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Live commentary on the fourth Democratic debate
33 Posts
Debate coach: The candidates' report card is in...
At Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate, I’m afraid most of the candidates blended into the stage for me at some point. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a star among them. Here’s how each candidate performed:
Bernie Sanders: A
Throughout the three-hour event, Sen. Sanders was consistently sharper than normal, and he outperformed the others, especially Elizabeth Warren, when explaining the financials of his healthcare plan. I liked his attitude about his health: we can judge it by watching him take the campaign by storm. He was the star of the evening…
Kamala Harris: A-
Sen. Harris flourished by doing the opposite of Sanders. Rather than being restrained, she brought a bit more energy to her debate performance, which she needed. On the topic of abortion, nobody was more powerful than Harris…
Elizabeth Warren: C
Sen. Warren needs to answer the questions. She is simply too smart to ignore the topic she is being asked to address – especially when she’s asked the same thing multiple times. Should Trump’s Twitter account be suspended? I personally don’t know – and neither, it seems, does Warren. How is she planning to pay for Medicare for all? Again, she left us wondering…
Joe Biden: C-
The best part of former Vice President Joe Biden’s debate came toward the end when he highlighted his accomplishments…
Unfortunately, this came a bit late in the night. And for every good answer, Biden had multiple slip-ups…
To read more of Todd Graham’s op-ed, click here.
Todd Graham is the director of debate at Southern Illinois University. His debate teams have won five national championships and he has been recognized three times as the national debate coach of the year. Follow him on Twitter.
Joe Biden's shining moment
Americans – and the world – will wake up the morning after the debate wishing the Democratic candidates focused more sharply on the increasingly urgent matter of US foreign policy. The topic received short shrift on Tuesday night, even though it dominates headlines due to the chaotic, incoherent policies of President Donald Trump, which have already triggered an impeachment inquiry in the US and continue to cause turmoil in the Middle East.
Trump has turned US foreign policy on its head by abandoning our allies, manipulating foreign powers for personal political gain, and expressing an inexplicable affection for anti-democratic rulers.
That’s what former Vice President Joe Biden pointed out in his most passionate and effective moment of the night. “We have an erratic, crazy president, who knows not a damn thing about foreign policy and operates out of fear for his own re-election,” Biden said.
Biden also called Trump out for siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, all while the Kremlin tries to break up NATO. Biden added a chilling – and utterly credible warning – “If [Trump’s] re-elected, I promise you there will be no NATO.”
Tulsi Gabbard, who has a track record of defending Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, also had harsh words for Trump when she said, “Donald Trump has the blood of the Kurds on his hands,” before adding that everyone who supported what she called a “regime-change” war in Syria does as well.
Biden vehemently disagreed and said the US intervened not for regime change, but to “make sure that the regime did not wipe out hundreds of thousands of innocent people between there and the Iraqi border.” He also said the US intervened to prevent ISIS from attacking America, something he said might now happen after Trump’s policy reversal.
Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to the Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis.
Bernie Sanders showed his power---and his heart
My major take-aways from tonight’s debate:
- Rehearsed Joe Biden doesn’t work, plain and simple. He was at his best in the few exchanges when he was unscripted and unfiltered. That energy and passion is precisely what people expect and love about Biden. Let Joe be Joe.
- Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg brought the much-needed perspective and pragmatism of middle-America. They stood out tonight by engaging in vigorous policy debates – and also by reminding us that you can disagree without being disagreeable.
- Bernie Sanders had a heart attack – and got a heart. It’s often been said that he lacks a certain human touch. That vulnerable moment tonight when he thanked people for their well wishes and prayers was powerful. His defense of his positions and policy proposals was equally powerful. Anybody who thought he’d be weakened or diminished after the health scare – anybody who thought he’d pass the progressive torch to Elizabeth Warren and go out to pasture – was gravely mistaken. There’s still a lot of fight left in the guy.
- Elizabeth Warren learned what it’s like to come into a debate as the woman on top: It means everyone shoots their arrows at you. Until today, she was untested as a frontrunner. Tonight’s debate left her a little bruised, but it will ultimately make her a better candidate. Detailed plans are not enough – people also want to know how you’re going to implement and pay for those plans.
- Democrats have shown again that there is great diversity of thought within their party. Whether it’s health care, gun reform, regulating big tech or so many other issues, it’s clear that many ideas are welcome in the Democratic tent.
- If the presidency eludes her grasp, Tulsi Gabbard may want to explore a future career as a debate moderator. But tonight wasn’t the night to start auditioning.
Ana Navarro is a Republican strategist and CNN political commentator.
The newly supercharged candidacies
Bernie Sanders rebounded from his heart attack. Joe Biden maintained his steady, stable, strength. And Elizabeth Warren fended off a slew of attacks. But two candidates clocking in single-digit poll numbers stole the show. Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg used wit, facts, and charm to supercharge their candidacies.
Klobuchar, especially, used the crucial first 30 minutes to command the stage. She took the fight squarely to President Donald Trump on his precipitous withdrawal from Syria, saying, “I would like to hear from him about how coddling up to Vladimir Putin makes America great again. It doesn’t make America great again. It makes Russia great again.”
Another single-digit candidate, Pete Buttigieg, ripped Elizabeth Warren on health care: “Your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything, except this. No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion-dollar hole in this Medicare for All plan that Senator Warren is putting forward is supposed to get filled in.”
Yes, before the debate, the top tier was Elizabeth, Joe, and Bernie. But after tonight’s debate, keep your eye on Amy and Pete.
Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 and served as a counselor to Clinton in the White House
Upstarts come after Biden's base
For three debates, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has been proficient but not commanding. He has offered thoughtful, well-turned answers but without much power or connection.
Tonight, he brought something more. On health care, guns and particularly, President Trump’s withdrawal from Syria and the betrayal of our Kurdish allies, Buttigieg, a war veteran who served in Afghanistan, showed genuine edge and passion.
He directly challenged frontrunner Elizabeth Warren and others on the stage over Medicare for All and delivered a riveting rebuke of President Trump’s precipitous withdrawal from Syria.
The boyish South Bend mayor needed to bring an A, for Alpha, game to address the stature gap that has been a barrier to his progress. Already showing movement in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, Buttigieg needed a spark tonight to help his campaign ignite–and he may have gotten one.
Similarly, Amy Klobuchar had a very strong night just when she absolutely needed it. Flirting with elimination from the November debate due to poor poll numbers and laggard fundraising, Klobuchar more aggressively reached to claim the centrist mantle she has sought from the beginning.
In previous debates, Klobuchar seemed uncomfortable and unwilling to fully contest the issues with her opponents. Not so tonight. She engaged with Warren on health care and other issues with well-crafted, colloquial points and flashes of her trademark humor.
If Buttigieg and Klobuchar took a step up tonight, it could be at the expense of Joe Biden, who seemed to disappear for long periods. The two upstart candidates are vying for the votes of centrist Democrats who form the core of Biden’s base.
If their candidacies look more plausible tomorrow than they did today, their gains might come at Biden’s expense.
David Axelrod, a senior CNN political commentator and host of “The Axe Files,” was senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns.
The inequality measure that should have been discussed
In a question to Sen. Bernie Sanders about taxing the wealthy, Erin Burnett said, “Income inequality is growing in the United States at an alarming rate.”
Burnett went on to ask Tom Steyer, “What’s your plan for closing the income gap?”
The Democratic candidate seized the question to justify government interventions – a creep toward socialism – by taxing job creators, rather than helping them by cutting bureaucratic red tape.
Burnett, along with the Democratic candidates, chose to focus on income inequality instead of consumption inequality – a better measure of how the middle class is doing because it examines the market basket of goods necessary to live. It also takes into account whether consumers borrow or save, or receive transfers from family members or the government.
But by framing the conversations about inequality around income instead of consumption, the Democratic candidates ignored the tremendous gains flowing to everyday consumers through technological and other efficiencies.
We examined this common economic narrative at Accuracy In Media, where we noted research from University of Chicago’s Bruce Meyer writing for the Manhattan Institute think tank: “Since 2006, the ratio of the 90th percentile to the 10th percentile shows rising inequality when incomes are compared, but a decline in inequality when consumption is examined.”
Carrie Sheffield is National Editor for Accuracy In Media, a citizens’ media watchdog whose mission is to promote accuracy, fairness and balance in news reporting.
A Republican ranks the debaters
1. Elizabeth Warren
2.Joe Biden
3.Amy Klobuchar
4.Bernie Sanders
5. Pete Buttigieg
6. Tulsi Gabbard
7. Kamala Harris
8. Cory Booker
9.Beto O’Rourke
10. Julian Castro
11. Andrew Yang
12. Tom Steyer
Alice Stewart is a CNN political commentator, a resident fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard University and former communications director for Ted Cruz for President.
A Democrat ranks the debaters
1. Amy Klobuchar
2. Pete Buttigieg
3.Cory Booker
4.Bernie Sanders
5. Joe Biden
6. Kamala Harris
7.Elizabeth Warren
8. Julian Castro
9.Andrew Yang
10. Beto O’Rourke
11. Tom Steyer
12 Tulsi Gabbard
Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton’s administration. He co-hosts the podcast “Words Matter.”
Biden runs strong--in the moderate lane
If Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg were as good at the first Democratic debate as they were last night in the fourth, the race for the party nomination might be very different. Both were passionate and engaging and offered voters a choice of a more moderate standard-bearer for the party.
They were tentative in earlier debates, trying to find firm footing. It was previously difficult to imagine either one in the Oval Office. They fell into a second, even third tier and seemed close to the exits. But they found their voices last night and gave Joe Biden and especially Elizabeth Warren strong pushbacks.
Their success may not last; coming into last night, it appeared that Klobuchar may not even make it to the debate stage for the next round. It will be interesting to see if voters now spark to her campaign.
Another unknown is whether there is truly room in the Democratic Party for a more centrist candidate to seize the nomination. To draw upon language now popular among Democrats, Joe Biden currently occupies the moderate lane. Only if he falters badly will Klobuchar or Buttigieg have a major opening. But last night was Biden’s best debate — he was especially strong on the Middle East and in his closing statement — so he is likely to come out of the debate a bit stronger than when he entered.
It also became apparent last night that the fight between moderates and the Democratic left – while healthy – could be highly consequential for the general election.
Elizabeth Warren remains the single best debater but her insistent embrace of Medicare for All could also be her undoing next fall. Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg all made persuasive arguments against her, asking to see her numbers. If they can drill holes so easily, it isn’t hard to see Donald Trump showing up with a bulldozer.
David Gergen is a CNN senior political analyst and professor of public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he founded the Center for Public Leadership.
Mayor Pete seemed presidential
The foreign policy failures of Donald Trump’s administration have been more front-and-center in recent weeks than at any other point during his presidency. In tonight’s debate, the candidates clearly articulated the dire consequences of an America who betrays her allies and bows to the will of dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Unlike domestic policy issues, foreign affairs are the area where the President has the most unilateral impact. The next president has to be able to step into the Oval Office on day one and begin to put the pieces of our broken alliances back together.
Joe Biden gave one of his strongest answers of the night when he differentiated himself from all the other candidates by reminding voters of his direct experience in foreign policy, having “spent thousands of hours in the Situation Room”.
But it was Mayor Pete Buttigieg who shined during this portion of the debate. For the first time, Buttigieg’s foreign policy chops were on display. He looked and sounded presidential. He had command of the issues, reminded voters of the seriousness of Trump’s betrayals and the need to restore America’s credibility on the world stage. Frankly, he stole the moment from Biden.
This was one of many great turns from Mayor Pete throughout the evening. He also took on Sen. Elizabeth Warren on health care and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke on guns, with thoughtful responses. Sen. Amy Klobuchar also had a stellar night–landing several haymakers against Warren–with her pragmatic, moderate approach. We’ll see if early state voters took notice.
Tara Setmayer is a former GOP communications director, host of the “Honestly Speaking with Tara” podcast and a CNN political contributor.
Warren dodged -- and Buttigieg pounced
I find it puzzling that Elizabeth Warren won’t just say she’s raising taxes to pay for Medicare for All. She gets asked this question frequently – and always goes into dodge mode, never offering a simple “yes” or “no.”
What’s amazing is that she will straightforwardly tell you she’s for things like free health care for undocumented immigrants and taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries for prison inmates. These are massively unpopular things, and she’s willing to own them outright.
But when it comes to taxes, she dodges. And people notice. Mayor Pete Buttigieg rightly called her out for her evasiveness – just as Donald Trump will in 2020.
Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor, is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a former campaign adviser to US Sen. Mitch McConnell. He is a partner at RunSwitch Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky.
What this horse race is really about
Here’s where we stand: Former Vice President Joe Biden is struggling, Senator Elizabeth Warren is emerging as the frontrunner, and other candidates still see a path toward victory. And it’s become clear that fellow Democrats will try to displace Warren by claiming that her ideas are unrealistic.
But the horse race is only part of the story. Some of the most interesting moments tonight came when Democrats turned to foreign policy. President Donald Trump has opened up another massive opportunity for every candidate in the party. The fiasco in Syria has given Democrats an easy way to claim a national security advantage over the GOP.
The President’s missteps have led to the Free Syrian Army releasing ISIS fighters while Russian and Syrian forces take hold of territory previously held by US allies.
Trump’s withdrawal of US troops from Syria gives Democrats the opportunity to show voters how the President poses a serious risk to US national security. His decisions are not just impulsive or erratic; they are downright dangerous.
This will be one of the most important arguments for Democrats going into 2020 – and a way to help voters understand the cost of allowing the Trump presidency to continue.
Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and author of the forthcoming book, “Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party.”
Cory Booker is a class act
Why can’t America show more love for Sen. Cory Booker?
It’s a question I’ve asked after all four Democratic debates, as I’ve watched the senator from New Jersey turn in strong performances. Despite often commanding the stage, he still struggles in the polls. What gives?
Booker is a smart, bold thinker. He understands how to connect critical issues – like reproductive rights, a $15 minimum wage, and the scourge of gun violence – to the lives of everyday Americans. His commonsense approach to politics was more apparent than ever tonight, when he talked about the divisive issue of President Trump’s impeachment.
The senator said the impeachment is a Constitutional issue and must be about “about patriotism and not partisanship,” he said, adding that the proceedings must be carried out in a way “that doesn’t rip us apart.” Who could not agree with that?
His peers —Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris — gave more emotionally-charged answers, making their personal disdain for President Trump crystal clear when they spoke about why they thought he should be impeached. (I, for one, am tired of the personal attacks in politics. And I don’t think I’m alone.)
But Cory Booker? A class act. He insists on showing America that we can be passionate about our ideas and decent to one another at the same time. That we can disagree and remain respectful. And that, more than anything, is a message that many Americans need to hear from our next president.
Forget the polls, kudos to Cory Booker.
Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has been a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of “Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete.” She talks politics, sports and culture weekly on Philadelphia’s Praise 107.9 FM.
The media need to ask Warren some tough questions
At tonight’s debate we saw the mantle of Democratic frontrunner pass from former Vice President Joe Biden to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Now conservatives will watch closely to see if the national media asks Warren the tough questions that, to date, she’s largely avoided.
During the debate, there was a notable pattern of lower-polling candidates turning their fire toward Warren, after striking at Biden in earlier debates. Biden’s candidacy has clearly been wounded by scrutiny around such issues as accusations from women of inappropriate touching and his son’s business practices abroad.
So far, Warren has generally breezed by with neutral or favorable media coverage, including a fawning, highly produced New York Times profile on “How to Get a Selfie With Elizabeth Warren in 8 Steps.”
In the days and weeks ahead, will the media point out that the agency Warren touted tonight onstage – her brainchild, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – was shown in a report from the Government Accountability Office to be troubled by complaints of internal racism and anti-woman bias?
Will the media press Warren on her support for offering government health care to undocumented immigrants, even though national polling shows that 58% of Americans oppose this policy and just 38% support it?
Will the media ask Warren why she endorsed Julián Castro’s proposal to decriminalize border crossings, even though 66% of Americans reject this idea?
Asking Warren and other Democrats tougher questions will help the national media rebuild its eroding trust among Republicans and conservatives.
Carrie Sheffield is National Editor for Accuracy In Media, a citizens’ media watchdog whose mission is to promote accuracy, fairness and balance in news reporting.
Really rough night for Elizabeth Warren
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been surging in the polls and she’s paying the price in the debate. She’s become the relentless target of attacks tonight, and has already suffered lasting wounds from the onslaught.
Warren’s position may play well with Democratic activists, who usually dominate in primary elections. But this year is different, since Democratic voters want someone who can readily beat President Donald Trump. When more moderate candidates came out on the offensive, Warren’s positions looked further left.
Warren refused to answer “yes or no” on repeated questions about whether her Medicare for All plan would raise taxes on the middle class. She dodged the question, saying it would “lower costs.” It fooled no one, and it was not a good look. Mayor Pete Buttigieg called her out, “You heard it tonight: a yes or no question that didn’t get a yes or no answer.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar hit again. “I appreciate Elizabeth’s work,” she said. “But again, the difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done.”
The problem with Warren’s plan is not just that it would raise taxes or that it would be hard to implement, but that most Americans do not want it. Polls show two-thirds of Americans want a national health care plan, but less than one third want it to replace their private health insurance.
It has not been a good night for Warren, even if she was all but crowned the frontrunner given the attacks from other candidates.
Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to the Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis.
The biggest loser? Donald Trump
The biggest loser in tonight’s debate was President Donald Trump. Democrats trained their fire on him much more consistently than in earlier debates. Each and every Democrat hammered Trump on issues ranging from the disaster of withdrawing from Syria to the abuse of power in Ukraine. In addition, many of the candidates were measured and articulate in talking about how the impeachment process needs to be fair, serious and not political.
What should be worrisome to Trump is the strength of the moderates in this debate. While the most progressive candidates seem to get the lion’s share of media and Twitter attention, most Democrats reside in the center and center-left. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker all made strong showings tonight, with Joe Biden finding his groove when the debate turned to foreign policy.
There will be a mixed bag of winners and losers based on the pundits’ marks. There will be no debate on this being a loss for Trump.
Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton’s administration. He co-hosts the podcast “Words Matter.”
Candidates slam Trump on Syria move
Tonight we saw an extended dispute between Rep.Tulsi Gabbard and most of the other candidates onstage about Gabbard’s commitment to ending what she calls “regime-change wars.”
The exchange highlighted the fact that many Democrats have shaken off their hesitation about committing American troops to troubled spots around the world.
One lesson of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t want to be involved in endless wars. That view, supported by various polls, suggests that candidates should be cautious about pledging themselves to military involvements.
But the recent Turkish incursion into Syria, launched with the tacit approval of President Trump, has convinced Democrats to pounce on the President. Tonight Joe Biden called him “an erratic, crazy president who doesn’t know a damn thing about foreign policy.”
By contrast, the Democratic candidates tonight competed to prove they are prepared to repair America’s tarnished image in the Middle East and elsewhere by committing military power without an expiration date. The candidates catalogued the problems caused by Trump’s abrupt withdrawal of US forces from Syria, from lowering the morale of American troops (“they’re ashamed,” said Mayor Pete Buttigieg) to questions about whether US allies like Israel can trust America’s promises in future.
The popular notion that America can’t be the world’s policeman only sounds good until you see what happens when the policeman turns its back and goes off duty.
Errol Louis is the host of “Inside City Hall,” a nightly political show on NY1, a New York all-news channel.
Why Elizabeth Warren got the frontrunner treatment
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has worked methodically and effectively this entire year to climb to the top of the Democratic race for president. Now she’s there and, tonight, she’s getting the frontrunner treatment from her opponents.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg has been signaling for days that he would challenge Warren on her support for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All plan tonight. And he did. So did Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden. But Warren has exposed herself to them by maintaining a kind of strategic ambiguity about her precise prescription on health care.
The Massachusetts senator, who has offered a plan for just about every other problem, has been cagey about the cost of Medicare for All to taxpayers and, and in a post-debate discussion on CNN deflected questions about the elimination of private insurance.
When I questioned her for The Axe Files in an August swing through Iowa, she allowed that she has been affected by concerns she has heard on the trail. She has spoken about proceeding thoughtfully and “bringing all the stakeholders to the table.”
All of this led me to believe Warren is waiting to put Sanders in her rear view mirror and consolidate the left before unveiling her own plan that would include more nuance and choice than Bernie’s.
She didn’t show that tonight, hanging tough on Medicare for All and hoping that her lofty aspirations would outweigh her vague details.
She may fill in the picture later.
But until then, she will be left to parry attacks like the ones her opponents launched tonight.
David Axelrod, a senior CNN political commentator and host of “The Axe Files,” was senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns.
Bernie is back
Bernie is back.
In advance of Tuesday’s debate there was widespread speculation about how Senator Bernie Sanders, 78, would fare on his return to the national stage after suffering a heart attack. Would he display his trademark vigor? Would his performance be as passionate and feisty as before his health scare?
The answer on both counts is yes.
Sanders came out strong from the start, unequivocally declaring President Donald Trump “the most corrupt president in the history of this country.” During an early discussion of Trump’s Ukraine scandal, Sanders offered the crucial reminder that Democrats cannot focus solely on the current president – that they must also focus on problems like climate change and the plight of working-class Americans.
Sanders’ persona appears undimmed, to the point where his presence and energy seemed to overshadow younger rivals like Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer.
Sanders’ signature blunt assessments are intact; tonight he called the US health care system “dysfunctional” and “cruel.” Like him or not, Sanders cannot be written off yet.
Tonight, we are reminded why Sanders is a unique phenomenon: He remains as bold and impassioned as ever. He has a powerful sense of righteous outrage and a clear vision for the future.
In marked contrast to former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders comes across as hungry for the Democratic nomination – and raring to continue his quest for the White House.
Raul Reyes is an attorney and frequent contributor to CNN Opinion.
The answer Biden should have given on his son
Joe Biden has been egregiously slandered by President Trump’s corruption conspiracy theories.
There has been no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe Biden or his son Hunter Biden. Indeed, Joe Biden has insisted that there was nothing wrong with his son Hunter serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, which reportedly paid him as much as $50,000 a month, while Biden was vice president.
And here’s the conundrum:
Biden says there was nothing wrong with Hunter’s positions when he was VP.
But he assures us that the younger Biden will forswear such affiliations if Biden is elected president.
In other words:
Hunter didn’t do anything wrong but he won’t do it again.
Why not just acknowledge what his son did in the same way Hunter did in an ABC interview this morning by copping to “poor judgment” over the appearance of a conflict of interest?
Instead, Joe Biden continued to sidestep the issue tonight.
David Axelrod, a senior CNN political commentator and host of “The Axe Files,” was senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns.
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