Hudson, N.H.— In an open acknowledgment of the Democratic Party’s leftward drift, Bernie Sanders claimed victory in the first salvo of Democratic primary debates during a campaign rally.
“It was very interesting, I think it was today, actually. The Wall Street Journal wrote an op-ed, if i recall correctly, ‘Bernie Sanders won both debates,'” the Vermont senator told the roughly 250 cramped supporters who came to celebrate the opening of a new campaign office. “How do you win a debate you weren’t even participating in? Because of New Hampshire and 21 other states, that supported our agenda [in 2016], other Democratic candidates understand they have to speak to the needs of the working class in this country. That’s how you win both debates.”
During Wednesday night’s debate (the first of two back-to-back events for 10 candidates each), both Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio came out in favor of Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan, which would abolish the private insurance in favor of a government-run system.
While California Sen. Kamala Harris was widely acknowledged as one of the winners of Thursday night’s debate, the vast majority of candidates on stage touted ambitious liberal plans and used rhetoric reminiscent of Sanders’ 2016 campaign.
“At the end of the day, we have too much of a problem with corporate power growing,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said. “We see that with everything, from Citizens United and the way they’re trying to influence Washington. It’s about time that we have a president that fights for the people in this country.”
Sanders also recently came out in favor of eliminating all student loan debt — estimated at $1.6 trillion nationwide — and while most candidates wouldn’t endorse the measure, virtually everyone on stage who spoke on the topic acknowledged that some sort of relief from the government is necessary.
“It’s logical to me that if you can refinance your house, you ought to be able to refinance your student debt,” South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said Thursday. “I also believe in free college for low- and middle-income students for whom cost could be a barrier. I just don’t believe it makes sense to ask working-class families to subsidize even the children of billionaires.”
Despite Sanders’ success in getting many Democratic presidential candidates to sign-on to his policy proposals, his campaign has relatively stalled out in the last few months as most polls show him in distant second and in jeopardy of losing that rank. A post-debate Morning Consult/FiveThirtyEight poll shows Sanders at 17.3% support, followed closely by Harris at 16.6% and Warren at 14.4%, and trailing Biden at 31.5%.
