Ten Democrats on Wednesday clashed in the first debate of the US presidential race, with US Senator Elizabeth Warren cementing her status as a top-tier candidate and several underdogs using the issue of immigration to clamor for the limelight.
The biggest US political debate since the 2016 presidential campaign is occurring over two nights in Miami, climaxing yesterday with former US vice president Joe Biden squaring off against nine challengers, including US Senator Bernie Sanders.
However, the first take was a spirited encounter between Democrats such as former US representative Beto O’Rourke, US Senator Cory Booker, former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on subjects as varied as healthcare, economic inequality, climate change, gun violence, Iran and immigration.
Photo: AFP
Despite the feverish political climate in Washington and heavy campaigning in early voting states, millions of Americans were tuning in to the race for the first time.
What they heard right off the bat was Warren, the ideological progressive and only candidate on stage polling a double-digit percentage, knocking what she calls a rigged economy.
“Who’s this economy really working for?” asked Warren, who received the first question.
“When you’ve got a government, when you have an economy that does great for those with money and is not doing great for everyone else, that is corruption, pure and simple,” the former Harvard law professor said. “We need to call it out.”
With so many people on stage, candidates enjoying their first exposure to a broad national audience each had limited time to make their mark, perhaps winning a viral moment that advances their cause, draws new donors and keeps them in the headlines, but the backdrop to the debate — the mushrooming crisis on the US-Mexico border, the detention of migrant children in squalid conditions and a shocking photograph of a Salvadorean man and his baby daughter drowned in the Rio Grande — led to swift, tense exchanges.
Castro, the only Latino in the race, and who unveiled a sweeping immigration plan earlier this year, called the photograph “heartbreaking.”
“It should also piss us all off and it should spur us to action,” he said.
De Blasio, a late entrant to the race, earned loud applause when he reminded citizens immigrants are not their enemies.
“For all the American citizens who feel you are falling behind and the American dream is not working for you, the immigrants didn’t do that to you,” De Blasio said. “The big corporations did that to you.”
More than any other candidate, Warren, 70, has given a clear picture of her presidential priorities, such as instituting a wealth tax, breaking up big technology companies and securing the US election system.
In closing remarks she recalled growing up in Oklahoma where a government-funded community college helped her get a break.
“I am in this fight because I believe that we can make our government, we can make our economy, we can make our country work not just for those at the top. We can make it work for everyone,” she said. “And I promise you this: I will fight for you as hard as I fight for my own family.”
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source