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Here’s What We’d Like to See Discussed at the Democratic Debate

Bernie Sanders vs. Elizabeth Warren will surely take center stage at tonight’s debate, but this supposed beef isn’t the most important thing on the global agenda.

by Maxine Wally

Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate In Detroit Over Two Nights
Justin Sullivan

It feels like eons ago that the approximately 100,000 Democratic presidential candidates hit the stage for their last debate. (It was, in fact, less than one month ago on December 19, and as of yesterday, with Senator Cory Booker dropping out of the race, there are exactly 12 candidates left.) Since that day, an inconceivable amount of newsworthy, blindsiding and, at times, devastating events have occurred. The Australian bushfires. Acts of war against Iran. A potential impeachment forges on. Megxit, for Christ’s sake.

And yet, here we are, discussing a topic that will surely take center stage at tonight’s Democratic debate, which airs at 9 p.m. EST: an alleged beef between Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The story goes that in 2018, Sanders and Warren met for a one-on-one meeting in which Sanders reportedly told Warren he couldn’t see a woman winning the presidency. According to CNN, Sanders denied ever making such comments yesterday, adding: “It is ludicrous to believe that at the same meeting where Elizabeth Warren told me she was going to run for president, I would tell her that a woman couldn’t win.” But Warren has doubled down on her account. “I thought a woman could win; he disagreed,” she said.

It’s the final debate before the Iowa caucuses—and this is what’s being discussed? We’d like to officially submit a list of topics we’d rather hear the candidates talk about instead.

Climate change. It is at the top of this register for a reason. Knowing what the future United States democratic nominee’s plan for the future will be is of the utmost importance. The fires in Australia, bizarre and unseasonable temperature changes, harsher catastrophic events like hurricanes and droughts—let’s not dance around this subject.

The situation in Iran. Rolled into this discussion is a foreign policy stance, and questions of the downed Ukrainian plane, which resulted in the deaths of all 176 passengers aboard. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has outright stated that the event occurred as a result of heightened tensions with the U.S. How would a potential next president deal with this situation?

What’s their stance on Trump? And how should the impeachment be handled—especially since some of the candidates are active members of the senate and will have to ditch the campaign trail at an inconvenient time to cast their vote?

Rising rents and cost of living. At a time when America’s economy is purportedly strong, home ownership numbers are dropping and rates of homelessness, especially in cities, is high. How will the next administration address this? And who’s willing to acknowledge inequality and gentrification’s part in the problem?

The Yang Question. Who else supports the “freedom dividend”? Is a $1,000 stipend from the government, every month for the rest of our lives, just a pipe dream?