The First Round of Democratic Debates, Part 2

George Shivers • July 23, 2019

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(Part 1 of this series can be found here.)

The candidates’ answers to questions on climate change did indicate some differences in policy, however, in general, there was little time for expression of any deep policy proposals on this complex issue. All the candidates did agree that climate change is real, caused by human action, and that it is a major threat to every human being on earth. Several candidates supported the Green New Deal. These included Sen. Booker, Mayor DeBlasio, Sen. Gillibrand, Gov. Jay Inslee, Sen. Sanders, Sen. Warren and Marianne Williamson. Incidentally, they have also committed not to accept contributions from fossil fuel companies. Booker said that he would rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office and put a moratorium on further oil drilling. Vice-President Biden did not express approval of the Green New Deal and has suggested what he calls a “middle-ground” approach to the climate crisis. He also didn’t pledge to refuse money from fossil fuel companies. Warren’s plan deals with protecting public lands, promoting green manufacturing, and reducing the dependence of the military on fossil fuels. Sanders, as might be expected, identified capitalism as the root of the problem, that is, an economic system that relies on continuous growth to sustain itself, while resources are limited.

Regarding the growth of tech giants like Amazon and Google, most of the candidates expressed a high degree of concern. Warren took a strong position on breaking up the tech giants. Julian Castro stated that such companies should be more “scrutinized” as should any potential mergers in other areas as well, such as agribusiness. Rep. Swalwell stated that the antitrust division of the Dept. of Justice “could be better used.” Inslee took a similar stance, stating that antitrust laws have to be enforced. Rep. Ryan stated that the tech companies should be held to greater standards of privacy. Sen. Harris also emphasized maintaining privacy. Sen. Klobuchar spoke of the need to tackle the “spreading problem of monopolies” in order to protect capitalism. DeBlasio went so far as to state that the tech companies “were part of what broke down our democracy.” In a similar vein, Mayor Buttigieg stated that monopoly power “diminishes our freedom.”

The first round of debates should be helpful to voters. The moderators chosen by MSNBC were, on the whole, wisely chosen and for the most part did a good job of holding the candidates to the time limit and the questions. Most of the candidates widely agreed on the issues, but that should, perhaps, be expected. Viewers should have easily identified the candidates’ positions. It is true that some of the candidates did not have the opportunity to respond to every question and that was a serious drawback. Spreading the debate over three nights might have been better; but would the public have tuned in for all three? The commercial interruptions were irritating. The network should have aired the debates in the public interest, without ads. The number of candidates will likely diminish for the next round, and that should insure that each candidate has opportunity to respond to all questions.


Common Sense for the Eastern Shore

Protest against Trumpcare, 2017
By Jan Plotczyk July 9, 2025
More than 30,000 of our neighbors in Maryland’s first congressional district will lose their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid because of provisions in the GOP’s heartless tax cut and spending bill passed last week.
Farm in Dorchester Co.
By Michael Chameides, Barn Raiser May 21, 2025
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
By Catlin Nchako, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities May 21, 2025
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
By Jan Plotczyk May 21, 2025
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By Jared Schablein, Shore Progress May 13, 2025
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
By Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury May 12, 2025
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
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