Democratic Debate: Harris gets rocked, Gabbard attacks, Yang impresses

Kamala Harris left, appeared to be caught off guard by Tulsi Gabbard's attacks.

Former Vice President Joe Biden must have been secretly smiling during the second night of the Democratic presidential debate when Rep. Tulsi Gabbard attacked Sen. Kamala Harris' record as California's Attorney General.

The second night of the Democratic debates held in Detroit Wednesday night (July 31)  produced fireworks and featured the four candidates of color, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Gabbard and Harris

"Senator Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she'll be a prosecutor president, but I'm deeply concerned about this record," said Gabbard, the Samoan American representing Hawaii. "There are too many examples to cite but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. "

"She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so," Gabbard continued, "she kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California."

Surprisingly, Harris seemed unprepared to respond to the accusations which have been raised since the day Harris announced his candidacy in Oakland. 

Gabbard's attack was predictable based on her criticism of the Indian American senator since Harris caught Biden off-guard with her criticism of Biden's association with anti-segregationist legislators in the first round of the Democratic debates.

"Kamala Harris is not qualified to serve as commander in chief and I can say this from a personal perspective as a soldier," Gabbard said during an Fox News interview  Tuesday. "She's got no background or experience in foreign policy and she lacks the temperament that is necessary for commander in chief."

Harris response avoided answering the accusations directly. She said that she had “personally” always opposed the death penalty. Harris said she was “proud” of her record as California attorney general, drawing a contrast to Gabbard’s job as a legislator.

“I am proud of making a decision, not just give fancy speeches, or be in a legislative body and give speeches on a floor but actually doing the work of being in the position to use the power that I had to reform a system that is badly in need of reform,” Harris said.

From the outset, Harris was on the defensive as candidate after candidate questioned the feasibility her healthcare plan which she outlined earlier this week. Harris was on her heels the rest of the night in contrast to the Miami debate when she was confident and on the offensive.

True to his word, Yang was more aggressive and more animated during the debate. CNN allowed him 8.3 minutes of airtime compared to the 3 minutes in the Miami debate. Still, it was the least time among the candidates. Biden, who was under attack from various rivals most of the night, was given 21 minutes, the most among the 10 candidates on stage. 

In almost all Yang's responses; from foreign policy to health care to immigration to the economy, he repeatedly turned his answers to the policy proposal that has given him the most attention -- his "Freedom Dividend," that would give $1000 a month to every American over 18.

SCREEN CAPTURE

Although Andrew Yang did well in the debate, his bid to become POTUS is still a long-shot.

In his opening statement, the businessman received a positive reaction from the crowd when he said, "We need to do the opposite of much of what we're doing right now, and the opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math."

During the debate, Yang, who considers automation a primary challenge for American workers, garnered both cheers from the Detroit crowd and reactions on social media when mentioning the impact of automation on America's manufacturing jobs and how "immigrants are being scapegoated" while robots fill factories.

With his lectern next to Kamala Harris, Yang pointed out that he's polling better than a slew of politicians. He may not be in the top tier of candidates bu he's polling better than Marianne Williamson, Rep. Seth Moulton, Gov. Jay Inslee, Rep. Tim Ryan, Gov. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Rep. John Delaney, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Steve Bullock, Sen. Michael Bennet, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and on par with former HUD Secretary Julian Castro.

Biden, who remains the frontrunner, was criticized continually throughout the debate for past policies, but he was better prepared than he was in the first round of debates held in June. Often in his answers, Biden appeared to have lost his train of thought and cut short his response.

Sen. Cory Booker abandoned his furrowed brow look from the first debate and was much more animated, smiling and acting more at ease and allowing. He was effective in questioning Biden's criminal justice efforts. Booker said that Biden's get-tough positions was responsible for much of the inequality in the criminal justice system today.

The Democratic debates -- the first night was Tuesday -- in Detroit showcased the differences between the candidates and the divide between the moderates and progressives within the party especially around the issue of healthcare, which took up the most time -- 39 minutes -- of the 2-hour, 45 minute debate.

While Harris has qualified for the next debate in September to be hosted by ABC, it could be the end of the line for several of the lesser known candidates struggling to rise in the pols. At the time of this writing, neither Gabbard or Yang have met the qualifications put forth by the Democratic National Committee.

__________________________________________________________________