The Democratic Party hosted a debate in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 19 for candidates to show they could beat President Donald Trump in the November election. The six participants were former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
The candidates held similar positions on health care. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was considered the standard for a new policy.
Bloomberg fought criticism of the New York City Police Department’s “stop-and-frisk” policy, not releasing his own tax records, and having multiple nondisclosure agreements with female former employees.
Sanders was asked about releasing his health records because of the heart attack he had last year. Some of the others compared Bloomberg and Sanders to Trump in 2016 when he was being criticized for lack of transparency.
The moderator asked about the minority-owned small businesses who benefited under Trump’s tax cuts. Warren and Biden intend to have the government provide capital to minorities to start new businesses.
Most candidates’ plans for environmental protection involved redoing everything former President Barack Obama had done that Trump has since undone. Warren plans to ban mining and drilling activity so it will not be motivated by big profits. Biden thinks fossil fuel companies can be held responsible for their damage, as was the tobacco industry.
A sample of Chabot students found that those who watched the debate favored Elizabeth Warren. Lisa Navarro felt “more strongly” that she will be voting for Warren. Kameron admired that Warren “was coming at all the candidates” and that she “made her presence known.”