Moderators’ tight grip on the first Dem debate night loosened as the night wore on
The five moderators of Wednesday’s Democratic debate tried to cover it all – every major topic, every candidate, even every style of moderating.
In the first half of the primetime event, the first of the primary cycle, the strategy appeared to be to zero in on the topics of utmost concern to Democratic primary voters.Sign Up Holt and Guthrie repeatedly cut in, telling the candidates when they were out of time in order to keep the proceedings moving, though Holt let New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio interject to spar with former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke on healthcare policy.
But after Guthrie and Díaz-Balart exited and Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow took to the stage, things seemed to change, starting with the technical problems. Audio, apparently from backstage, cut into a question about gun policy, distracting the candidates and the audience. poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201906/1088/1155968404_6052790582001_6052792248001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404"The fast pace also gave some lesser-known candidates a chance for a moment. Maddow asked Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio about the Taliban claiming responsibility on Wednesday for killing two U.S. service members. Gabbard, an Iraq war veteran, argued that “we cannot keep U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan” in hopes of defeating the Taliban.
But the biggest backlash of the night was against what some felt was short shrift given to climate change, which activists had lobbied the Democratic National Committee to make the sole focus of a debate. The party declined, and NBC was subsequently pressured to make sure the topic got sufficient attention at the first debate.
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