The Two Democratic Party Debates

The first Democratic debate in Miami is over. My impression of the debate is that it was a battle between the moderates and the progressives. They rarely talked about Trump, but they certainly debated among each other about a diversity of issues. That is one way to put it. Most of them agreed on the core issues, but they disagreed on how to approach the methods to achieve the same goal. Many of them spoke the Spanish language. There were interruptions. Elizabeth Warren won the start of the debate and the other candidates asserted themselves by the middle and the end of the debate. Elizabeth Warren used specific debates on how to fix the economy, how to deal with corporate monopolies, and how to fund programs. There was a little discussion about Trump's chaotic administration filled with corruption, lax empathy, and other evils. I find that de Blasio wanted his voice to be heard. He interrupted many times. His strength was that he was showing his progressive views (and he exposed the centrists for their capitulation to the status quo), but he interrupted a little too much at times. de Blasio was powerful on the issue of progressive values. Conversely, many New Yorkers have criticized him for issues of income inequality, housing, and other issues in New York City. Tim Ryan talked about the working class in Ohio and in other places of America.

Amy Klobuchar offered unique answers about many issues. Tulsi Gabbard spoke against the neo-cons and a reckless foreign policy embraced by Trump. She disagreed with policies related to the Iraq War. Beto O'Rourke was targeted by many candidates, and he tried his best to keep up. Beto's weakness was that while he issued great overarching themes, but failed to offer specific details on what to do in solving problems. Delaney was the moderate who is wrong to assume that massive change is impossible. Delaney interrupted at times too. Delaney needs to realize that placing the man on the Moon, creating Social Security, and the Dodd-Frank law aren't centrist policies. They were progressive policies. If America put a man on the Moon (funded by billions of dollars), then we can have the resources to fund investments, education, health care, etc. Cory Booker wanted people to respect the experiences of African Americans and urban community members. He talked passionately on guns especially with his policy proposals. Castro was strong on immigration with a mentioning of policy. The candidates focused on what they would do if Trump isn't the President in 2021. Hopefully, Trump won't be the President in 2021.

In the second Democratic debate, the one major theme is that all of the candidates targeted Donald Trump specifically and by name. It was a complete 180 from the debate on Wednesday. It had little infighting among moderates vs. progressives. The most passionate debates was between Harris and Biden along with Bennett and Sanders. They expressed what they agreed with. Kamala Harris spoke like a poet. Bernie Sanders had great points on macro level points about inequality and oligarchs. Biden used details in his responses. Bennett was passionate on immigration issues. Hickenlooper was a moderate who talked about not following big government, but his policies in Colorado from methane regulation to other items are representative of big government. In fact, he ignores the fact that big government is part of American society from the interstate highway to the FDA regulating foods. The debate allowed the candidates to discuss more issues in a diverse range than yesterday. Andrew Yang did a good job in talking about automation and other tech issues. The problem with his VAT tax is that it's regressive. Swalwell targeted Pete and Sanders on gun issues and policing. Williamson called for reparations, and I do agree with reparations for African Americans. Williamson focused on spiritual themes. Every candidate on the stage wanted solutions as it pertains to climate change from using green technologies to resigning the Paris Climate Agreement.

In the beginning, there was no one clear winner in the debate, Later, the complete victor of the debate was of course Kamala Harris.: Kamala Harris is the person that helped herself the most. She did her thing as being prepared, and she expressed her experiences from her life. She was the most eloquent candidate on the stage. The strongest people in the debate were Kamala Harris, Kristen Gillibrand (who talked about women's issues), Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttegieg, and others. Bernie Sanders did a very good job, but Bernie has to issue a little more details. In other words, I respect his speeches about exposing income inequality, but he must issue more specific details about living wages, how to invest in our communities, etc. That was his problem in the debate. Bernie acted better in his speeches in front of thousands of people than during his first 2019 Democratic debate. Gillibrand acted like a peacemaker, and focused heavily on women's issues. Pete did fine, and he issued his point of view (his struggle came when he talked about his response to a police shooting of a black person at South Bend, Indiana. He's the mayor of that city). Kamala Harris was strong to talk about race and the issue of busing. She took on Biden on controversial comments and talked about immigration. Biden is wrong on his comments not because of trying to work across the aisle. He is wrong since he used bad examples of segregationists (who opposed anti-busing legislation sent by the Department of Education. Biden basically tried to defend states' rights in the debate as it relates to busing) when there are no segregationists in Congress today, and those segregationists of the past shouldn't be mentioned in any modern conversation of common ground actions. Many of the candidates supporting giving undocumented immigrants health care. If any human being (regardless of his or her immigration status) is suffering an illness, then that person should have health care in my view. These candidates spoke to the aspirations of Americans who wanted to defeat Trump. Also, it is clear to battle and defeat neoliberal centrism. Centrists are trying to fight back, and we will be ready to defeat centrism at every turn. One issue with both debates is that many of the candidates refused to criticize Western imperialism. We know the reason why. The reason is that the political establishment of both Republicans and Democrats are funded by the military industrial complex and the surveillance complex (that is why many politicians have ties to the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, large military corporations, etc.). To condemn aggressive U.S. policies in Venezuela and other places of the world is taboo even in 2019. Many Republicans and many Democrats have been complicit in sending wealthy from the poor and working class to the super wealthy. That is why people in the streets are fighting for democratic rights. That is why the establishment of both major parties praise capitalism even though for over 5 centuries capitalism has advanced inequality, slavery, serfdom, environmental devastation, the Shoah, and other evils. Some even wanted a harsher Iranian nuclear deal when the Iranian deal  worked until it was ended by Trump. Also, many of the candidates didn't talk about the issues relevant to the African American community from poverty, reparations, criminal justice issues, education, etc. This debate had much more substance than the previous debate.

One of the great black American poets and playwrights was the late Brother Paul Laurence Dunbar. He lived after Reconstruction and during the early era of Jim Crow tyranny. His literature and his plays outlined how America was back then. It wasn't a game. Racists used riots to exterminate tons of black people. People were lynched, and discrimination was common from New York to California. Paul was born in Dayton, Ohio. Her parents were slaves in Kentucky. He made musical comedies and wrote literature in dialects. He was one of the first African Americans to receive international acclaim for his literature involving plays. He constantly wrote from writing novels to newspaper articles. He was a friend to the Wright brothers. He talked with Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglas. Dunbar wrote the lyrics for In Dahomey, the first musical written and performed entirely by African Americans. It was produced on Broadway in 1903. He married another social activist named Alice Ruth Moore. She was a teacher from Louisiana. They wrote poetry together and had a deep love for each other. Paul Laurence Dunbar passed at the year of 1906 (at only 33 years old). He made poetry come alive and inspired future African American authors. His legend wasn't confined in his time, because he should the world that the art of literary imagination is an eternal quality.
Rest in Power Brother Paul Laurence Dunbar.

By Timothy