DETROIT _ A field of 10 Democratic candidates for president split sharply over the question of healthcare and other issues Tuesday night in Detroit with progressive standard-bearers Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren defending government-run healthcare and other proposals from attacks by more moderate candidates calling them too extreme.
As the first of two nights of debates at Detroit's historic Fox Theatre got underway, several of the trailing candidates _ former U.S. Rep. John Delaney of Maryland and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock among them _ hit Sanders and Warren, who are two of the front-runners, for making proposals that could take employer-provided insurance away from 180 million Americans in favor of what is being called Medicare-for-All.
It was a precursor for the rest of the night as the candidates battled on how far Democrats should be prepared to go in offering bold ideas that could be difficult, if not impossible, to implement and that could scare off more moderate voters as the party tries to oust President Donald Trump next year.
"You might as well FedEx the election to Donald Trump," said former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper at one point.
"Every credible poll that I have seen has me beating Donald Trump," said Sanders, who also pointed out that also goes for Michigan, which backed Trump by a slim 10,704-vote margin in 2016.
That was just one of a night full of testy exchanges: Another came early, as U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, challenged Sanders by saying he couldn't know the effect of his healthcare proposals could have on union members, including thousands in Michigan, who could lose their current coverage. Responded Sanders, "I do know it, I wrote the damn bill."
Republicans were quick to dismiss the Democrats, despite many polls showing Trump's reelection hopes in trouble more than a year before the election. "Same radical Democrats. Same big government socialist message," said Kayleigh McEnany, Trump's national campaign press secretary.
"After tonight I'm even more confident that President Trump will win Michigan in 2020," said Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox.
