Kate Aronoff: Less than ten minutes devoted to the climate crisis? Shameful
Generously speaking, Democratic presidential candidates tonight spent a little less than 10 minutes after nearly an hour and a half had gone by answering a handful of direct questions about a climate crisis that could make large swathes of the planet horrifically uninhabitable by the end of this century. (NBC’s technical difficulties took nearly as long.) The best you can say is that tonight’s climate bit was still longer than the time spent on climate during the entirety of the 2016 debates.
NBC should be ashamed of itself. So should Democratic national chairman Tom Perez. Members of the Sunrise Movement – which pushed the idea of the Green New Deal into the national spotlight late last year – are sitting in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington DC, pushing the DNC to organize a debate dedicated solely to the potential end of human civilization. As tonight proved, it’s desperately needed.
Lloyd Green: Booker stole Warren’s thunder
Cory Booker won Wednesday’s debate, and – for one night, anyway – stole Elizabeth Warren’s thunder. Booker scored the most TV time, close to 11 minutes, and New Jersey’s junior senator sounded progressive but not extreme.
Substantively, Booker made a difference in the discourse. He refused to buy into Medicare for All, and acknowledged the “need to check corporate consolidation” without sounding as if his candidacy was an anti-business crusade.
In the end, Booker was simultaneously assertive and reassuring. His closing had both heft and lift, the latter being something badly needed but in short supply this election cycle.
Malaika Jabali: Warren framed herself as a fighter
Tonight’s debate was Elizabeth Warren’s to lose, and she remained a winner. Warren shone particularly in the first half, where she set a populist tone, arguing that it was corrupt for America to have an economy that was great for “those with money” but not for everyone else. She also framed herself as a fighter who would go after big corporations, buttressing her positions with passion.
Besides her tone, Warren argued for structural change – calling healthcare a basic human right, supporting Medicare for All, and highlighting the prison-industrial complex that disproportionately incarcerates blacks and Latinos.
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Malaika Jabali is a public policy attorney, writer, and activist whose writing has appeared in Essence, Jacobin, The Intercept, Glamour and elsewhere
Theodore R Johnson: Tonight’s breakout star? Julián Castro
Coming into the first Democratic primary debate, Julián Castro was polling at just 1 percent, and 56 percent of voters hadn’t heard or held no opinion of him. That will change after tonight. No other contender on stage did as much for their candidacy as Castro. He showed compassion and concern on racial justice issues, deep knowledge of immigration law, and a fighting spirit as he called attention to policy differences between him and others, especially fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke. This early in the party primary, name recognition matters. In this regard, Castro helped his cause substantially.
It remains to be seen if his debate win translates into more fundraising and electoral support for Castro, but there’s little doubt that after tonight more Americans know who he is. That’s the best outcome he could’ve hoped for.
Arwa Mahdawi: The media has been focused on the wrong Texan
Whether it’s healthcare, gun control or dealing with Mitch McConnell, Elizabeth Warren’s got a plan for it. She reminded us of her policy chops again tonight in a way that was assertive, genuine, and immensely presidential.
Of course, this debate was always Warren’s to lose – and while she was the most impressive candidate, Julián Castro may actually have “won” the night. He dominated the section on immigration and spring-boarded himself into the limelight. Castro has been overlooked for some time; after tonight, people will be paying attention. As his takedown of the lackluster Beto O’Rourke over immigration reform demonstrated, the media has focused far too much on the wrong Texan.
Alexandria Villaseñor: A pleasing personality won’t save this planet
I was really disappointed in the first night of the Democratic debate. The climate crisis was not sufficiently discussed and NBC didn’t give everyone an equal chance to speak. I’m a climate activist because it is the biggest issue humanity is facing. Climate change is part of every issue they talked about, including healthcare, immigration and the presidency of Donald Trump. Climate change is an existential threat and the future of my generation, and our entire civilization is at stake. With these debates, we need to stop focusing on who’s popular, or who has the best one-liner, or who people “like”. A pleasing personality won’t save this planet.
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Alexandria Villaseñor, the 14-year-old founder of Earth Uprising International, strikes every Friday in front of the United Nations headquarters, demanding world leaders take action on the climate crisis