During the first Democratic Primary debate, the candidates were not just speaking a different language literally. They were speaking a different political language than the rest of America.

The debate encompassed most of the major and controversial political issues Americans care about the most. Yet the candidates did not only fail to understand whereAmericans stand on these issues – they were LITERALLY speaking a different language.

The debate was essentially competitions of who could give away more free stuff and who could use identity politics the most.

The debate was essentially competitions of who could give away more free stuff, and who could use identity politics the most. Not only using their time at the mic to pander towards identity groups such as women, African-Americans, and Hispanics, but to put themselves into as many of those identity groups as possible.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio talked about his African-American son; Senator Cory Booker discussed his heritage as an African-American; and Senator Elizabeth Warren bit her tongue to refrain from identifying as a Native American.

Many of the candidates used their ‘working class’ backgrounds as qualifications. Qualifications for what exactly is unclear. But Senator Klobuchar wants to make sure you know she’s thinking about her deer hunting uncle while she legislates – because she cares about ‘normal people’.

ESPAÑOL

Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke was the first to speak Spanish, followed by Senator Corey Booker and Julián Castro – and one of the moderators.

If this is a desperate attempt to win the vote of the Hispanic community… this ain’t it, chief. It is incredibly insulting to Hispanic-Americans for non-Hispanic individuals think speaking (rather poor) Spanish is all it takes to win the their support.

Although America does not have an official language, 32 states have made English their official language.

Although America does not have an official language, 32 states have made English their official language.

There is a reason (the majority of) the debate was in English. The same reason English is the default language on American-based television networks and radio stations, what our founding documents are written in, and what is used in schools. America is an English-speaking nation.

This is not Belgium, nor Canada; we do not have two or three official languages. When foreigners visit America, they expect English to be spoken.

There may be certain sections within cities where the majority of residence are of a non-American culture, and thus that culture’s language is most prominent. But generally, most of America speaks English.

Beto, Booker, and Castro’s pandering to certain identity groups is not progressive or inclusive – it’s embarrassing.

IMMIGRATION

The Spanish-speaking was largely aimed at the border debate – and virtually every candidate on stage is an open-borders advocate.

The General Social Survey’s data shows that the majority of Americans want immigration levels to be reduced or stay the same, thirty-four and forty-one per cent, respectively.

In contrast, only twenty-three per cent of Americans want immigration rates to increase.

Candidates such as Booker called out the President (in Spanish) for his views on immigration. The President effectively wants a safe and secure border, so we can make sure bad people are not coming into the United States. Trump wants to put Americans first.

Considering Democrats want healthcare and voting rights for illegals, they are less concerned with putting American citizens first.

Considering Democrats want healthcare and voting rights for illegals, they are less concerned with putting American citizens first.

Castro says he would reform immigration immediately as President.

“On day one, I would do that executive order that would address metering. And then I would follow that up in my first 100 days with immigration reform that would honor asylum claims, that would put undocumented immigrants, as long as they haven’t committed a serious crime, on a pathway to citizenship.”

Beto addressed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), saying “would rewrite our immigration laws in our own image, free Dreamers forever from any fear of deportation by making them U.S. citizens here in this country.”

ABORTION

The abortion debate that took place on stage wasn’t whether abortion should be legal, whether it is moral, and if the government should be funding it – all the candidates are in agreement that abortion is all of these things.

The debate on abortion was really centered around who could could have the most liberal policies on abortion and prove they care about women the most.

The most controversial statement on abortion came from Castro, who went as far as to say that ‘trans females’ should have access to government funded abortion:

“Let’s also not forget someone in the trans community, a trans female, is poor, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to exercise that right to choose.”

A trans female is a biological male who identifies as a female.

“I don’t believe only in reproductive freedom, I believe in reproductive justice,” Castro says. He explains he would appoint judges who “understand the precedent of Roe v. Wade and will respect it.”

However most Americans don’t agree that government should be funding abortions. William Saletan of Slate explains:

“In every poll, a plurality of Americans opposes public funding of abortions… In every poll but one, that plurality is a majority. The questions vary, but the result is the same.”

HEALTHCARE

Not surprising, ‘Medicare for All’ was the theme of the night. However it was debated whether or not private insure should still be allowed to exist.

Booker, for one, believes in doing away with private insurance completely.

“But I have an urgency about this. When I am president of the United States, I’m not going to wait. We have to do the things immediately that are going to provide better care. And on this debate, I’m sorry. There are too many people profiteering off of the pain of people in America, from pharmaceutical companies to insurers.

“Literally, the overhead for insurances that they charge is 15 percent, while Medicare’s overhead is only at 2 percent. We can do this better. And every single day, I will be fighting to give people more access and more affordable costs until we get to my goal… Which is every American having health care.”

John Delany suggests Medicare for All should be implemented, but ‘if you like your private insurance, you can keep your private insurance’.

“We should giver everyone in this country health care as a basic human right for free, full stop. But we should also give them the option to buy private insurance.Why do we have to stand for taking away something from people? And also it’s bad policy. If you go to every hospital in this country and you ask them one question, which is how would it have been for you last year if every one of your bills were paid at the Medicare rate? Every single hospital administrator said they would close.

“And the Medicare for all bill requires payments to stay at current Medicare rates. So to some extent, we’re supporting a bill that will have every hospital closing. I mean, my dad was a union electrician, right? I actually grew up in a working-class family. He loved the health care that the IBEW gave him. And I just always think about my dad in anything I would do from a policy perspective. He’d look at me and he’d say, good job, John, for getting health care for every American. But why are you taking my health care away?”

CLIMATE CHANGE

Although many were shocked climate changed only received seven minutes of attention, Governor Jay Inslee made sure it was known he is the “only candidate who’s made this commitment to make [climate change] the top priority” if he were president.

“When I was thinking about whether to run for president, I made a decision. I decided that on my last day on Earth, I wanted to look [my grandchildren] in the eye and tell them I did everything humanly possible to protect them from the ravages of the climate crisis.”

Will the second group speak the political language of Americans, or will they too spew an increasingly fringe leftist agenda?

Although Inslee may be the only one making it the priority, the Democrats are known for propagating that climate change is an imminent threat to our survival. Warren is one of the candidates who have already proposed aggressive plans to combat climate change.

In 2018, Climate Change Communication at Yale found climate change to rank only 15th our of 28th on the issues voters care about most. Healthcare, the economy, and social security took the top three spots.

Democrats basing their entire – or at least large portion of- their campaigns on climate change, does not line up with American’s priorities.

As we approach night two of the first Democratic primary debates, we’ll see how the next batch of presidential hopefuls handles these topics.

Will the second group speak the political language of Americans, or will they too spew an increasingly fringe leftist agenda?

Click here to read the full transcript of the first debate.

Sofia Carbone is a junior editor at Human Events