Most Substantive

This Was the Most Substantive Presidential Debate in Years

And it told us a lot about where the Democratic party is today.

TIM MURPHY

The first Democratic presidential debate didn’t focus on electability. There were no questions from NBC’s panel of moderators about polling numbers, gaffes, or the tone and rhetoric in Washington. For one night, it was as if President Donald Trump’s Twitter account didn’t even exist.

Instead, the 10 candidates who took the stage in Miami Wednesday night were peppered with a series of substantive questions about the policy fights that have consumed the party over the last two years. And they seemed perfectly content to talk about those issues. The result offered a revealing glimpse of just how much the Democratic policy conversation has evolved on a variety of issues—from economic inequality to climate to immigration.

It was also pretty good TV.

The tone was set early on. There were no opening statements—instead, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was asked point-blank at about 9:01 p.m. about her economic agenda. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke was asked if he’d support a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent, and if not, what he believed the top rate should be. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was asked about corporate consolidation. On and on down the line they went—New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio fielded a question about economic inequality in his city. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan was asked about manufacturing.

It is difficult in any format—let alone a rapid-fire debate with nine other people—to pin down presidential candidates on these kinds of things, and not every question Wednesday received a satisfying answer. But it was significant that in arguably the dumbest era in American history, where policy is set while watching Fox & Friends, Democrats started off their presidential primary by talking in a serious way about their plans.

And those plans are a lot different than what voters saw in 2016 or 2008 or 2004. Perhaps that was partly a reflection of the composition of the candidates, with the populist Warren front and center. But when it comes to corporations, climate, housing, health care, immigration, and guns, the ground is moving fast. That became clear when the moderators asked for a show of hands on whether the candidates planned to abolish private health insurance. This is not something Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (oh, and Joe Biden) were asked about in 2007. But on Wednesday, the highest-profile candidate on the stage, Warren, raised her hand.

“Yes, I’m with Bernie on Medicare for All,” she said, referring to the bill, sponsored by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, that would replace private health insurance with a single-payer system.