Who won the Democratic debate

Updated 2:03 PM ET, Thu June 27, 2019
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9:47 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

Candidates bungle the good economy question

By SE Cupp

The biggest question in this first debate was how the candidates would handle the "problem" of running against a good economy.

Most, including Elizabeth Warren, Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker, decided, essentially, to tell voters they are wrong.

When asked about the fact that 70% of Americans believe the economy is working, many candidates said it isn't. Making discrete points that the economy is working better for certain people, or that the metrics we use to measure a good economy -- GDP and the stock market, for example -- are incomplete isn't wrong or insignificant, but they don't account for how most people feel. 

You can't overstate the deleterious impact Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter With Kansas" had on the Democratic party, cementing it as one that can appear condescending to average voters. Granted, there are limited strategies available to candidates to combat facts like record low unemployment, but telling voters that they know better than them is the worst -- and one that just doubles down on Frank's troubling 2004 question. 

SE Cupp is a CNN political commentator and the host of "SE Cupp Unfiltered." Follow her on Twitter @secupp

9:28 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

Commentators share first impressions

9:15 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

The elephant not in the room

By Scott Jennings

Before tonight’s debate, gadfly candidate Marianne Williamson’s campaign sent this note to reporters:

 

“At the end hold hands with everybody that you are watching the debate with, say a quick Namaste and be happy that you have so many more Democratic Debates to look forward to covering.”

 

Reminder: The Democratic National Committee put this person (who dabbles in anti-vaxxer propaganda and told AIDS patients to think their way to good health) in a debate instead of Steve Bullock, the Governor of Montana. I’d say their attempts to bridge gaps with rural America are going swimmingly.

 

Elizabeth Warren should win this debate easily. She has to live up to high expectations, never a good place to be. It’s Beto O'Rourke's last ride -- flop tonight and he’s done. The candidate who runs to the spin room first is probably the most desperate for a do over.

 

The person who says this FIRST will own the news cycle: “Let me address the elephant not in the room: We’ll lose to Trump if we nominate Joe Biden and here’s why...”

 

Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor, is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and former campaign adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell. He is a partner at RunSwitch Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky. Follow him on Twitter @ScottJenningsKY. 

8:04 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

Pre-debate advice from our commentators

6:05 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

The Democratic candidates, in their own words

By Yaffa Fredrick, CNN

If you want to find out more about the candidates you’ll see on tonight’s debate stage, read the op-eds they have written for CNN Opinion, as the 2020 campaign has gotten underway. Take Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who wrote that the American economy currently isn’t working for everybody, but it could if working families were given “a higher minimum wage, strong unions [and] universal housing.”

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan shared Warren’s sentiment and argued that he will fight for those who he contends that President Donald Trump has abandoned. Ryan believes he is best positioned to do so because unlike Trump, who he says just visits forgotten communities for rallies, Ryan actually “lives in them.”

Still, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney cautioned that any efforts to address the plight of hardworking Americans shouldn’t pivot too far to the left. “The right answer to wealth and opportunity inequality is not to reject market-based capitalism,” he reasoned, “but to make it more just and inclusive.”

Then there’s former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who argued that any conversation about our economy must pay particularly close attention to America’s farmers, hit hard by Trump’s trade wars and by massive flooding -- a consequence of the looming climate crisis, he wrote.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee also argued for attention to the climate crisis, emphasizing that to defeat its damaging effects, we must make it the “No. 1 priority” of the next administration.

Finally, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar wrote there’s still much work to be done to reform our criminal justice system. In 2018, Congress took major steps on this issue, passing the First Step Act. But, she says, we have more to do to build on “the federal reforms we made last year.”

6:01 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

Debate coach: Smile. Look energized. Don't blow it.

By Todd Graham

Nothing says the 2020 presidential election is heating up like the arrival of the first primary debates. And we've got some whoppers, with 20 Democratic contenders facing off this week in two separate groups determined by a randomized draw.

The debates, hosted by NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo will take place in Miami on Wednesday, June 26 and Thursday, June 27.

What should we expect in these bulky debates?

Surface level analysis. Stories about everyone's childhood. Emotional anecdotes about candidates' careers. In other words, all the parts of "Shark Tank" and "Chopped" that I use my remote to skip forward 30 seconds. You shouldn't expect a quality debate. It's simply impossible with 10 people on stage. Wait, did I say 10? There's one other thing holding back the candidates. The moderators.

To read more from Todd Graham's op-ed, click here.

Todd Graham is the director of debate at Southern Illinois University. His debate teams have won five national championships and he has been recognized three times as the national debate coach of the year. Follow him on Twitter.

7:24 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

There is only 1 question at tonight's debate

By Paul Begala

MEMORANDUM TO ALL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES

FROM: PAUL BEGALA

RE: RULES FOR THE FIRST DEBATE

DATE: JUNE 26, 2019

 

This is, of course, the first time we will see all the Democratic presidential candidates share the stage. Well, not all the candidates.  

Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, is being excluded from the debate. His crime? Not having enough donors or high enough poll numbers. This is a consequence of Gov. Bullock actually having a job -- and doing it well.  

Bullock got a Republican legislature in a Trump state to expand Medicaid. Nice work, Democratic National Committee. You've found a system that includes the anti-circumcision guy and the self-help guru but not the one Democratic candidate who has actually won a Trump state. And not just any Trump state. Montana, which Mr. Trump carried by more than 20 points.  

I am truly undecided, like most Democrats. But any system that excludes a candidate like Bullock is messed up.

That said, debates can be clarifying events. Having prepped more politicians for more debates than I can recall, allow me to suggest a few rules to guide the Democrats during their first 2019 debate:

 Number 1: There is only one question: Who can beat Trump?  

To read more from Paul Begala's op-ed click here.

Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to Clinton in the White House. Follow him on Twitter @PaulBegala.

7:24 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

The scorecard -- plus peanut butter cups

7:27 p.m. ET, June 26, 2019

2020 Democratic debates: What women want

By Nancy L. Cohen

So, what do women want to hear?

Women will be listening closely to how the candidates speak on the bread-and-butter issues -- like the economy and health care -- but through the prism of how they uniquely affect women. They'll be looking for assurances that the would-be presidents understand the nuances of their lives.

On the matter of economics and jobs, women will be paying close attention to discussion of equal pay laws, which have been on the books for decades, and yet have been largely ineffective in closing the gap between men's and women's wages. Women still, on average, make only about 80% of what men earn. And the gender pay gap is dramatically worse for some groups: It stands at 61% for black women and 53% for Latinas.

To read more from Nancy L. Cohen's op-ed, click here.

Nancy L. Cohen is an award-winning author, historian and national expert on the intersection of gender and American politics. She is the author of three books, including "Breakthrough," "Delirium: The Politics of Sex in America" and "The Reconstruction of American Liberalism." Follow her on Twitter: @nancylcohen.