Winners, Losers, And The Unscathed Of The Debate Create Second Thoughts

By: Sammy Quarrato

Conventional wisdom says these three have the biggest chance of winning. Credit: nytimes.com

The Democratic Party debate on September 12 was what people mostly expected but there were surprises in it, causing doubt for some of the more popular candidates such as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, yet giving motivation to candidates such as Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro.

The debate was centered mostly around policy, as all debates should be, but this one was focused on facts. For the most part, this debate was the least spectacular and flashy of the ones released so far.

Before the debate even started, there was one candidate in particular that got the boot: House Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

The DNC stated that she did not qualify for the debate due to her low polling, despite virtually every poll putting her on the same level or even higher than the candidates on that night’s stage, such as Amy Kloubacher and Castro.

Speaking of the lower-end candidates, Kloubacher was considered one of the losers of the debates for seeming robotic, unnatural, and unambitious.

Castro, on the other hand, performed exceedingly high for someone of his position in terms of performance in the polls.

The former mayor and secretary challenged former Vice President Joe Biden in a verbal dispute when it came to his record, stating that Biden would take credit for what Barack Obama’s administration accomplished, but always dodged the confrontation when criticized for what it did.

Biden blundered as he has been during these debates and caused his supporters to cringe, again.

This isn’t the first time he has done this and it isn’t exclusively in the debates either. He has been mixing words up and overall not organizing his thoughts as clearly as he should. 

People question whether he has the mental fortitude to be president, especially with him being older than current President Donald Trump and only a year younger than Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Senator Harris of California didn’t perform exceedingly well or bad, but rather satisfactory. Her introduction was met with open hearts and applause but she decided to stick with the script and not take any risks, which may hurt her campaign.

Senator Elizabeth Warren also came out unscathed but due to her high ranking in the polls and Biden’s blundering, moderates have been leaning toward her and viewing Sanders as “too far-left.”

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang revealed that the Freedom Dividend, his most well known policy (or infamous policy, depending on how you see it), will be tested for ten families.

The Freedom Dividend is a policy Yang wishes to implement if he becomes president. The policy gives $1,000 each month to every American adult.

In his opinion, this stimulates economic growth and mobility.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg gave a snarky comment about the policy being creative. Buttigieg also did not give a clear response to many progressives about his preference for a Medicare For All plan over an ObamaCare 2.0 plan.

Senator Cory Booker was also considered a “leaning loser” because he did not have many stand-out moments. His statements were not covered in mainstream media and he even polled less than a non-politician, Yang.

The Democratic debates will continue into October. As of now, the nomination is still up for grabs for the candidates that take advantage of every opportunity and connect with the most voters in the first couple of primaries and caucuses.

The race is only beginning. There’s still time to decide which candidate you want to represent your interests and ideas.