DES MOINES, IOWA – With the exception of an increased focus on foreign policy, brought to the forefront from the escalating tensions with Iran, it was business as usual in Tuesday night’s CNN Democrat presidential debate, the final televised debate before the Feb. 3 Iowa Caucus.
While some fireworks were expected between the top progressive candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, after CNN reported on Monday that Sanders allegedly told Warren in a private meeting a couple years ago that a woman could not be elected president, none took place (at least publicly). Sanders denied he made that comment, and Warren went so far as to say that “Bernie is my friend and I’m not here to attack Bernie.”
After addressing it briefly, they and the rest of the candidates stuck with the pressing issues.
The candidates — who made up the smallest field yet after several other candidates either dropped out or failed to meet minimal eligibility requirements for the debate — were united in saying Iran must be prevented from having a nuclear weapon. They all called for more negotiations and greater diplomacy.
Iran
Candidates were asked on how best to diffuse the current situation with Iran, which has long had an adversarial relationship with the United States, dating back to at least the 1979 embassy hostage crisis
Tensions ramped up more after President Donald Trump ordered the killing of a popular Irani general, Qasem Soleimani, who has been linked to the killing of hundreds of American troops during the Iraq War and was believed to have been plotting more attacks when he was killed by a drone near Baghdad Airport in neighboring Iraq.
Some Democrats have criticized the Trump Administration, questioning if the killing (Sanders previously labeled it an “assassination”) was necessary at the risk of adding proverbial fuel to the fire, and if the general posed an “imminent” threat. At least two Republican senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, have also questioned the administration’s rationale.
Many of the presidential candidates called for re-entering the United States into the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which was negotiated under former President Barack Obama and helped restrict the Iran’s nuclear capability through inspections and various carrots and sticks.
President Trump pulled out of the agreement shortly after entering office, and Iran announced shortly after Soleimani’s death that it has restarted its uranium enrichment program. The U.S. responded by applying additional sanctions, which are believed to have already constricted much of Iran’s economy.
“It was working,” former Vice President Joe Biden said about the agreement. “We have lost our standing in the region.”
“By gutting that, they have made the region more unstable,” said former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg about Trump’s pullout from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). “Our security depends on Iran not having a nuclear (weapon).”
Troop Levels
Both Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar have called on leaving a limited number of troops in Middle East for security purposes.
However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said it’s time for combat troops to come home, adding that the defense industry must stop “calling the shots” on the military interventions.
“No one has a solution and an end point,” she said about military strategy in the Middle East.
Sanders said he was current concerned the current crisis with Iran is a product of Trump’s lies. He added that the last two prolonged wars the United had been involved in Vietnam and Iraq were based on lies.
“The American people are sick and tired of endless wars,” he said.
All of the candidates agreed the president must seeking Congressional approval before taking military action. Both Trump and former President Barack Obama have signed off on various military actions without getting the green light from the legislative branch.
Trade
Trump had pledged to scrap the controversial North American Free Trade Agreement, which he, among others, have claimed caused many good-paying manufacturing jobs to be outsourced. His administration negotiated with House Democrats a replacement treaty, the United States Mexico-Canada Agreement. It enjoys bipartisan support and Congress is expected to pass it.
However, Sanders said he won’t support it because it does little to address environmental protection.
But many other candidates said it makes modest improvements over NAFTA, which is better than nothing.
Warren added that if elected president, she would repeal Trump’s tariffs that he imposed via executive order, which she said has devastated many Iowa farmers’ income.
Electability
Not surprisingly, all of the candidates believed they were the most electable. Sanders said he has the strongest grassroots movement. Biden said he has the “broadest coalition.” Buttigieg and Klobuchar both said they understand the needs of voters in the industrial Midwest, a region that helped deliver Trump the presidency.
Health Care
On the subject of health care, the candidates repeated stances from prior debates. Both Sanders and Warren support a single-payer, Medicare-for-All plan that calls for ending private health insurance and is projected to cost trillions of dollars.
The other candidates called for strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by adding a non-profit public option, or a government-run health plan. They also said the individual mandate, which was scrapped under the 2017 Tax and Jobs Act, should be restored.
Sanders was pressed about the specific cost of his plan. Outside of one detail — that a 4 percent tax would be applied on all income outside of the first $29,000 — he stuck to his general answer (it would cost less than the deductibles, co-payments and premiums policyholders currently pay).
“Health care is a human right. The time is long overdue.”
But Biden said Sanders’ s proposal “doesn’t even come close” to the actual cost of Medicare-for-All.
Klobuchar, who also favors an incremental approach, called for health insurance to cover long-term care, which most medical insurance polices don’t presently cover.
Warren added that she would reduce the cost of insulin, something that a president could do unilaterally.
Many of the candidates also called for the federal government to negotiate drug prices.
Tom Steyer, a billionaire climate change activist, opined on the current problem with the U.S. health care system.
“We’re spending too much because corporations own the system. This is cruelty for money.”
Other takeaways from the debate:
*Candidates agreed more action is needed to provide affordable childcare. Warren mentioned her 2 percent wealth tax for those with at least $50 million in wealth and providing higher salaries to child care workers. Biden proposed an $8,000 child tax credit and spending more on afterschool programs.
*Free college is not a concept that’s popular outside of the progressive circles. Buttigieg said the proposal would unintentionally benefit kids from wealthy families at the expense of kids from lower-income households. Klobuchar said it’s more important to make education compatible with the jobs that are out there or in demand, particularly those in the trades.
*Several candidates are U.S. senators and are expected to participate in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial focusing on Trump’s alleged collusion with Ukraine. That is expected to take them off the campaign trail. Just about all the affected candidates said that it was worth having the trial, even if the Republican-led Senate is not expected to vote to impeach and remove the president.
“Some things are important than politics,” Warren said.
Klobuchar added that if Republicans don’t allow witnesses to be called, they “might as well hand Trump a scepter and a crown.”
“Last I checked, the American people did not want a king.”
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