Ten Democratic candidates faced off for the first time Wednesday night in Miami, making repeated appeals to the working class and targeting corporations as they jockey for position in the 2020 presidential primary. Some key business issues barely came up during the first Democratic debate. President Donald Trump's trade war with China and pledges to break up technology titans saw little or no mention during the two hours of debate. But Democrats drilled into arguments that they are best equipped to boost the working and middle classes as they elbow to gain ground in a field of two dozen strong. From pledging to make opioid companies criminally liable, promising to reduce drug prices and proposing to take on corporate consolidation, the 2020 candidates kept up the scrutiny of corporate America and the wealthy that has marked the early days of the primary cycle.

From the start, contenders aimed to show how they could improve a solid U.S. economy earning strong marks from voters. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called for "structural change" to improve a system she says benefits "giant" drug and oil companies but not consumers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Trump "sits in the White House and gloats" while Americans struggle to afford college and health-care premiums. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke said he would reverse the 2017 GOP tax cuts and hike the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21% to pay for social programs. And Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., argued that indicators "from GDP to Wall Street's rankings is not helping people in my community." Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, slammed General Motors for having the "audacity" to move car production to Mexico after getting a tax cut and a taxpayer bailout.

Democratic presidential hopefuls (from 3rdL) US Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker, US Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren, and former US Representative for Texas' 16th congressional district Beto O'Rourke arrive to participate in the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, June 26, 2019. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

The first of two nights of debates showed a Democratic field itching to prove a populist bent in a party that has increasingly argued large corporations have prospered while consumers have suffered. And Warren — the highest polling candidate on stage Wednesday night who has pushed to break up companies from Amazon to Monsanto and tax wealth above $50 million — faced no direct attacks from her competitors. Aseem Prakash, a University of Washington political science professor, said he saw inequality and the message of big corporations working against America as the main theme of the night. He called it a "serious problem" that "the rank and file of the Democratic Party want to hear." Prakash described the message "populism light." The second of the two debate nights, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo, will take place 9 p.m. ET Thursday. ET. It will feature three of the race's top contenders in former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. Divisions have surfaced among those three candidates on economic issues from trade to health care.