The New York Times reports:
The CNN/New York Times debate on Tuesday night revealed new dynamics in the Democratic presidential race: Senator Elizabeth Warren took sustained fire from multiple rivals, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. struggled to make an impact and Mayor Pete Buttigieg and other candidates were newly aggressive in making their points.
For a candidate who has risen in the polls based on her policy acumen and specifics, Ms. Warren’s unwillingness to address the question of whether her “Medicare for all” plan would require higher taxes on the middle class was striking. And her opponents put her on the defensive.
Ms. Warren in large part survived the attacks, though she never did answer questions about whether she’d raise those middle-class taxes. Nor did she explain to Ms. Harris why she thought Mr. Trump should remain on Twitter. But she did present a concise counterargument, saying that only her ambitious ideas could produce an electoral mandate from disaffected Americans to defeat Mr. Trump.
NPR reports:
Last week Warren caught up to former Vice President Joe Biden in an average of the national polls, and on Tuesday night she found herself hemmed in, particularly by South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Buttigieg attacked Warren for promoting Medicare for All, while not having a detailed plan or saying how she would pay for it. “Look, this is why people here in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular,” Buttigieg told Warren. “Your signature, Senator, is to have a plan for everything except this.”
“I think as Democrats we are going to succeed when we dream big and fight hard, not when we dream small and quit before we get started,” Warren said.
Elizabeth Warren: “On Roe v. Wade, can we just pause for a minute here. I lived in an America where abortion was illegal. And rich women still got abortions…What we’re talking about now is that the people who are denied access to abortion are the poor, are the young” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/zN7wSJBe2M
— CNN (@CNN) October 16, 2019
In a remarkable confrontation, Biden repeatedly told Warren, “I got you votes” after she spoke about opening the CFPB, one of her signature achievements.
“I am deeply grateful to President Obama,” Warren replied, “who fought so hard to make sure that agency was passed into law.” pic.twitter.com/Ik5aplt0D9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 16, 2019
On the Trump impeachment inquiry:
Warren: “This is about Donald Trump. But understand it’s about the next president and the next president and the next president.”
Sanders: “Mitch McConnell has got to do the right thing and allow a free and fair trial in the Senate.” pic.twitter.com/uX9tjjAKUh
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 16, 2019
Harris asked Warren why she didn't join her demand to shut down Trump's Twitter account. Warren failed to give a straightforward answer #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/AIMajMBUcs
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 16, 2019