Democratic front runners Biden, Sanders and Warren finally square off in primary debate
- The candidates made an effort to praise the legacy of Barack Obama, after facing criticism for attacking his policies on health care and immigration
- First two debates were contentious but the candidates this time tried to emphasise their areas of agreement
Democratic presidential front runner Joe Biden clashed with progressive challengers Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on health care in a debate on Thursday, defending Obamacare and challenging them to be honest about the cost of their plans.
With the top 10 Democratic candidates sharing the debate stage for the first time in Houston, the contenders spent more time expressing their shared opposition to Republican President Donald Trump and pared back some of the bickering that marked the first two debates this summer.
But the Democrats quickly renewed their battle over health care, the issue that has ignited the most heated debates in the campaign for the party’s nomination to face Trump in the November 2020 election.
Biden, who served as vice-president for eight years under Barack Obama, said he would build on his landmark health care law, the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and accused Warren and Sanders of wanting to tear it down with Medicare for All, a government-run health care plan that would eliminate private insurance.
“I know that the senator says she’s for Bernie. Well I’m for Barack. I think Obamacare worked,” Biden said, asking Warren and Sanders to explain how they would pay for their plans. “This is about candour, honesty, big ideas.”
Warren, a US senator from Massachusetts who has moved into second behind Biden in many opinion polls of the Democratic race, praised Obama’s health care efforts but said more was needed.
