First 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, Part 1 of 2: Winners and Losers

I thought the first Democratic debate - the first of two - was excellent and inspiring.  Here are my thoughts on the winners and losers:

There were no outright gaffs by anyone - the closest was Ryan saying the Taliban were responsible for 9/11 (the Taliban did support Al Quaeda) - so I'll share what I thought were the strongest moments.  If I don't mention someone, that means in my opinion she or he did not do very well.   The following is in descending order of what I thought were the best performances:

I thought De Blasio made the greatest number of excellent points, beginning with his opening statement on the soul of the Democratic Party.  He followed with a powerful denunciation of the greed of health-insurance companies, and the need to replace them with Medicare for all.  He later  made the astute point that Americans have lost their jobs not due to immigrants but the actions of big corporations.  He was also eloquent on the need to do more about police victimization of minorities, and on the need for Congressional approval of U.S. military actions.  And I liked his answer on the biggest threat to the U.S.: Russia and its interference with our elections.  (Given the number of times that the 2-hour MSNBC broadcast was interrupted by blank screens, I wonder if the Russians weren't hacking some of MSNBC's computers.)   All in all, I thought De Blasio established himself tonight as a passionate and articulate candidate.  Given his low standing in the polls, his performance was the biggest surprise.  As someone who works in NYC, and lives close by, I'm happy to see this.

Booker was excellent, too.  He was right on about health-care insurers profiteering, and on ICE and their Nazi tactics (my word not his).  I also liked his vision of the Democrats not only winning the Presidency but both Houses of Congress in the next election.  And it was good to hear him talk about the need to protect LGBQT communities.

Warren started out great on the need for healthcare for all, and for Roe vs. Wade to be enacted by Congress into Federal law.  But she wasn't strong enough on gun control, and was silent or didn't say enough on some major issues, including immigration.  Given that she is pretty high up in the polls, her performance was not as good as expected.

Klobuchar, on the other hand, was better than expected.   I liked her brief for a sane foreign policy, and she was excellent on kids leading the charge for better gun control.   I think she came out a lot better than she went in on this debate.

Castro was likable and very effective on ending the criminalization of illegal immigrants (those violations should be civil offenses).  And he was 100% right when he said the tragic drownings of a father and daughter in the Rio Grande today should not only break our hearts but "piss us all off".  I think his performance tonight made him much more of a contender.

And ... that's it.  No one else made much of an impression, including Beto O'Rourke, whose weak performance tonight might be the effective end of his campaign.

See you here tomorrow after Part 2.

See also First 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, Part 2 of 2: Winners and Losers

Democrats Regain Control of the House

Well, it wasn't quite the massive blue wave that many people, including me, were hoping for.  Republicans still control the Senate.  But Democrats took back control of the House of Representatives in today's election.  And I'll certainly take that.

Because it means that all programs - health care, environment, immigration, much more - are safe from Republican despoiling.  It take both branches of Congress - the House and the Senate - to pass a bill to send to President to sign into law.  That's just not going to happen now, not with the destructive, racist, un-American ideas that Trump and all too many Republicans want to see enacted into law in our nation.

America is still in serious danger, with Republicans in control of the Presidency, the Senate, and via that, therefore the U. S. Supreme Court.  But we now have one branch of government where rationality and decency can reign.

That's better than where we've been these past two years, and provides real hope for completing the conversion back to sanity in 2020.  A victory for democracy - this time in small districts of humanity across the United States.  Next time we'll take it all back.

Hillary Soars in First Democratic 2016 Presidential Debate

Hillary Clinton was outstanding in the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate (the Democrats' first) - better than she was in any of the 2008 Democratic debates, far better than Bernie Sanders on just about every issue tonight, and easily better than the other three candidates on stage.

On gun control, Hillary was much stronger than Bernie, who needed to renounce his opposition years ago to the Brady Bill, and other gun control legislation, in order to gain any kind of equal ground on this with Hillary.   Bernie was also wrong when he said that going to war in Iraq was America's worst war decision - the Vietnam War, with 50,000+ American soldiers killed, started with no previous attack on America at all, surely was worse.

Bernie's best moment was when he lashed out at the GOP for its obsession about Hillary's emails. He was also excellent in his attacks on Wall Street, and domestic policy in general.   But in foreign affairs, he seemed over his head at times.  He cited "climate change" as the greatest  threat to national security - it's a threat, to be sure, but not involving what is usually meant by national security. Hillary's response to this question - nuclear proliferation - was much more on target.  Bernie was strong on domestic not foreign policy; Hillary was strong on both.  My hope: President Hillary Clinton appoints Bernie Sanders Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I didn't agree with everything Hillary said - complete agreement with any candidate is the stuff of fantasy in politics.  She thinks Edward Snowden should be tried for his crimes.  I think he should be brought home as a hero - for unmasking illegal activities of the American government. Lincoln Chafee was the only candidate with this view - though Bernie was a little better on this than was Hillary.  Bernie was also a little better than Hillary on the legalization of marijuana.

Hillary, Bernie, and Martin O'Malley (who was more impressive than Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, for whatever that's worth) were all excellent on the black lives matter question - they stressed the often deadly injustice that African-Americans are accorded by American police.   Jim Webb's answer that all lives matter missed the point (and Lincoln Chafee wasn't given a chance to answer).

Hillary's very best moment - and there were many - came in her impassioned support of family leave, and her apt denunciation of the GOP for opposing government spending, except for programs and policies they support.    Such attacks on rife hypocrisy are what successful campaigns are made of.

There's still a long way to go, but Hillary was poised, powerful, relaxed, and in charge tonight.   It's hard to see how anyone else could do a better job than she of getting the Democrats into the Oval Office again, even if Joe Biden does enter the race.

I Just Voted Democratic for Obama

Readers will of course not be surprised that I voted for Obama.

But I don't often vote for candidates on the Democratic line.

Not that I ever vote Republican.

But, over the years, I've tried to vote for the Democratic candidates on other party lines - Liberal, Workers, whatever. Not that I considered myself a member or supporter of those parties. But I wanted to keep the Democrats honest, or, punish them, in a small way, for something I didn't like in the primaries, or in how they voted in Congress. So I denied my vote to the Democratic Party, and voted for the Democratic candidate on another line.

Not today. I've never been more proud of the Democratic Party - the way they conducted the primaries, and the Presidential campaign.

I'm looking forward to Barack Obama being elected President today, and the Democrats getting impregnable majorities in both Houses of Congress.

If they don't do the right thing, we'll have recourse in two years. We live, after all, in a democracy.