Democrats blast Biden on social justice ahead of Miami convention for black journalists
Sen.
And at times, former Vice President
Booker, who was onstage with Biden Wednesday, repeatedly criticized the former vice president over deportations that took place when he was in the Obama administration. Immigration advocates have often slammed President
"You can't have it both ways," Booker said. "You invoke
Booker said that Biden's suggestion of favoring immigrants with certain qualifications would be "playing into
Responding to his critics, Biden said that making illegal border crossings a civil crime would effectively create open borders.
"If you cross the border illegally, you should be able to be sent back," he said.
But Booker's attacks on Biden are unlikely to hurt the Democratic frontrunner, according to
"The attacks on him [Biden] have backfired to this point," Seawright said.
In
Booker, Buttigieg and Sanders will be part of a presidential candidates' forum in Miami
During Wednesday's debate, much as in
The 1994 crime law was a massive piece of legislation that drew support from
"This is a crisis in our country because we have treated issues of race and poverty, mental health and addiction with locking people up and not lifting people up," Booker said.
Biden shot back at Booker, saying he allowed police to use stop-and-frisk tactics when he was mayor in
The issue of race also came up Tuesday, when the first 10 candidates debated.
Buttigieg was pressed by
Buttigieg said race relations have improved under his watch.
"I'm not saying that I became mayor and racism or crime or poverty ended on my watch. But in our city, we have come together repeatedly to tackle challenges, like the fact that far too many people were not getting the help they needed in their housing and so we directed it to a historically under-invested
Buttigieg has barely registered with black voters in polls. But Seawright, the strategist from
"I just don't know how he cracks the nut," Seawright said of Buttigieg, "but he has the resources to tell his story unlike some of the other candidates."
Buttigieg has hoped to break through with the help of policy. Last month, he released his Douglass Plan, a "comprehensive investment in the empowerment of black America" named after abolitionist
On healthcare, Buttigieg advocates the creation of a public option, which he calls "Medicare for all who want it." The difference in position is one of the clearest divisions between the candidates in the field, and could potentially have the greatest consequences for Florida voters.
On Tuesday, Sanders laid out the case for a dramatic overhaul of the national healthcare system that would abolish private insurance in favor of a government-run program and trade higher taxes for lower out-of-pocket health expenses. Sanders says his Medicare for All plan would cover everyone after four years, and obliterate an industry that he blames for widespread bankruptcies and thousands of deaths each year.
"There are millions of people who have insurance and can't go to the doctor and when they come out of the hospital they go bankrupt," Sanders said Tuesday. "What I am talking about is no deductibles and no co-payments."
Whether to preserve and improve the Affordable Care Act or scrap it altogether is one of -- if not the most -- important issues in the Sunshine State and in the Democratic presidential primary contest. And Sanders' signature policy proposal has big stakes for Florida, where nearly 1.8 million people signed up for an Affordable Care Act plan in 2019 -- the most in the country.
Among those Floridians who selected coverage for 2019, more than 420,000 live in
Booker tried Wednesday to thread the needle between Obamacare and Medicare for All, saying that the manner by which the
More important, he said, is the recognition that the federal government has filed a lawsuit that could strip Obamacare's coverage of pre-existing conditions -- a lawsuit that the state of
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