Democratic debate: Elizabeth Warren dominates crowded field as race for White House begins

Elizabeth Warren has sharply raised the stakes in the battle to become the Democrats’ 2020 challenger to Donald Trump, dominating much of the party’s first official debate with a promise to fight for voters “as hard as I fight for my own family”.

On a night with 10 hopefuls on the stage and each seeking to make an impact, the senator from Massachusetts was clearly the top seed, albeit in the absence of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who will appear on Thursday. Ms Warren seized on that opportunity, answering the first question of the night with a strong defence of her views on the economy. 

Was her vision, which includes support for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, potentially risky, she was asked.  

“I think of it this way. Who is this economy really working for? It’s doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top. It’s doing great for giant drug companies,” she replied. “It’s just not doing great for people who are trying to get a prescription filled.”

At least 24 Democrats are seeking to be the candidate to take on Mr Trump, who tweeted from Air Force One on his way to Japan that the debate was “boring”.

For the lesser known candidates in particular, such events are a crucial opportunity not only to display their ability to debate, but also reveal something unique and powerful about either their personality or their policies. 

With 10 people participating in a format in which questions were asked about immigration, healthcare and foreign policy, seizing such an opportunity was a major challenge. When the Democrats performed this exercise four years ago, there were just five candidates in total – Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Jim Webb.

If Ms Warren was fast out of the gates, others sought to catch up, on a night when the broadcast was interrupted by technical problems. Corey Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Tim Ryan will all have considered themselves to have had a decent evening, while Jay Inslee was able to double down on why he believed climate change to be the most important issue.

Most commentators agreed the candidate who most obviously failed to seize the opportunity was Beto O’Rourke, the Texas congressman who impressed many with his challenge last year of Republican Ted Cruz, but who has so far failed to replicate the same traction.

Google revealed the most searched-for candidate during the debate was Mr Booker, a senator from New Jersey, who has so far been disappointed by his failure to poll much higher than three per cent. Asked about gun violence, he was at his most passionate and impressive, calling for tougher regulations of firearms.

“I hear gunshots in my neighbourhood. I think I’m the only one, I hope I am the only one that had seven people shot in their neighbourhood just last week,” said the former mayor of Newark.

He added: “If you need a licence to drive a car, you should need a licence to buy and own a firearm. And not everybody in this field agrees with that, but in states like Connecticut that did that, they saw 40 per cent drops in gun violence and 15 per cent drop in suicides.”

On a day when much of the world was horrified by both the image of a migrant father and his young daughter drowned in the Rio Grande, and the details that have emerged about the conditions at a children’s detention centre in Texas, the candidates were asked about Mr Trump’s immigration policy.

“We have kids laying in their own snot with three-week-old diapers that haven’t been changed. We need to tell the president that is not a sign of strength. That is a sign of weakness,” said Mr Ryan, who is seeking to become the first sitting congressman elected to the White House in more than 100 years. “If you go to Guantanamo Bay, there are terrorists that are held that get better health care than those kids that have tried to cross the border into the United States.”

This was one of the few instances in which Mr O’Rourke was able to land some punches.

In a rather feisty exchange with former Obama administration official Julián Castro, who is pushing a plan that would decriminalise all border crossings and make them a civil offence, Mr O’Rourke defended his work in Congress. “As a member of Congress, I helped to introduce legislation that would ensure we don’t criminalise those seeking asylum. If you are fleeing desperation, I want to make sure you are treated with respect,” he said.

Mr Castro said of the photograph of Alberto Martínez Ramírez, 26, and his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, dead at the US border: “Watching that image of [Mr Ramirez] and his daughter Valeria was heartbreaking. It should also piss us all off.” 

It is unclear how important Wednesday’s debate was. Democrats have at least 12 events scheduled and the first primary, in Iowa, is on 3 February. Thursday’s debate will see if Mr Biden repeats the kinds of gaffes that have wrecked his previous presidential runs.

However, pundits and voters agree that a strong start can be important.

Among those watching events in Miami was Dan Nagler, 36, a lawyer from  Miami Beach.

“Just as long as they listen to the people, I guess that’s what it’s all about. You know, listen to the issues, get out into the community, and try to represent the people and not get caught up in one side of the aisle or the other,” he said.

Melanie Martinez, 23, who works at a fashion house in Miami, said he was a registered independent. “I’m not even sure who to support at this point. I support women’s rights, raising the minimum wage, and closing the [migrant] detention centre,” she said.

If Wednesday’s debate was not as memorable as the first Republican debate of the primary season, in which Mr Trump set about attacking his rivals with a rare fervour, it was also largely clear of major blunders or missteps.

As the Associated Press pointed out, it was also an opportunity for the Democratic Party to show off its impressive diversity: the lineup featured three women, one black man and another man of Mexican heritage. At least two candidates spoke Spanish at times, while many on social media laughed that Mr O’Rourke could barely control his desire to show his bilingual abilities.