Dem Debate 1 Thoughts

Just gonna have a running commentary on the Dem debate. Missed the very opening but got in early enough to see Beto O'Rourke speak in Spanish 

Booker saying a whole lot of nothing trying to step around the question of whether he agrees with Warren about breaking up certain companies jsut because they have such a big hold on certain products in certain industries 

Steers a little back on track towards the end but not much of an impression

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The Warren follow up question seems like a softball question 'Is she picking winners and losers' with her strategy, plays it safe in just being against 'the corruption' from 'within the system' funded by 'the superpacs' whereas she wants to 'return the government to the people' because she has the 'courage' to 'go after them' 

Castro gets the Equal-pay question, good fuckin luck 

Starting with passing the Equal Rights Amendment is a good start for a response rather than look like a fringe lunatic, then falls back on just saying 'they should get paid equally'. Played it about as well as he could have

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Tulsi Gabbard flexing her national security and army qualifications and focusing on foreign wars, wants to take tax dollars and invest in yatta yatta yatta i dont even remember what the question was but she played that super safe 

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Income inequality in NYC question for De Blasio, goes off on 'free college', 'break up big corporations', and all that... 

Delaney focusing on the minimum wage, paid family leave, believes that gets to the living wage, aaaaaand now hes onto education spending before going into his own history as a businessman. Good strategy bragging about getting awards from Obama administration for loaning to disadvantaged people, but Good fuckin lord could can someone give a memorable answer? 

Havent heard one person on stage say anything interesting that all the other candidates havent already mentioned at least 100 times each over the past 4 months already, not sure that will change by the end of the debate. Tim Ryan pointing out just how much wealth the top 1% have compared to everyone else is case in point 

Warren question: 'Are these jobs coming back?' 2 for 2 on easy softball questions.... Maybe the reason the answers arent interesting is cause the questions theyre being asked are generic as fuck.

'We need to go 10 fold on research on green energy' Hey something unique, too bad she doesnt get into specifics and just keeps it vague as hell     

'Would you abolish your own healthcare to accept government healthcare?' Interesting question where only Warren and one other guy raises their hand, the rest of the Dems decline. 

Amy hitting Trump on failing to reduce prescription costs was a solid hit, but Warren being asked if she agrees with Bernie on [insert topic here] is easy softball question number 3. Of course she agrees with Bernie on this, Bernie got 90% of his support in 2016 from people who wanted Warren to run. 

Beto asked to explain his change of heart is a bit of a fastball question compared to the softballs Warren gets, but buying time with a story of someone he met before mentioning the jail system is the biggest healthcare provider in the state was a good way to stay afloat. Really goes off the edge though by steering the question towards abortion before trying to stick with private insurance

'Keep whats working, fix whats broken' solid interruption by I think Delaney (they dont have names beneath the candidates for fuck knows why) that made Beto and I think De Blasio (the guy who agreed with Warren earlier) look like dingus's 

Gabbard pointing out that many overseas countries with government healthcare have some form of private care on the side is a good point but she doesnt really indicate how much she believes medicare for all is the way to go outside of just saying so

Booker: 'There are too many people profiting off of pain' is a decent line but he devolves into a pitch line 

Jay Inslee: "I am the only candidate who has passed a law protecting public option + womens right to choose' well hes a governor which gives him that ability, if anyone else on stage were in that spot they would do the same thing 

Castro: 'I dont believe in reproductive freedom, I believe in reproductive justice' 

???

Tries to spin it to sound sensible but loses focus by the end

Question to Warren: "Would you have limits to when women could have a restriction on abortion?"

Pretty sure this is NBC apologizing to Warren for putting her in the little-kids debate, what is this, softball question # 4 or 5?

Commercial Break

I already am almost done with the debate just because the questions are generic as shit. Just about every question that has been asked so far has already been answered 3 to 4 months earlier by candidates giving rally speeches. No one really standing out as everyone plays their cards with the utmost carefulness, makes me look forward to see what goes down tomorrow when Biden and Sanders are on the stage 

Looking forward to see how SNL parodies this 

Next questions about immigrant children in camps, can already see how every question is going to be answered 

'What is going on is criminal, it is outlandish, it is entirely the fault of Trump, this country was built on welcoming immigrants, and we need to reform our immigration system. We need a clear path to citizenship, amnesty, etc' 

Castro: "Pathway to citizenship!" Called it

Thought he should reign it in on the hispanic accent on certain words, but then Booker goes straight Spanish with his response in a big fuck you to Castro, who in hindsight, probably isnt the best name to have when campaigning in Florida 

"Dont criminalize desperation" There you go Castro, and also bonus points for pointing out the specific rule (Section 13 25) that he has the issue with. 

De Blasio trying to really prove to people he deserves to be able to run for president getting a little shouty all of a sudden, I wonder if he would consider dropping out following this debate if his numbers dont change. 

Beto O'Rourke also going full Spanish but getting pushback on the question from Castro, he's just talking over him rn and it sounds like a mess. 

MASSIVE Fuck You to Beto from Castro about not wanting to get rid of the 13 25 rule, Beto fighting back, now we have a fuckin fight and Castro coming out strong 

"The reason you didnt want to was because you were concerned about traffiking, but title 18, 21, and 22 cover those, I think you should do your homework on the issue you would know different" 

You know the punches are bad when the moderators have to step in to stop it, that was BAD for Beto right there, oof. 

I like how Amy isnt rushing to get in as many words as she wants to in the time she has. Seems very calm and collected and mature, which in this field are good qualities to have since everyone else apart from Warren seem worried that if they dont get out of single digits in polls soon their goose is cooked. 

Been a while since Warren got a question, but if she gets another softball question from the mods then my eyes are going to roll out of the back of my skull. 

A good ass question to ask rn would be if these candidates agreed with the number of deportations Obama had while he was in office because he deported a LOT of people in the second half of his term, and having to choose between obvious moral high ground vs Obama's legacy would be interesting to see candidates grapple with. 

Iran questions, maybe this will be good seeing as how much dark shit the US has done to Iran in the past 

'Who would sign on to the nuclear deal with Iran as first negotiated?' 

Nope, looks like theyre playing it safe as fuck. -____-

The more Amy talks the more I think she would be a competent fit to the job compared to some of these other guys, she makes a good point about how we are pushing Iran more towards Russia and China with these flare-ups and heightened tensions 

Tulsi also fairly composed but still being fairly predictable "We should not get into war"

'What is your Red line' question a solid one 

"An attack on us would be a red line, but we need to de-escalate"

Average response looks that much better with De Blasio being told to shut his mouth as the next commercial kicks in XD him and Beto are not looking strong rn  

Apparently Julian Castro searches have spiked on google by 2,400% since the debate began. Probably a good sign and a solid boost for his campaign, as long as their isnt another debate tomorrow where he could easily get swept under the rug as people forget who he-.... Oh wait

Maddow and Chuck Todd taking over now.... Will we get more safe softball questions or will we get some juicy shit this time? 

Fuckin of course theres audio issues where NBC has to go to another commercial break to fix the problem

Almost seems reflective of the debate in a nutshell.... "Hang tight, we're trying to get our shit together here" 

Question to Warren: "What do you do about all the guns that would still be on the streets even if an assault weapons ban is implemented" 

Warren decent in pointing out that its not just mass shootings that cause the most problems and that everyday violence is an issue in the nation, then touches up on universal background checks and have to treat the problem like its a virus, but cant answer the question "What about all the guns still out there".... Rough answer to the first question she gets that isnt a softball question 

:/ 

Booker raising a middle finger to the 'Thoughts and Prayers' remark but avoids specific details by insisting 'its not policy, its personal'..... Could have been a stronger response, but certainly not the worst response. 

Castro in the follow up going balls to the wall by claiming the Dems will have the White House, House, AND the Senate.... Pump the brakes there man, the question is about gun control. 

Ryan: "90% of school shooters come from the school, 73% feel shamed, mental health counseling needs to be reformed" 

Really good point, its a shame he looks like a cyborg for an okay 1990's movie nobody really saw. Not sure he can rise up in the polls given how bland he looks as a person. 

Beto again doing the time honored thing of just listing a bunch of general points that have already been talked about where basically everyone (who is a democrat) will support it. 

Amy gets a gun confiscation(?) question about gun buy-back proposals, handles it okay by also being fairly vague and keeping it safe, but seems more relaxed and calm compared to Beto. 

Booker really going for gold in the 'List-the-most-generic-policies-that-have-already-been-proven-to-be-popular-with-democrats' contest. 

To Warren: "Do you have a plan to work with Mcconnell if the Dems dont win the Senate?"

Warren: "I do"

(Long pause)

Warren: "The will of the people matters. For too long we have a Congress that dismisses what people want. They want to make it better for coprorations and lobbyists and not for the people.... (more babble).... We have to fight, we have to push from the outside, we have to have leadership from the inside, we have to push for the will of the people"

In other words, she doesnt have a plan. 

John Delaney being way the fuck more sensible by preaching about bipartisanship and not preaching about impossible goals

Booker's response about how he got a criminal justice reform act passed sounds nice but it falls apart when you realize criminal justice reform is a bipartisan issue..... When it comes to something more partisan, McConnell will shut that shit down the moment he gets the chance to.... Booker in the same camp as Warren in terms of delusion in overpowering McConnell, but at least Booker is better in disguising it than Warren, yet Delaney is above both of them by aiming for 'sensible' rather than 'we will achieve the impossible' 

Fuck I have to work tomorrow I cant deal with this all night 

Castro gets a good question about people living in places they shouldnt be living

"I don't think that represents a vast majority of the issue" 

Dodging achieved. -__-

Castro at least getting some points for being the first to mention the Paris Climate Agreement 

Solid question about pricing carbon failing in other countries to Tim Ryan (90's cyborg), talks about focusing on workers in the midwest, taking out Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, not being the 'Ivy League' party, all over the place the question was about it being tough to get Carbon Taxing

Tulsi confronted about her past non-support for LGBT. Keeps it brief by admitting she made a mistake, refers to her recent record of support for LGBT, kinda throws her Indian heritage under the bus for why she was resistant at first (pretty understandable since Hinduism has its confusing parts). 

Booker shining the light on Trans + Black LGBT who are targeted the most and that there are protections that need to be fiercely fought for . Tulsi cant fight back because Moderators want to speedily move along, fucks sake its like they dont want another Castro-Beto fight to break out >.<

I don't see any presidents up there. I was hoping Tulsi would do better, but she's a one trick pony sadly (although i'm anti-war and wish that pony resonated more). Warren is okay, she's just warren. De Blasio is making himself known... but not enough in my opinion. Overall... i think the big guns are tomorrow. All of these candidates will be forgotten after tomorrow. Except for Warren bc of who she is... but, tomorrow is the big guns. Tonight is pretty underwhelming. They are saying what they are saying... but i don't see anyone really stand out as president. I just wish so many weren't running for president. This is watering down the message by confusing people. I hope most just get there time and their message and get out... bc we need one person to show that progression is the key to our survival... i'm just not fully convinced with the progression these people are saying... i don't feel it. And if i don't feel it... they aren't doing it. That's arrogant on my part, but i told my friends Trump would win as soon as i watched his debates bc guess what... i felt it. They should take a page out of his book. They should be honest about the BS questions, and focus on the important issues. Fuck banning assault weapons... the important issue is working for the people. I don't hear enough of that with enough zeal from these people. 

Amy falling down the hole of just listing general things Dems clearly like and saying you support those things 

Castro bringing up Dylan Roof being taken without incident but then listing a half dozen others who died in police confrontations to try to appeal to the latino vote. Interesting argument to use, not sure if THIS question was the one to use that as an answer.