Elizabeth Warren was attacked from all sides in debate - and she barely batted an eye

[BeyondGeography]

On Tuesday night, 12 candidates crammed onto the stage at Ohio’s Otterbein University. It was the first time that all of the remaining Democratic presidential hopefuls have shared the same stage on one night.

But the attention was almost all focused on one candidate, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has emerged as the frontrunner after a slow and steady rise in her support, and who has crystalized her position in recent months as the party’s intellectual and ideological center of gravity. Questions were framed around her policy positions, her past statements, her agenda; other candidates staked their claim to positions almost exclusively in relation to where Warren stands. Even on the rare occasions when Warren was not speaking, not directly being spoken to, and not being spoken about, her dominance hung over the conversation, making itself known in unexpected moments. At one point, a moderator, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, addressed another contender – Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar – by Warren’s name. Klobuchar smiled and graciously deflected, but within minutes, she was bringing up Warren herself.

...She was attacked by Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg over how she plans to pay for Medicare for All. She was attacked by Andrew Yang over her plan to break up big tech and enforce a strict anti-trust agenda. She was attacked by Kamala Harris, who alleged that Warren was hypocritical for, of all things, not calling on Twitter to suspend Donald Trump’s account. She was attacked by Joe Biden for supposedly being “vague” on Medicare for All. She would have been attacked by Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for her lack of military experience, except Gabbard was cut off by a moderator.

For the most part, Warren weathered these attacks with patience, grace, and an agility in her rhetoric that rivals that of a gymnast on a balance beam. She refused to take the bait repeatedly offered to her by moderators and other candidates, who attempted to goad her into saying that she would raise taxes to cover Medicare for All. This denied her opponents a video clip that they could use to discredit her; instead, she hammered home the larger point that total costs would go down under her plan. She refused to get mired down in the petty point of whether or not Twitter should suspend Donald Trump’s account; instead, she focused on how Big Tech companies have too much influence over our politics to go unregulated. She wouldn’t concede Andrew Yang’s dubious assertion that unregulated tech giants encourage innovation; instead, she focused on the ways that monopolies in all sectors of the economy—she cited agriculture and pharmaceuticals—need to be broken up to protect consumers.

It was a front runner’s strategy, a deflection technique meant to avoid inconvenient commitments and stymie the attack strategies of her rivals. Warren made moral cases instead of economic ones, refusing to get mired down in the kinds of specifics that can only be communicated poorly and haphazardly to voters within the confines of the contentious debate format. To make her case in a general election, she will have to become more willing to communicate the specifics of her multitudinous plans on a mass scale, more ready to get down to brass tacks on television and on the debate stage. But Tuesday’s debate was her first as the object of rivals’ ire—before tonight, her opponents had more or less held their fire against her. The discipline and poise she showed in this newly antagonistic role bodes well for her performance in a general election against the erratic and taunting Trump. He will bait her and goad her, and she will be able to calmly and convincingly remain on message.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/16/elizabeth-warren-attacked-democratic-debate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[7wo7rees]

1. We were impressed when we 1st met Elizabeth Warren!

https://billmoyers.com/content/elizabeth-warren-on-americas-invisible-crisis/

We were introduced to her by Bill Moyers, and after watching the interview we wished for her to be president. It only took 15 years and she has been by the book in her rise.
We are rich in our candidates.
We are facing an existential crisis, now.
We hope to survive it. We are going with 50/50 right now.
Peace

[BlueMTexpat]

4. Thanks so much for pulling up

that gem of an interview!

I love Moyers too!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. Impressive is right... if anyone can break the "glass ceiling," it's Elizabeth!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[LittleGirl]

2. Thanks for sharing.

I'm going to watch the debate in about an hour and this summary was good to read first.

[Celerity]

3. Klobuchar lit her up, as did Pete, Biden owes them both a dinner at The Palm

[BeyondGeography]

8. Speaking of getting lit up

The same writer had this to say about Pete:

Buttigieg was newly combative, displaying a strategy of attacking the more progressive wing of the party that he had debuted in a series of left-punching statements made in the days ahead of the debate. He criticized Warren on her wealth tax and on Medicare for All, which he deemed impossible; he criticized the former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke for his call to institute a nationwide buy back for automatic weapons, a prospect that Buttigieg deemed a “shiny object”. The message was that better things are not possible, and that Democrats, and Americans more broadly, must lower their hopes. It was hardly an inspiring assertion, especially considering that Buttigieg delivered it with sneering condescension, apparently impressed with his own callous brand of pragmatism. The combination of cynicism, contempt, and Buttigieg’s extreme youth was disquieting. The South Bend mayor’s debate performance conjured the image of a character in a dark teen drama, an ambitious prep school debate captain who would throw his best friend under the bus in order to secure his own admission to Princeton. In reality, Buttigieg graduated from Harvard.

[obamanut2012]

10. Yes, that REALLY turned me off to him

And, I have liked Pete very much until then.

[jcgoldie]

14. I try not to get too emotional over attacks on my candidate

Nor to have a personal reaction to those who are simply trying to improve their position by shaking things up. They are all competing for the same job. Nonetheless I had a very negative reaction to Buttigieg last night. I thought his attack on Warren was snide and insincere, but predictable. Then when he went after Beto on guns with some line like "we don't have time to wait" as if Beto of all people is dragging his feet on that issue and then had some mock outrage about his "courage" being attacked. Everyone in the world can see Beto's sincerity on that issue. Then when Pete went on with commentators afterwards, I felt he was still pushing nonsense and doing so with an odd sense of glee. Pete dropped several pegs down my candidate board for what I saw as in-authenticity and snark.

[BeyondGeography]

17. He's playing to his non-pocket change donors

It’s not pretty.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

29. LOL!! Elizabeth ate Mayor Pete's lunch... and I was really liking that guy for awhile.

Starting to get turned off by his condescension towards Elizabeth... Joe's too. Elizabeth handled herself though like the champ she is!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Celerity]

39. Dream on, it is fun. nt

[Celerity]

41. Moira Donegan clearly watched a different debate, and that little screed is just ridiculously over

the top. It was a policy debate, there was nothing malicious or personal in it. This whole (to paraphrase) 'you either agree with me or you are lowering your sights' spin that Donegan is spewing here:

The message was that better things are not possible, and that Democrats, and Americans more broadly, must lower their hopes.

is pure bullshit, and extraordinarily politically naive. No one said any such thing. It is simply a false paradigm to say that we either go full stop with Warren's plans and/or Beto's MANDATORY (Donegan conveniently left that word out AND incorrectly said AUTOMATIC weapons, which are already basically illegal for any private citizen to own) buyback or we are telling Americans to lower their hopes.

Sloppy, sloppy, drama-laden, angsty writing, full of the very type of cheap personal attacks that she imagined/invented the other candidates using last night.

[Kahuna7]

19. High five!

[peggysue2]

25. Amy K and Peter B had the strongest performances of the night

And yes, they held Warren's feet to the fire on Medicare for All in particular. In Amy's case, she really pushed back on the 'my way or the highway' tone for those not supporting the proposal.

Interesting night! And yeah, a free dinner sounds good.

[Celerity]

43. +10000

[BlueMTexpat]

5. Thank you so much for

posting.

I wasn't able to watch the debate in real time. But it is lovely to see a report such as this.

I had to chuckle at this particular nugget:

She would have been attacked by Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for her lack of military experience, except Gabbard was cut off by a moderator.

So Tulsi had a sad!

[Mike Nelson]

6. Well...

... congratulations, you're the front-runner! Seriously, she should just reveal taxes will be a part of her health care program. She's been good at explaining things and needs to figure it out... we will all pay more in taxes and we will all have health care. Same with education... we can expand public education but will pay, just like we do now. I liked Pete and Amy and think they scored... but I also think Elizabeth can reevaluate and put out a health care plan. I think she may move more center after the primaries, should she win. Whatever happens, this is good for her...

[Skidmore]

7. I didn't watch in real time.

Watching this morning, I'd say we she batted an eye. Her nonverbal responses registered that she clearly was surprised by being questioned.

[empedocles]

9. EW vulnerable - especially on the issues. Will be ups and downs for some time to come.

[highplainsdem]

11. I thought Warren seemed rattled and irritated. Her evasiveness on admitting taxes will have

to go up made her look weaker, less transparent, than Sanders, too, and that isn't a good look for someone who prides herself on always having a plan for that and going into detail.

I'd wonder what debate the author of that article was watching, but after looking at her earlier work praising Warren and critiquing her rivals, this new rave review is no surprise.

[BeyondGeography]

12. This is what rattled and irritated looks and sounds like

Link to tweet

[highplainsdem]

13. What a slimy tweet from Cheong. As for that part of the debate, Biden was correct that he helped

get the bill creating CFPB passed, and Warren's response to that was IMO snarky and petty. She'd been trying to suggest that her role in creating CFPB was equal to Biden's work as Vice President, and that was wrong.

She knows her resume is weak compared to his. Of course, that's true of everyone on that stage last night.

The Obama administration's legacy, and probably its lasting into a second term, would have been very different without Joe Biden's ability to get votes for bills that were hard to pass:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287262162

[jcgoldie]

15. Not Joe's best moment

Screaming "I got you those votes!" And "You did good in your job." Pretty sure Warren isn't the snarky one in that exchange.

[highplainsdem]

18. She was trying to make it sound as if she got Dodd-Frank passed by herself, and as if everyone in

Washington was against the bill, and that wasn't true.

Biden was willing to give her credit, but she didn't seem willing to give him any credit.

[Kahuna7]

20. Isn't that how you would want our nominee to handle trump?

I would.

[BeyondGeography]

21. The obvious problem with that reply is Warren isn't Trump

What exactly did she do to deserve to be hectored like that?

[Kahuna7]

22. That was true when Biden was taking all the fire. I don't think she was hectored.

She's tough. If she can dish it be prepared to get it. She has a lot of plans and it's time to gets questioned on their viability to ever see the light of day.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

35. Without question... Joe lost a lot of female votes with his condescending tone towards Elizabeth!!

She owned him on that exchange!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Claritie Pixie]

30. Disagree. He tried to marginalize her, as if he got her the job and got her the votes.

That's why she thanked Obama when he was done pointing at her aggressively.

I totally understand her response, as a woman who has been in that position. As if she needed to be grateful to him for her accomplishments.

I did not like how he chose to act in that moment and sorry, there's no defense for it.

[highplainsdem]

32. As a woman who believes it's important to give credit where it's due, I thought she was

trying to claim too much credit, especially with CFPB part of a bill Biden helped get passed.

She could have acknowledged him and still taken credit for what she did herself. It would have made her look better.

[Claritie Pixie]

33. Sure she could have, but not after he raised his voice and pointed aggressively at her.

I admire her for not giving in to that. I'm stopping short of calling it bullying, but it was close.

[highplainsdem]

34. She should have acknowledged his help before that.

This is what she'd said earlier:

So you started this question with how you got something done. You know, following the financial crash of 2008, I had an idea for a consumer agency that would keep giant banks from cheating people. And all of the Washington insiders and strategic geniuses said, don't even try, because you will never get it passed.

And sure enough, the big banks fought us. The Republicans fought us. Some of the Democrats fought us. But we got that agency passed into law. It has now forced big banks to return more than $12 billion directly to people they cheated.

She's offering the CFPB as an argument for herself after he pointed out he got some things done.

But he HELPED with that bill.

Imagine if someone mentioned how much work they did for a family holiday, and you'd helped with the cooking but they'd also done some of it, and instead of admitting it was a joint effort, you just said "Well, I did the cooking" and didn't mention they'd also done some. How do you think they'd react?

Acknowledging Biden's help was especially important since she said "some of the Democrats fought us." To people who don't know anything about Dodd-Frank, that might have seemed like a suggestion that Biden had fought against the bill.

She should have made it clear that he hadn't, and that in fact he had helped.

But she didn't.

And her thanking only Obama by name seemed very snarky and petty to me.

[Claritie Pixie]

37. CFBP was her concept, she brought it to fruition when Obama gave her the opportunity.

She led the way, she did the work.

Joe helped, sure he did, a lot of others did too. I don't think it was necessary for her to single him out, especially after his comments. I would have responded the same way she did - by ignoring him.

I think you and I will have to agree to disagree about this particular situation. No hard feelings.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

36. Elizabeth crushed in the debate, especially in that exchange!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[BlueWI]

42. It makes perfect sense to avoid a Mondale 1984 sound bite.

Ultimately, a campaign is a long game, as as a female, left of center candidate, Warren will face extra scrutiny on how she looks and sounds, due to sexism, and on how she will pay for her plans, due to her preference for system change. Has anyone asked Biden how he will pay for raising teacher pay to $60,000, increased availability of social workers for school age children, expanding Obamacare, and free community college? Maybe occasionally if at all, he'll get these questions, but the financial questions are standard issue for Warren and Sanders. Clearly, it's a double standard, even on DU.

[BeckyDem]

16. Klobuchar and Buttigieg do not have plans for healthcare that will help all Americans and

Warren pointed that out. Warren will continue to rise.

[NurseJackie]

23. She looked healthy and well rested. Ready to go. Energetic.

Not everyone did.

[pecosbob]

24. Poor showing by Team Dem...some seem more intent on repeating Wrong-Wing talking points

to torpedo a primary opponent than in working together for change.

[saidsimplesimon]

26. Sorry, I missed your post, will delete mine on the topic.

[BeyondGeography]

27. That's in the Warren Group, right?

I would leave it.

[boomer_wv]

31. She took a lot of damage.

This article is really biased. She was damaged last night and the gates are open. The image of an unblemished candidate is off and shes vulnerable. The good press that got her to Bidens level about to change.

Watch for Sanders to make some gain on her too.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

38. Wow, if anyone took "a lot of damage," it was ol' Joe... not his best showing.

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[boomer_wv]

40. Hardly

That's wishful thinking.

[BlueWI]

44. No objectivity at all in your post.

She campaigns hard and deserves recognition from Democrats for running a principled and still rising campaign. Positive press? MFA bashing, calling her a schoolmarm and other sexist reductionism, Pocahontas - this is positive coverage?

It doesn't hurt Biden for us to admit that she's run an effective campaign. Others could learn by that example.

[demmiblue]

45. ...