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How Joe Biden escaped the Democratic debate unscathed
January 14, 2020 -
Bernie Sanders tried to shake Elizabeth Warren's hand after the debate. She brushed him off.
January 14, 2020 -
Pete Buttigieg is optimistic about his support among black voters. Polls continue to show he shouldn't be.
January 14, 2020 -
Every top 2020 Democrat is backing big changes to child care in the U.S.
January 14, 2020 -
Elizabeth Warren gleefully reminds male candidates how many elections they've lost
January 14, 2020 -
Amy Klobuchar is 'very proud to know' Kansas governor despite not remembering her name
January 14, 2020 -
Sanders and Warren have their gloves out — over the USMCA
January 14, 2020 -
Bernie Sanders warns Iran war could be 'even worse' than Vietnam, Iraq
January 14, 2020
While people will likely be talking about Tuesday's post-Democratic debate handshake-that-wasn't between Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for quite a while, the early takeaway is that all six candidates took it pretty easy on one another during the debate itself.
Several observers think former Vice President Joe Biden, in particular, was let off the hook. Biden, despite various gaffes, has remained the frontrunner since he jumped into the race last year, and his lead is steady, if not overwhelming. But the sense after the debate was that his opponents are still waiting for him to stumble on his own and therefore missed a chance to go after his resume and chip away at the polling deficit.
There was a time and a place for the “assume Biden will collapse” strategy, but I think it’s pretty clear at this point that’s not going to work.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 15, 2020
And, well, not losing might be just as valuable as a standout performance for the former vice president, who appears to have emerged without much more than a scratch. Tim O'Donnell
no one laid a glove on @JoeBiden during the #DemocraticDebate ... based on that alone he won.
— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) January 15, 2020
So Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) didn't get into a public fight on the Democratic debate stage. But whatever transpired afterward sure didn't look friendly.
The two progressives' friendship has encountered a rough patch as Warren maintains Sanders told her in a 2018 meeting that a woman couldn't beat President Trump while Sanders denies it. Sanders denied the report again during Tuesday night's Democratic primary debate, and Warren said she wasn't going to pick a fight with Sanders over it.
Yet after the debate, things didn't exactly seem resolved between the two candidates. During the perfunctory hand-shaking that happens after every debate, Sanders extended his hand to Warren, but she didn't accept it. Instead, what looked like a tense exchange ensued before Tom Steyer successfully inserted himself into the situation. Kathryn Krawczyk
Warren didn’t shake Bernie’s hand. I’d love to know what they said to each other here. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/qW39igCH7A
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 15, 2020
The Washington Post's polling director is hitting back at Pete Buttigieg's assertion that "the black voters who know me best are supporting me."
Buttigieg made the statement during Tuesday night's Democratic debate in Iowa, after being asked about polls showing that he has next to no support from African Americans. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said that "among elected black officials in my community who have gotten into this race, by far most of them are supporting me." He's also "proud that my campaign is co-chaired by a member of the Congressional Black Caucus" and that he has the backing of prominent black elected officials in Iowa.
The Post's Scott Clement tweeted that Buttigieg's claim that "as African Americans get to know him, he will gain more support" is undercut by a recent Washington Post-Ipsos national poll where he "receives only 3 percent support among black voters who are familiar with him." The poll, published Saturday, also shows Buttigieg standing at "2 percent among Democratic black voters nationally." Former Vice President Joe Biden came out on top of the poll with 48 percent, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 20 percent. Catherine Garcia
There's one big thing every 2020 Democrat debating Tuesday night can agree on.
When asked about America's child care system, every one of the six Democrats onstage Tuesday made it clear they believe something needs to change. "It makes no sense for child care to cost two-thirds of somebody's income," former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said, kicking off a spree of candidates calling for access to affordable and even free child care.
Buttigieg has announced a $700 billion investment into child care before kindergarten, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) continued his conversation by calling for a free universal child care program for 4- and 5-year-olds. Beyond that, Warren said, America needs to "stop exploiting the people who do this valuable work, largely black and brown women" by raising wages for child-care workers and preschool teachers. Sanders continued her call for free universal child care, saying "our current child-care system is an embarrassment."
Hats off to @ewarren and @BernieSanders who, back to back, called for universal childcare, higher wages for childcare workers, and to #TaxTheRich at the #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/mbur6dmW9q
— Fight For 15 (@fightfor15) January 15, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden also said there should be a system for free infant care, pointing out that "I was a single parent too" when his first wife and daughter died and he was in his early days in the Senate. Kathryn Krawczyk
It was the moment most people watching Tuesday night's Democratic debate had been waiting for: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked about comments he made during a private meeting he had with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in 2018.
CNN reported, and Warren later confirmed, that during their conversation, Sanders said he did not believe a woman could win the presidential election. "I didn't say it," Sanders responded. Warren shot Sanders a look, as he continued on. "I don't want to waste a whole lot of time on this," Sanders said. "This is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anyone who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman could not be president of the United States."
Sanders said there are videos on YouTube showing him 30 years ago saying a woman could be president. "Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million votes, how could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States?" he said. Warren responded that she "disagreed" with Sanders, but he is "my friend and I'm not here to fight with Bernie. But look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it's time for us to attack it head on."
She then pounced, not just on Sanders, but on every male candidate on the stage — former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. "I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at a person's winning record," she said. "So can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election they've been in are the women, [Sen.] Amy [Klobuchar] and me." This was met by cheers from the audience. Catherine Garcia
Elizabeth Warren just won the night:
“Can a woman beat Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost ten elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they have been in are the women. Amy and me." pic.twitter.com/geQc7oBNat
— Ryan Knight ️ (@ProudResister) January 15, 2020
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) might want that one back.
In response to a question about the electability of a woman presidential candidate during Tuesday's Democratic debate, Klobuchar was noting a few women who defeated their male opponents in gubernatorial races around the country. One shoutout was saved for the governor of Kansas, who the senator said she was "proud to know." She doesn't seem to know her that well, though, since Klobuchar couldn't quite remember Gov. Laura Kelly's name.
AMY KLOBUCHAR: Kansas has a woman governor right now, and she beat Kris Kobach, and her name is — I’m very proud to know her — and her name is Governor Kelly. pic.twitter.com/czfpgtBPGI
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) January 15, 2020
Kansas' primary is a ways off, however, so if Klobuchar is still in the running by then, there's a chance no one will remember. Tim O'Donnell
A Sanders-Warren fight was in the forecast for Tuesday's Democratic debate, and a Sanders-Warren fight did happen.
But not much actually stemmed from when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked about reportedly telling Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) a woman couldn't be president. Instead, the two progressives' biggest disagreement actually came from one of their biggest policy disagreements, over the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Warren got a question about the USMCA first, and she reiterated her support for the bill that came out of the House with support from both Democrats and President Trump, calling it a "modest improvement" over the North American Free Trade Agreement it's set to replace. Yet Sanders challenged the compromise trade agreement, saying it doesn't take climate change into consideration despite it being "the greatest threat facing this planet."
Sanders on voting against the USMCA: "Given the fact that climate change is right now the greatest threat facing this planet, I will not vote for a trade agreement that does not incorporate very, very strong principles to significantly lower fossil fuel emissions in the world." pic.twitter.com/jNsYSaWphh
— Axios (@axios) January 15, 2020
Sanders did get a question about his alleged comments to Warren later in the debate, but he denied it ever happened, and Warren didn't exactly affirm that it did. Kathryn Krawczyk
Foreign policy took center stage early in Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate.
It's not much of a surprise considering the tensions that have been bubbling between the United States and Iran following President Trump's decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made it clear that he disapproved of the move, warning that a war in Iran could be "even worse" than the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, which Sanders considers "the two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes."
The one major thing the two conflicts had in common in Sanders' mind? They were both "based on lies." And he's worried Trump's lying his way to a round three.
Bernie Sanders: "The 2 great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes were the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies...Right now what I fear is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse..." pic.twitter.com/g0xQFExfVp
— Axios (@axios) January 15, 2020
During the foreign policy-heavy opening stretch, Sanders and other candidates gave a shout out to Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) for being the lone voice to oppose the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Afghanistan in 2002, hinting that its repeal is a priority. Tim O'Donnell