Ohio Rep Tim Ryan blasted the Trump administration for presiding over a longstanding but deteriorating system that houses children separately from the adults who bring them into the US.
‘What kind of a country are we running here?’ he asked, claiming that ‘we’ve got kids literally laying in their own snot with three-week-old diapers that haven’t been changed.’
Wednesday’s debate was the most bilingual in American history, with three candidates speaking Spanish on stage.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
Former Texas Rep Beto O’Rourke gave his first answer that way, befuddling much of the TV audience and drawing a side-eye look from New Jersey Sen Cory Booker – who later joined in the Español himself.
‘I’m nowhere near fluent, but I’m conversational,’ Booker said in an MSNBC interview after the debate. ‘I can do interviews. We should do more of that.’
By shifting languages, O’Rourke managed to avoid answering a question about how high the nation’s top income tax rate should rise.
Debate co-moderator José Diaz-Balart asked O’Rourke one question about the border in both Spanish and English.
Castro limited his Spanish to a single line in his closing statement: Despite being the only Latino on the stage, he isn’t a fluent Spanish speaker.
Democrats are trying to capitalize on the Miami debate’s power to draw a Hispanic audience. US Census data suggest that about one in eight people living in the United States speak Spanish at home.
Those numbers jump to nearly one in three for people living in California, Texas and Florida.
Marianne Williamson, a long-shot candidate scheduled to be on stage Thursday night, joked on Twitter that she must learn to speak Spanish in the next 24 hours.
TV viewers were enraged by technical glitches that drove the NBC broadcast to premature commercial breaks as microphones in the control room were switched on while moderators asked questions about gun control.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
President Donald Trump, soaring above the Arctic Circle aboard Air Force One, couldn’t resist stabbing at one of the TV networks he loves to hate.
‘@NBCNews and @MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate,’ Trump tweeted. ‘Truly unprofessional and only worthy of a FAKE NEWS Organization, which they are!’
The president was a big player on Wednesday, drawing few direct attacks by name.
One came from Washington Gov Jay Inslee, who claimed during a rapid-fire question segment that ‘the biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump.’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hinted that Trump’s soft-glove approach to Moscow presents its own unique dangers.
Russia, he said, is the biggest threat, ‘because they’re trying to undermine our democracy and they’ve been doing a pretty damned good job of it and we need to stop them.’
But illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers drove much of the early fireworks.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
Booker said he would ‘reinstate pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients’ and pull back ICE agents from ‘creating fear in cities all across this country.’
De Blasio framed America’s immigration crisis as a plank in his socialist-leaning platform.
‘For all the American citizens out there who feel you’re falling behind, who feel the American dream’s not working for you, the immigrants didn’t do that to you,’ he lectured.
‘The big corporations did that to you. The “One Percent” did that to you.’
Castro insisted decriminalizing illegal entry into the US should be the Democrats’ main measuring stick.
‘Your policy would still criminalize a lot of these families,’ he told O’Rourke at one point, demanding the repeal of Section 1325 of Title 8 of the US criminal code.
‘The reason that they’re separating these children from their families is that they’re using Sec. 1325 … which criminalizes coming across the border, to incarcerate the parents and then separate them,’ Castro said.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
‘Some of us on this stage have called to end that section. Some of them, like Congressman O’Rourke, have not. I want to challenge all of the candidates to do that.’
O’Rourke insisted Congress should take a broader look at ‘a comprehensive rewrite of our immigration laws’ to target drug-runners and human traffickers.
Democrats leapt on the Trump economy more broadly, arguing they have stronger plans despite 71 percent of Americans saying they like the nation’s economic position.
‘Not everyone is sharing in this prosperity, and Donald Trump just sits in the White House and gloats about what’s going on when you have so many people that are having trouble affording college and affording their premiums,’ Minnesota Sen Amy Klobuchar said.
Reminded that 60 percent of Democrats approve of the economy, Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren snapped: ‘Who is this economy really working for?’
‘It’s doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top,’ she said, contrasting drug companies with patients and oil companies with Americans who consider climate change a top worry.
‘It’s corruption, plain and simple,’ she said.
Wednesday’s political tableau ranged from former Maryland Rep John Delaney’s call for a doubling of the Earned Income Tax Credit to de Blasio’s more naked socialist overtures.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
‘There’s plenty of money in this country. It’s just in the wrong hands,’ de Blasio intoned from the edge of the stage where his anemic poll numbers relegated him.
NBC’s moderators seemed to tailor a climate change question for Inslee, who has made the issue his campaign’s everything.
And the only candidate asked about gay rights was Hawaii Rep Tulsi Gabbard, who began her campaign by apologizing for her teenage advocacy against same-sex marriage.
‘Maybe many people in this country can relate to the fact that I grew up in a socially conservative home and I held views when I was young that I no longer hold today,’ she said.
‘There is no one in our government at any level who has the right to tell any American who they should be allowed to love or who they should be allowed to marry,’ Gabbard insisted.
De Blasio and Warren were the only two on Wednesday who raised their hands to signify that they would outlaw private medical insurance as president.
‘I’m with Bernie on Medicare For All,’ Warren said, complaining that insurers maximize profits at the expense of patient care.
‘Health care is a basic human right,’ she said.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
Moments later Klobuchar’s campaign blasted reporters with an email about a ‘plan for universal health care’ that relies on a Medicare and Medicaid expansion.
O’Rourke insisted union workers who negotiated health plans should be able to keep them. ‘Choice is fundamental,’ he said.
De Blasio responded in the night’s first one-on-one fireworks.
‘Private insurance is not working for tens of millions of Americans. When you talk about the copays, the deductibles, the premiums, the out-of-pocket expenses, it’s not working!’ he barked.
De Blasio downplayed his aggressive stance during the debate when speaking to reporters afterward, saying he was just being a New Yorker.
‘The bottom line in the debate is we’re supposed to be sorting out who we are as Democrats,’ he said in the spin room. ‘And we can’t be afraid to mix it up. Look, I’m in New Yorker, I have no property being blunt, I have no problem being aggressive. When I heard things I don’t think fit the values of this party, I’m going to call them out. And I think if we have the right kind of debates in this party, we will end up a lot stronger. But if we are afraid to have an honest conversation, We’re going to have the same results.’
He didn’t answer when asked if his debate performance would help him get a boost in the polls.
‘Look, I feel very good about this debate, I was able to say a lot of things that were blunt and true that the American people want to hear and Democrats want to hear. And I heard too many of my opponents mincing words. I respect them all. But you know, if they’re gonna hem and haw, they’re not going to impress the American people,’ he said.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
Warren stayed above the fray during the debate, not engaging when Castro, de Blasio and O’Rourke went after each other.
She stuck to that strategy talking with reporters afterward.
‘What I’m doing is not criticizing other Democrats, I’m out here laying out my vision. I got plans I know. I’ve got a lot of plans,’ she said.
Former Vice President and front-runner Joe Biden, not on stage, tweeted that he has no intention of eliminating private insurance.
‘Let’s be clear: We shouldn’t tear the Affordable Care Act down. We should build on it,’ his campaign wrote.
‘The Biden Administration will give every American the right to choose a public option like Medicare to ensure everyone has access to the quality, affordable health care they deserve.’
The 2020 presidential election got its first night of controlled chaos with 10 Democratic White House hopefuls squaring off in a debate designed to feature less than half the field.
The prime-time starting gun sounded in Miami with Warren and O’Rourke sharing center stage as the top-polling contenders on the first of two nights of Democrat-on-Democrat combat.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
The Republican National Committee was not amused.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Democrats were arguing ‘over fringe ideas that are completely out of touch with our values.’
She said ‘radical proposals like a government takeover of health care, open borders, no protections for human life, and massive tax hikes’ would give President Trump an advantage in 2020.
Thursday night’s contingent will be led by Biden and Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders. NBC chose the two groups at random from among the 20 who met its polling and fundraising qualifications.
A strong performance could mean a fundraising windfall or key endorsements as Democratic voters in key early primary and caucus states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina sort serious contenders from historical footnotes.
Only seven of the 25 declared Democratic candidates are averaging better than two percent in national polls, according to an average maintained by Real Clear Politics.
Booker, California Sen Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg also belong to that club.
The other 18, especially those who might not qualify for future debates without more fundraising muscle, need to carve out moments tailor-made for viral video in order to convince Americans they’re worth exploring.
Biden and President Donald Trump both remained on the sidelines on Wednesday night, looming presences serving as unnamed 11th and 12th debaters.
Wednesday’s debate came as Trump jetted to Japan for a G20 leaders summit.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
In Alaska for a refueling stop on the way to Osaka the president told a waiting contingent of troops that he preferred to speak to them rather than watching the debate – because they’re ‘so much smarter.’
Before Air Force One left the ground again, he tweeted a one-word status update: ‘BORING!’
Trump had said he planned to watch the debate from Air Force One.
‘Yes, everyone said I’ll be tweeting, I’ll actually be on a plane and it just seems very boring, but I’m going to watch it because I have to,’ he said during a Fox Business Network interview.
‘Do I want to watch it? Do I want to watch these people? That’s a very unexciting group of people,’ Trump snarked.
Four years ago the president was beginning to emerge from a pack of 17 Republicans, an underdog who confounded his rivals and stole their limelight on a daily basis.
Democrats haven’t yet figured out how to wrestle the public’s attention back. And even as the nation suffers from varying levels of Trump fatigue, many Democratic voters are just now beginning to pay attention to the battle over who will take him on next year.
Only 35 per cent of registered Democrats say they’re paying close attention to the campaign, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
NBC News said candidates would have 60 seconds to answer questions and 30 seconds for follow-ups. In practice, many kept talking as the moderators protested.
They weren’t allowed to give opening statements, and no crib notes were permitted. But as they took their spots behind a row of 10 podiums, many furiously wrote helpful lines in the hope of scoring points.
The full roster of candidates on Wednesday included New Jersey Sen Cory Booker, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Maryland Rep John Delaney, Hawaii Rep Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Gov Jay Inslee, Minnesota Sen Amy Klobuchar, former Texas Rep Beto O’Rourke, Ohio Rep Tim Ryan and Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren.
PUNDITS PICK WINNERS AND LOSERS
Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren and New Jersey Sen Cory Booker both had great nights on the stage in Miami, where each candidate was given 60 seconds to answer an array of questions about their policy goals.
Directly to Warren and Booker’s left was a less successful Beto O’Rourke.
‘He was the loser in several clashes with opponents, (Bill DeBlasio’s healthcare exchange comes to mind) and his language was not as inspiring as the others,’ Frank Luntz tweeted. ‘He also spent too much time buttoning his jacket.’
Another big winner on the debate stage was former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, who captivated the crowd with his frustrated response to the border crisis.
Warren had the highest polling numbers going into the first debate – coming in third behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders – and she proved why each time she leaned in to the microphone.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
‘She stayed on message all night, her answers generally connected, and she’ll probably climb five points in the polls over the next week,’ analyst Bill Palmer wrote in his breakdown of the night.
Palmer and others agreed that Warren’s best moment came when she was asked whether she had a plan to deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to which she replied: ‘Yes I do.’
Another high profile candidate who fared well Wednesday night was Booker. The senator from New Jersey took up more air time than any other candidate with a total of 11 minutes and six seconds, according to calculations by the New York Times.
‘The senator from New Jersey won’t be the big star coming out of Wednesday’s debate, but he found a way to inject himself into most of the conversations during the night — even those where he wasn’t directly asked,’ CNN Editor-at-Large Chris Cillizza wrote after the debate.
‘Talking the most isn’t always a sign of victory, but when you are someone like Booker who is just trying to get his name out there, it’s a pretty good measure.
‘One caveat: For all of that talking, is there a memorable line from Booker coming out of this debate? I don’t think so.’
Cillizza determined that the most memorable performance of the night came from Castro.
The San Antonio mayor went head-to-head with O’Rourke on immigration in what was one of the most contentious exchanges of the night.
Cillizza called the exchange a ‘battering’ and said it was ‘hard to watch (especially if you were related to O’Rourke), but a clear win for Castro’.
O’Rourke had the second largest amount of air time, The Times putting him right behind Booker with 10 minutes and 33 seconds, but he struggled to capitalize on that time.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
He kicked off his first answer by delivering a line in Spanish that didn’t quite resonate with viewers.
Many indicated that his answers felt overly-rehearsed and insincere.
‘If one of O’Rourke’s goals coming into this debate was to show he was more than a good-looking but sort of empty vessel, it, um, didn’t work,’ Cillizza remarked.
Experts were divided when it came to Amy Klobuchar’s performance on the debate stage, with some listing her among the winners and others among the losers.
The senator from Minnesota snatched up a decent amount of air time but didn’t have any particularly noteworthy moments as she delivered a few corny lines – including ‘Uncle Dick in the deer blind’ and ‘All foam, no beer’.
Cillizza listed her among the losers and Palmer said she was a winner just based on the time she got to speak.
Bill de Blasio’s most memorable moments from the night came as he was interrupting people, which wasn’t a good look for the New York City mayor.
Hawaii Rep Tulsi Gabbard came out with the goal of convincing everyone once and for all that she no longer leans right, but pundits say she failed to do so.
She made multiple mentions of the fact that she served in Iraq, even when it wasn’t particularly relevant to the prompt.
Falling toward the back of the pack were Ohio Rep Tim Ryan, former Maryland Rep John Delaney and Washington Gov Jay Inslee.
Ryan’s most impactful moment came when he blasted the Trump administration for presiding over a longstanding but deteriorating system that houses children separately from the adults who bring them into the US.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
Biden ‘wandering off’ into Amazon rainforest goes viral
TSA intercepts loaded handgun found in flight crew member’s carry-on at DC-area airport
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings
Trump nominates former Rep. Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Election Integrity Win: Swing State Supreme Court Drops Huge Ruling, Making Top Democrat’s Loss Even Worse
Trump nominates former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation
Austin Theriault’s campaign requests recount in Maine House race
Trump campaign official says Pennsylvania Dems will face jail time over ballot recount
Fox News Politics: Trump border czar pick fires back at House Dem critic
Transgender women to be banned from Capitol Hill female bathrooms under new House GOP proposal
MTA board approves Democrat Gov. Hochul’s massive NYC congestion pricing toll reboot
Dem AZ Attorney General Drops Investigation Into Trump’s Comments About Cheney and Guns
‘What kind of a country are we running here?’ he asked, claiming that ‘we’ve got kids literally laying in their own snot with three-week-old diapers that haven’t been changed.’
Inslee’s moment came when he received a question about climate change, the cornerstone of his campaign.
According to Palmer: ‘Most viewers probably thought John Delaney was an audience member.’
Several pundits noted that the night’s biggest winner may have been current front runner Biden, based on the lack of seriously standout performances on night one.
The former VP will be joining ten other candidates on stage tomorrow.
JAY INSLEE ATTACKS TRUMP
Long-shot 2020 candidate Jay Inslee said Wednesday night that the current president is the biggest security threat to the United States.
‘The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump,’ an empowered Inslee said during the first night of the first Democratic primary debates of 2020.
Pennsylvania Dem Gov. Josh Shapiro sides with state supreme court ruling not to count certain mail-in ballots
Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
Senate GOP initiates Thune-engineered slow down as Schumer looks to stack judicial votes
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Inslee’s response received an enthusiastic response from the crowd of hundreds gathered in Miami for the two-night event.
Moderator, and NBC host, Chuck Todd, requested each of the 10 candidates that took the debate stage for the two-hour event issue a one or two word response on who or what currently poses the biggest geopolitical threat to the US.
Candidates gave a variety of answers, but the Washington governor was the only one that invoked the president by name.
Inslee regularly polls as one of the least popular candidates among likely Democratic primary voters – usually coming in dead last, or close to it.
In all national polls, and almost every regional one, he has come in with 1 per cent support or less.
Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, seemed to steer a slight toward the president with his response, but did not explicitly call out Trump.
‘Russia,’ he said is the biggest threat, ‘because they’re trying to undermine our democracy and they’ve been doing a pretty damned good job of it and we need to stop them.’
De Blasio, one of the most recent Democrats to announce his candidacy, also regularly falls in the bottom tier of the 25 candidates running to be the party’s primary nomination in 2020.
Other answers included climate change, China, Iran and nuclear proliferation.
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Biden staffers disrupt lame-duck period with new round of protest about Israel
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O’ROURKE CRITICIZED FOR EVADING QUESTIONS
O’Rourke dodged a question about a proposed top income rate of 70 percent at the Democratic debate in two languages.
O’Rourke fielded his first question of the debate on MSNBC when asked about the top income tax rate – a notion that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez floated for millionaires in an interview soon after she came to Congress, setting off a debate about taxation.
‘This economy has got to work for everyone. And right now we know that it isn’t. And it’s going to take all of us coming together to make sure that it does,’ O’Rourke said, reverting to his campaign boilerplate language.
Then he switched to Spanish.
‘Necesitamos incluir cada persona en el exito de esta economia. Pero si queremos hacer eso necesitamos incluir a cada persona en nuestro democracia,’ he said, as Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey looked on with a wide-eyed expression. ‘Cada votante necesitamos la representation y cada voz necesitamos escuchar,’ O’Rourke said.
Roughly translated, he was saying that we need to include each person in the success of this economy, but if we want to do that, we need to include each person in our democracy. O’Rourke had said we need the representation of each voter and we need to listen to each voice.
However, he made a few slip ups, at first having to correct himself to conjugate ‘votante,’ then mixing up word order a few times.
He also said ‘nuestro democracia’ when he should have said ‘nuestra democracia’ – for ‘our democracy.’
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‘Right now we have a system that favors those who can pay for access and outcomes. That’s how you can explain an economy that is rigged to corporations and to the very wealthiest,’ O’Rourke continued, then switched to voting rights.
He talked about gerrymandering, same day voter registration, and a new Voting Rights Act.
Host Savannah Guthrie wasn’t satisfied with his answer. ‘That’s time sir. I’ll give you 10 seconds if you want to answer the direct question … yes no or pass,’ she said.
O’Rourke responded with more specifics, but not an answer on the top marginal rate.
‘I would support a tax rate and a tax code that is fair to everyone,’ he said. ‘Tax capital at the same rate that you tax ordinary income. Take that corporate tax rate up to 28 per cent,’ he said, mentioning the corporate but not the individual rate.
Later Sen. Cory Booker also spoke in Spanish on the subject of immigration.
‘La situation ahora es inacceptable,’ he said, calling the situation unacceptable. He said the president had ‘demonized’ immigrants, speaking in Spanish.
He called for ending ICE and Border Patrol policies he said were violating human rights. ‘When people come to this country they do not leave their human rights at the border,’ Booker said.
Story cited here.
