Warren is the Democrat to Beat in Latest Debate

by Andy Damián-Correa

acorrea@theguardsman.com

The fourth debate among the twelve Democratic candidates for the US primary ended with Elizabeth Warren as the main protagonist. The candidate has been virtually tied in the polls with Joe Biden for the last month and that is why her program was the most attacked by her rivals, who called it “unrealistic” and “too progressive.”

Senator Warren found that her increased rating in the polls had a high cost. She is now a clear target for attacks, particularly from the more moderate candidates, and her plans are now undergoing a much more acute analysis.

Moderates Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota aggressively went after Warren in the debate, asking her to explain how she would pay for her proposals, described as ambitious, including her public health plan for all. 

Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar are trying to get out of the anonymity of a crowded Democratic group. Buttigieg has qualified for the November debate, but Klobuchar has not. They only have four months before the first election in Iowa, next February 3, which will be the first indicator of the real power of each of the candidates.

Health and taxes were the key issues discussed as the Democratic candidates for the US presidency debated in the city of Westerville, Ohio. The debate was characterized by the high confrontation between some of the candidates.

Warren denied that her health proposal would harm the middle class through a tax increase, although she did not specify how she would finance her proposal. In addition, she attacked her rivals by telling them that only she and Bernie Sanders were the candidates who “imparted social justice” by wanting to take away privileges from billionaires.

The three favorites are over 70 years old, something that did not go unnoticed by their rivals, who questioned Biden, Warren and Sanders about the guarantee that they would exercise as president for their four- or eight-year terms in the office at their high ages. 

The oldest of them is Bernie Sanders, who, at 78, recently suffered a heart attack that has paralyzed his campaign for several weeks. On his return he assured that his health is good and that he intends to resume his meetings this week. Biden would also end his hypothetical term as an octogenarian, as he is about to turn 77. Biden promised to release his medical records before the Iowa assemblies next year and said he was running because the country needs an elderly statesman in the White House after Trump.

Biden has seen how in the last two months his solid leadership has been progressively diminishing in favor of the progressive proposals put forward by Elizabeth Warren. During the debate, he stopped being the man to beat and went quite unnoticed during the more than three hours of discussion. 

The next debate will be in Georgia in November and for Biden the requirements to continue as a candidate will be harder and harder to meet.