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Five takeaways from the Democratic debate in Ohio | TheHill

posted onOctober 16, 2019
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Article snippet: It was Round Four of the Democratic debates on Tuesday, with 12 candidates squaring off in Westerville, Ohio. What were the key takeaways from the night?   Warren in the firing line Sen. MORE (D-Mass.) has jumped to the top of some national polls recently, and her status as the new front-runner was underlined when several of her rivals attacked her. They clearly see an urgent need to curb her momentum. South Bend, Ind., Mayor MORE (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), joined the fray later. Warren by no means crumbled. But she was put on the defensive as she has never been before. On her "Medicare for All" plan, Buttigieg argued it limited choice, while Klobuchar hit her refusal to acknowledge that paying for it would almost certainly involve tax hikes. Warren’s argument on the tax issue — that voters are concerned about overall costs, and that any tax increase would be offset because there would be no private insurance premiums — is logically defensible. But her rivals will exploit her tendency to sound evasive on the tax point. The Massachusetts senator seemed to become more comfortable as the night wore on. And her basic position that Democrats need a platform more ambitious than one that “nibbles around the edges of the big problems in this country” has real magnetism for progressive voters. Warren survived her first turn in the firing line competently. But everyone will be watching the polls in coming days to see whether the sustained attacks o... Link to the full article to read more

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