It is going to be a long way to US presidential elections 2020 with a total of 11 primary debates lined up. The second one took place last evening.
Among the 20 candidates who made the cut to the second primary debate are former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Others include Sen. Kamala Harris, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, Gov. Jay Inslee, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Gov. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Tim Ryan, former Rep. John Delaney, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Michael Bennet, and Gov. Steve Bullock.
The debate was moderated by CNN’s Dana Bash, Don Lemon, and Jake Tapper.
Here are some key moments from the debate. Marianne Willaimson explained her reparations plan on the debate stage.
also read
“I believe that $200 to $500 billion is politically feasible today,” Williamson said, “because so many Americans realise there is an injustice that continues to form a toxicity underneath the surface, an emotional turbulence that only reparations will heal.”
Williamson aims in casting out fear and has been focussing on the same while running her campaign rather than leading with concrete policy plans. She made this abundantly clear by saying, “If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.” It looks like Williamson has a, plan when it comes to reparation. Slavery reparation, according to Williamson was the only right way ahead.
Healthcare for all
Another big moment of the debate was when healthcare for all was discussed by the candidates. The plan popularised by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would mean a single government-backed health insurance plan. Certain candidates are in favour of a private plan while having an option to go public. It was clear during the debate that candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders wanted to remove the 'business' aspect of the system. "These insurance companies do not have a God-given right to make $23 billion in profits and suck it out of our healthcare system," Warren said. However, the moderators did not think that the model is doable as private insurance is an important part of the healthcare system.
Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke offered policies to change the current immigration system. All in all, at the end of the debate, it looked like Warren and Sanders came out on top with some good points, while Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, John Hickenlooper, Marianne Williamson and even Pete Buttigieg faded into the background and candidates like Tim Ryan, Montana Governor Steve Bullock and former Maryland Congressman John Delaney were able to hold on to their arguments fairly well.