Prime Only Members-Only Article
liveblog

Primeblog: Night One Of The Second Democratic Debate

|
July 30, 2019 10:30 p.m.

11:00 p.m. 
John Light:
That’s a wrap. See you all back here tomorrow. Here are some quick thoughts on how each candidate did.

10:30 p.m. 
Summer Concepcion:
Fox News is over it.

10:10 p.m. 
Josh Kovensky:
We’ve seen how the debate’s location in Michigan – a crucial state that Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 – shapes the lines of argument. The entire discussion around union membership and the need of the Democratic Party to revitalize its base in the labor movement is hard to read without remembering that the debate takes place in Detroit.

10:01 p.m. 
David Kurtz:
We’ll have more on this later, but the health care portion of the debate existed at such remove from where the political center of gravity on health care policy is in Congress that a casual observer might forget that Republicans are still actively trying to eliminate Obamacare–and may actually succeed, in court, before Election Day 2020.

10:00 p.m. 
Matt Shuham:
Here’s where the candidates who were asked stood on reparations for slavery: O’Rourke said he would sign Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s (D-TX) bill, which would establish a commission to do the historical accounting of, essentially, what’s owed. Marriane Williamson said outright that she supports $200-500 billion for a “payment of a debt that is owed” — “we don’t need another commission,” she said, before acknowledging that the actual debt is “trillions,” but that her figure is more “politically feasible.” Sanders said he supports Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) “10|20|30 Formula.” That’s a commitment in future funding proposals to direct that “at least 10 percent of Rural Development investments be made in persistent poverty communities, counties where 20 percent or more of the population had lived below the poverty line for the last 30 years.”

This is a members-only article
Small Team. Big Results.
We’re proud of what our small newsroom has accomplished and it’s not hyperbole when we say that without our members, none of this would be possible.
Free memberships available for students and those experiencing financial hardship.
Already a member? SIGN IN
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: