Three things about tonight’s debate:
1. One after another, the Democratic candidates have called Trump the most corrupt president “in living memory” (Elizabeth Warren) and “in the modern history of this country” (Bernie Sanders). Tom Steyer even says that he’s “the most corrupt president in American history,” and, by his own account, it appears that he realized this “two years ago,” when he started Need to Impeach.
All good news for President Richard Nixon, I guess. Well, either that, or they’re shooting their mouths off without knowing what they’re talking about. The idea that this phone call business holds a candle to Nixon’s corruption is just really dumb. I don’t know who they think they’re fooling.
2. Surprisingly, Andrew Yang received cheers when he disparaged the entire impeachment effort. “We have to stop being obsessed over impeachment, which unfortunately strikes many Americans like a ballgame where you know what the score is going to be, and start actually digging in and solving the problems that got Donald Trump elected in the first place. We have to take every opportunity to present a new positive vision for the country, a new way forward, to help beat him in 2020 because, make no mistake, he’ll be there at the ballot box for us to defeat.”
3. Democrats struggled mightily to answer the question about how strong the economy is. The candidates were forced to downplay recent wage increases (they got an assist here from moderator Judy Woodruff), act like employment is not at historic lows, and (especially in Buttigieg’s case but also in Warren’s) act like it’s only the stock markets and the wealthy that are doing well. No matter who gets the nomination, this is going to become his or her Achilles heel, unless there’s a huge downturn.
