September 12 was the third installment in the Democratic primary debate cycle. The night started off with opening statements in order to announce what each candidate hoped to accomplish during the debate. Former Texas Congressman, Beto O’Rourke, received the most attention with his emotional reflection on the mass shooting that left twenty-two dead in his hometown of El Paso, using this to segue into his fight for tougher gun regulations. Next to him was Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), with a glimpse into her past as a teacher, which finished strong with a segment about student debt and the cost to raise a family. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) didn’t immediately distinguish herself, but instead used her time to send a message to Trump. Other candidates, namely Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, were more adamant about keeping the party together than talking about their own policies.
The first issue that was brought up was healthcare. Senators Warren and Sanders (D-VT) were by far the most left on this issue, insisting on implementing Medicare for All and eliminating private insurance. With so many common policies between them, many experts assumed these two would try to distinguish themselves from each other more, but they have yet to criticize one another. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Harris, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg all made statements on trusting the American public with a choice of public or private insurance, which launched into the first big difference we saw between candidates. One common thread, however, was that several candidates took special care to thank former President Obama for paving the way with the Affordable Care Act. Senator Warren, who had been accused in previous debates of trying to tear down Obama’s legacy, spent a good thirty seconds trying to rewrite the former narrative.
From there the moderators moved on to immigration. The candidates shared the same goals of shutting down border camps and finding a path to citizenship for DREAMers, the 700,000 undocumented youth protected from deportation, and the eleven million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. After President Trump said family separation was justified because it was a criminal offense, candidates like Castro, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, and Harris are aiming to decriminalize crossing the border and create an easy path towards citizenship. More moderate candidates like Biden believe that crossing the border illegally should still be a crime and deportation should still occur.
When gun violence came up, underdog O’Rourke answered with a passionate statement: “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.” Some experts argue that his line feeds into the fear many gun-owning Americans have. Warren also had a point she wanted to make, using her time to shine light on the thousands of shootings in the U.S. that happen daily and that don’t get all the headlines, including homicides, suicides, and domestic violence. Warren also started the conversation on filibusters, saying, “Fifty-four senators said, let’s do background checks, let’s get rid of assault weapons, and with fifty-four senators it failed because of the filibuster.” The conversation went back and forth as the candidates questioned how easily they could win Republicans over on tougher gun regulations.
With criminal justice reform, all the Democrats mainly agreed on the racial bias taking place in America as well as the amount of work that needs to be done on American prisons. The moment that made this topic worth mentioning was when a moderator asked Harris a tough question, listing several of her former, unpopular positions from her history as a prosecutor, including on the legalization of marijuana and outside investigations of police shootings. Her reply was that she “made a decision that if [I] was going to have the ability to reform the system, I would try to reform it from the inside.” Harris went on to voice several of her policies, most shared with other candidates, proclaiming, “we de-incarcerate women and children . . . end solitary confinement and . . . work on keeping families intact.” The criminal justice debate was wrapped up, as there were few distinguishing policies for candidates in this segment.
On issues of climate policy, education, and foreign policy, candidates differed little, as most shared similar ideals about reducing carbon emissions, making education more accessible, and reducing overseas wars. All candidates shared the goal of making the United States a leader on the world stage.
The third debate largely featured the three current frontrunners, Sanders, Warren and Biden. Warren played it safe; she was careful to use facts and level-headed tones that made her policies shine bright. Sanders was more aggressive in his tone and presentation, although many of his policies were similar to Warren’s. Biden was repeatedly attacked by Castro for his age and for some inconsistencies in his ideas. The candidates repeatedly assured their supporters that everyone in the party is standing together and that the main goal is beating Donald Trump. Overall, the moderators seemed to focus more on figuring out the candidates’ exact policies on different issues. They seemed more interested in asking the tough questions directly to the candidates than asking questions that would cause heated debates between candidates, as has happened in previous debates.