During night one of the second Democratic debate, hosted in Detroit, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper called Sen. Bernie Sanders’ policies a “disaster at the ballot box.”
CNN moderator Jake Tapper first referenced an advertisement Hickenlooper ran saying, “Don’t let extremes give Trump four more years.”
“Do you believe Sen. Sanders is too extreme to beat President Trump?” Tapper asked.
Hickenlooper referenced how Sanders’ “Medicare for All” proposal would take away health insurance from 180 million Americans. He also brought up one of the Green New Deal’s claims: that the government would guarantee a job for anyone who wanted one.
Hickenlooper claimed policies like these would become a “disaster at the ballot box.”
“You may as well FedEx the election to Donald Trump,” Hickenlooper said.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says Sen. Bernie Sanders' policies are a "disaster at the ballot box," adding that "you might as well FedEx the election to Donald Trump." #DemDebate https://t.co/oRT2pUk1W4 pic.twitter.com/uNcYndGjfP
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
Hickenlooper wasn’t the only candidate on the debate stage who attacked self-proclaimed progressives such as Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Author Marianne Williamson also said that while she usually sides with Sanders and Warren on issues such as “Medicare for All,” she is concerned “Medicare for All” will make it difficult for Democrats to win in 2020.
“I have concern that [‘Medicare for All’] will make it harder to win, and I have concern that it will make it harder to govern,” Williamson said. “Because if that’s our big fight, the Republicans will so shut us down on everything else.”
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson says she has "some concern” that "Medicare for All" will make it difficult for Democrats to win in 2020. #DemDebate https://t.co/oRT2pUk1W4 pic.twitter.com/yaLO0658JC
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
When Tapper pressed Sanders on what “Medicare for All” would do to union workers who like their insurance plans, Sanders responded by saying “Medicare for All” would be better for those workers.
“You don’t know that, Bernie,” Rep. Tim Ryan said.
“I do know that. I wrote the damn bill,” Sanders responded.
While the crowd roared with applause to Sanders’ response, the question remains: Why does it matter whether he wrote the bill or not? The simple fact that he wrote a bill saying “Medicare for All” would be preferable to current policy doesn’t mean its implementation will actually prove to be better.
Ryan’s response was completely justified. Until the program is implemented, there is no data point that can definitively prove “Medicare for All” would be a better option for union workers than what they already have.
“You don’t know that,” Rep. Tim Ryan tells Sen. Bernie Sanders when Sanders says “Medicare For All” will provide union members with better health coverage.
Sanders responds: “I do know that — I wrote the damn bill.” https://t.co/eLVyIAvatR #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/sjDMx6dnG5
— CNN (@CNN) July 31, 2019
While many pundits speculated that tonight’s debate would be a Warren versus Sanders showdown, the event turned into the rest of the contenders versus Warren and Sanders.
It was a debate on “moderate” — in the loosest understanding of the term because simply opposing progressive government overhaul doesn’t make a candidate moderate — versus progressive policy proposals.
