The first Democratic debate was last night in Miami and the stage was packed. On the stage were
former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Julián Castro; New York City Mayor
Bill de Blasio; former Maryland Rep.
John Delaney; Hawaii Rep.
Tulsi Gabbard; Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee; Minnesota Sen.
Amy Klobuchar; former Texas Rep.
Beto O’Rourke; Ohio Rep.
Tim Ryan; Massachusetts Sen.
Elizabeth Warren; and
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Our eyes were on Booker, the only Black male candidate in the race. The
latest poll placed Booker in sixth place out of 24 candidates, and he was trailing
Kamala Harris. However, the 50-year-old is riding a wave of momentum that was steadily building up well before
last week’s House testimony about reparations. And his
war of words with
Joe Biden, the frontrunner candidate, over the former vice president’s
glowing words for pro-segregation senators certainly didn’t hurt.
That said, if you looked at Twitter, Booker didn’t shine as bright as many hoped, especially by always plugging that he still lives in the ‘hood in Newark. Speaking of plugging, Mayor Bill de Blasio saying, “There is something that sets me apart from all my colleagues in this race, for the last 21 years, I’ve been raising a Black son in America.” Mayor de Blasio’s son is Dante, who was also mentioned a lot during his run for mayor in New York City. Was it sincere or pandering?
For many, Julián Castro came out on top — and saved his Spanish for the very end, unlike some of the other candidates.
The rest of the Democratic field — Colorado Sen.
Michael Bennet,
Pete Buttigieg, Biden, New York Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand, California Sen.
Kamala Harris, former Colorado Gov.
John Hickenlooper,
Andrew Yang, Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders, California Rep.
Eric Swalwell and
Marianne Williamson — will take the debate stage tonight.
In the meantime, check out some of the hilarious reactions.
