The race for narrowing down which Democratic candidate will challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 election took another step closer following the fourth primary debate in Ohio Tuesday night.
During the three hours of questioning the 12 candidates touched on major issues facing Americans, including Medicare for all, gun control and women’s reproductive rights.
The three candidates throughout the prior debates have been former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders, but last night South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg stole the show.
Buttigieg did not have the most screen time in Ohio, but the moments he was given came with thought out counter-attacks and fresh ideas on a stage filled with similar suggestions to problems.
Buttigieg started off strong in the beginning of the debate when he challenged current polling leader Warren on her health care for all plan.
Warren said that she will not sign a bill into law that raises taxes for middle-class Americans, but has previously vocally endorsed Sanders’ plan that would raise taxes for the middle class.
Buttigieg did not let this slide, putting out his idea of “Medicare for all who want it” rather than enforcing Medicare for all Americans, making taxes rise.
Warren was quick with a rebuttal, and said that Buttigieg’s policy was “Medicare for all who can afford it.”
Buttigieg was able to brush the sentiment off easily by pressing her on if her policy would raise middle-class taxes or not.
Warren had no answer for him.
Buttigieg did not only pressure Warren, but also pushed his verbal attacks onto former U.S. Rep. Robert O’Rourke on gun control.
When asked to expand on how the policy would function, O’Rourke said that if he makes the ownership of those weapons illegal that he expects his “fellow Americans to follow the law.”
Buttigieg was quick to call this policy a weak “purity test” and that focusing on background checks and other solutions to the issue would help with the problem more effectively.
Buttigieg used his experience as a Navy veteran to call out President Trump on how the Syrian crisis was handled, and said that the slaughter that occurred to the Kurds was a consequence of betraying American allies.
Not only did Buttigieg criticize how the Trump administration handles foreign affairs, he also set the framework for restructuring the U.S. Supreme Court to depoliticize the appointment of judges.
The idea would be to make the Supreme Court have 15 seats rather than nine to make each vote have less power, theoretically preventing an uproar every time a seat opens up.
In contrast to the stellar performance by Buttigieg, Warren was attacked viciously on stage and could not find her footing on a majority of her policies.
Aside from failing to present an answer on how her own healthcare plan would affect middle-class taxes, she also was reminded by entrepreneur Andrew Yang on how automation is affecting the American job market.
Warren had said prior to the debate that automation should not be blamed for job loss, but rather bad trade policy.
Yang did not agree with her theory and posed the statistic that truck driving is the most common job in 29 states and employs 3.5 million Americans across the nation. If automation takes over then these drivers will be out of jobs.
Warren had another misstep when women’s reproductive rights were discussed and candidates were asked how they will prevent states from blocking access to these types of resources like Planned Parenthood.
The majority of candidates referenced the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade as the best possible way to protect women’s rights, but Warren said the democratic process is more important than the Supreme Court.
Warren said that three out of four Americans support abortion and with that much backing, the democratic procedure should prevail.
However, this neglects the fact that states like Missouri have a full ban on abortion despite the large amount of support across the nation.
Sen. Kamala Harris came out as a shocker in this debate, displaying an assertive passion for issues when in the past she has been accused of reversing her ideals.
Harris had fire behind her words when discussing Syria and gun violence in America.
Additionally, Harris discussed her anger when men make laws about what women can and cannot do with their bodies.
She also came equipped with policy to discuss with her income inequality plan coming off clear and thought out.
Harris’ plan would create a tax credit system that would give Americans a $6,000 credit each year to help with expenses.
The idea did not cause much backlash from her opponents and fit in well with others on stage who are running on universal income for all.
The next debate will be held on Nov. 20, giving plenty of time for voters’ minds to shift, and perhaps a new frontrunner to take the lead in polls.
