November Democratic Debate: The Outcomes
By Owen Duncan
The Progressive Teen Contributing Writer
The MSNBC-Washington Post Democratic Debate, revealed several crucial things about the 2020 Democratic Primary. The first, and perhaps most important, element of the debate was the lack of disagreement on the stage. The few notable examples included Senator Booker’s jab at Vice-President Biden, and the face-off between Mayor Buttigieg and Congresswoman Gabbard over the experience required to serve as Commander-in-Chief. Besides those two squabbles, there was little conflict, suggesting that the Democratic field is not as divided as many might think. The lack of conflict shows that the field is more similar than previously thought, suggesting that the Democratic Party as a whole will rally around whoever wins the nomination.
The two candidates that really shined were Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang, an outcome that would be shocking to most just a few months ago. Mayor Pete, the newly declared frontrunner in Iowa, emerged from the debate unscathed. Other candidates were hesitant to attack him during the debate, allowing him to speak clearly and effectively to the American people. His opening speech, which focused primarily as moving forward and unifying a nation divided in the wake of the Trump presidency, focused less on strict policy and more on morality, appealing to the emotions of the audience in an effective manner. His minor scrape with Congresswoman Gabbard reinforced his image as a frontrunner, as he easily dealt with her allegations that he desired to send military force to Mexico.
Andrew Yang is a candidate that most voters knew nothing about just four months ago, to many it is surprising that he is still in the race, outlasting seemingly favorites like Beto O’Rourke, and outpolling seasoned senators and governors. His answer to his first question generated applause, something he has struggled with in past debates, when asked what he would first say to Vladimir Putin of Russia, he answered “I’m sorry I beat your guy.” Yang received the less than seven minutes of speaking time in the debate, and was not asked a question for the first thirty-two minutes of the evening, but he made excellent use of the time he was allotted, as well as the time he was not. His campaign has gone on to criticize and capitalize on what they saw as unfair treatment of their candidate, directly confronting MSNBC and attracting heavy publicity.
The primary losers of the evening were Tulsi Gabbard, and Tom Steyer. Gabbard needlessly picked (and lost) a fight with Mayor Buttigieg over military involvement in Mexico. Buttigieg easily dismantled her attack, making it seem like a disingenuous politically-motivated move, rather than a substantive point.
Tom Steyer failed to respond effectively, if at all, to Vice-President Biden’s assertion that Steyer made his billions polluting the planet. Instead of responding in a forceful or tactful manner, Steyer withdrew and remained relatively inactive for the rest of the night. For an underdog like Steyer to succeed needed to be willing to confront popular candidates, and the debate suggested that he is unable to do so.
The rest of the candidates in the debate likely won’t be affected much by it, their performances were consistent with their previous debates, so while they may not attract a following, they won’t lose their existing one. Some may consider Biden’s performance poor, and while it was perhaps the weakest performance of the evening, it was consistent with previous debates, suggesting that there will be negligible fall-out as a result.
