Kamala Harris turned a health care question into a full-on Biden attack
The second round of Democratic debates took just a few minutes to become a Biden-Harris rematch.
CNN launched Wednesday night with a health care question for Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), asking her to respond to former Vice President Joe Biden's criticism of her support of Medicare for All. As expected, Harris defended her plan, and Biden was given a chance to say he believes "ObamaCare is working." But the two contenders were allowed to keep going back and forth, dominating a solid three minutes of the debate without CNN turning to any other candidates.
CNN did eventually pop in to break up the health care showdown, asking Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for their responses. But Harris' responses always brought up Biden, and The Washington Post's Ashley Parker suggests she had a good reason to do so.
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The health care debate ended up devolving into the same dichotomy as it had Tuesday night. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) insisted that Harris' plan would take private employer insurance away from employees and Harris said that wasn't true, much like how several contenders insisted Tuesday that Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) Medicare for All would take union benefits away from workers.
