The 5-Minute Fix: Where the Democratic Party stands after the second debate, Night 1

Democracy Dies in Darkness

Keeping up with politics is easy now

By Amber Phillips

Medicare-for-all is either bold policy or bad politics. Climate change and money in politics are some of the nation's most pressing problems, though which to deal with first is up in the air. And while everyone agreed President Trump needs to go, there was some disagreement on how to best make that happen.

Those are the broad strokes of what candidates argued about in the first night of the second Democratic debate. Here are three more big takeaways.

1. Democrats are divided: On whether to do Medicare-for-all, yes, but really, as The Post's Philip Bump puts it, on how progressive to be to beat Trump.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) say big ideas are precisely what Americans desire in this new, raucous political landscape. "I don't understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can't do and shouldn't fight for," Warren said.

Warren asks why run for president 'just to talk about what we really can't do'?

Moderates such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper and former congressman John Delaney think the traditional playbook of talking pocketbook issues to people in swing states is how Democrats will win back Trump voters.

"[T]he Democratic message is going to be, we're going to go in and the only thing you have left, we're going to take it and we're going to do better," Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said of what would happen to union workers' health care under Medicare-for-all. "I do not think that's a recipe for success for us."

2. There's no consensus on how to take on Trump: Everyone agreed Trump needs to be called out for his racially divisive rhetoric — Sanders called Trump "a racist, sexist and a homophobe." But other candidates think Trump supporters should be treated with more delicacy. "There are people that voted for Donald Trump before that aren't racist; they just wanted a better shake in the economy," Klobuchar said.

Democrats spent the second debate telling each other they're wrong

3. Nice is still (mostly) the name of the game: There was some sniping in the first night, but the major candidates — Warren and Sanders and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg — declined to go after each other. Nor did anyone take any direct shots at the current leader in polls, former vice president Joe Biden.

Could that dynamic change Wednesday, when Biden will be onstage with two other of his sharpest opponents, Sens. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.)? We've seen in the past that even when things get nasty on the debate stage, the candidates still see value in playing (mostly) nice on the campaign trail. At some point that will end.

More great debate coverage:

(Washington Post graphics)

Do we really have just 10 years to fix climate change before it's too late, as O'Rourke claimed? And 12 other claims fact-checked by The Washington Post's Fact Checker team.
Warren had the most speaking time during the debate, over even Sanders.
Who is Marianne Williamson, the candidate who had a standout moment making the case for reparations for slavery, and is her campaign for real?

The second night, featuring the next 10 candidates, will air Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on CNN and CNN en Español. We'll be in your inbox in the wee hours Thursday with The Fix's Aaron Blake's winners and losers of round 2. See you then!

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