Thoughts about last night's debate:
-Return to Obama era policies is not enough. Even Obama knew a lot of his accomplishments and programs weren't enough, were the result of compromise with conservative dems and republicans. I don't fault Obama for this, but I do fault Biden for not thinking bigger and seeking to push forward (rather than backwards).
-I think Sanders made a strong case for M4A, in light of the coronavirus crisis. It goes beyond simply providing temporary free health care for people affected by this, as Biden wants to do. There are a lot of potential less direct health issues that can arise out of such a crisis, for instance mental health problems due to high anxiety and prolonged social distancing or the stress of loved ones getting sick, etc. Many people will be unable to afford treatment for those issues once the crisis has subsided. Also, having a universal system in place will make it easier to provide care for more people in potential future crises, whereas the system Biden wants will be less equipped for the impact of suddenly switching gears and providing temporary free coverage to all Americans. Biden kind of made Sanders' point in trying to argue against it. He also has failed to acknowledge that a majority of democratic voters do want M4A. They've compromised their values here to support Biden because they feel he is the better option to defeat Trump. He was very wishy-washy, kept talking about how Sanders doesn't say how he'll pay, even though this information can be found on Sanders' website as well as his page on "the youtube".
-Overall, Biden was very defensive and seemed agitated when called on his senate record, and at multiple points deflected and failed to answer for them, at one point flat out lying about what can easily be found on "the youtube". Then he had the nerve to complain that he wants to focus on the future (and presumably less on the past), yet didn't mind bringing up his own past achievements when it suited his arguments. Say what you want about Sanders, but at least he didn't flat out deny or lie about some of the less popular things he's said and done nearly as much as Biden did last night. Biden did little to earn my trust or faith last night, I was genuinely hoping for more from him.
-I didn't think it was a huge deal when either said they wanted a female VP. I think we all knew it was highly likely the next VP candidate will be a woman, it's just a question of who it will be. Sanders indirectly seemed to hint at Warren when he said he would be looking at progressive female politicians.
-It's also not enough that Sanders tell his supporters to support Biden if nominee. Biden still needs to earn their support. This is what Sanders seemed to be hinting at through much of the debate.
-Knock Sanders on the ebola confusion if you want, but Biden looked no better when he confused it with SARS and then downplayed it by comparing it to the less severe recent H1N1 scare (Trump has been criticized for similarly downplaying the threat of covid19). Sanders may have mixed up his virus names, but at least he seemed to be realizing the full impact of covid19 and addressing it accordingly. The virus name gaffe looked bad for both, but Sanders saved it at the last minute.
-No use of the word "malarkey" from Joe, though he did say "bingo" once. Disappointing. It's one of the more endearing things about Biden, that he's almost fashionably old school with the words he uses.
