November 2019 Democratic debate

In a marked contrast from several past debates, gender equity took center stage at Wednesday’s Democratic debate, which featured wide-ranging discussion about paid family leave, abortion rights, and the higher standards that women candidates must meet.

Though Democrats’ 2020 presidential field is one of the most diverse in history, addressing gender disparities hasn’t always been a major focus on the debate stage, as Vox’s Anna North has written. Previous debates have barely glanced over subjects including equal pay. This week’s debate, only the third primary debate to ever feature an all-female panel of moderators, was different.

The November Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta came at the end of a marathon day of political news, marked by US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland’s historic testimony before the House Intelligence Committee confirming that President Donald Trump tied military aid to Ukraine to investigations into the Biden family. Indeed, moderator Rachel Maddow opened the debate with a question about the Sondland testimony.

But the rest of the night barely touched on the impeachment process, swerving from agricultural policy to wealth taxes to climate to military intervention. It was a fairly solid night for the field as a whole, with even bottom-tier candidates like Tom Steyer having standout moments.

On Wednesday, something unheard of happened on the 2020 Democratic debate stage: Moderators asked candidates what they would do about high child care costs and the lack of paid parental leave in the US.

It just took five debates and a panel of all-women moderators for this to happen.

The November 2019 Democratic debate, held on a very long day after some very important impeachment hearings, had its fair share of zingers.

This is not a post about those. It’s about the best and most substantive answers from the night — the high-level responses that make the stakes of the race clear.

The top tier of the 2020 presidential race is incredibly fluid, and Wednesday night’s Democratic debate likely won’t change things much.

The four-person top tier of a large presidential field has been set for the past month: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. But in this tier, there’s no one in a clear position to snag the nomination — and there hasn’t been for a while, especially in key early states.

Ever since candidates began vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, observers have wondered whether male candidates like Mayor Pete Buttigieg are held to different standards than their female opponents.

On Wednesday, the issue came up on the debate stage.

Tom Steyer isn’t exactly the breakout candidate of the 2020 Democratic primaries, but he tried to light a fire under his campaign Wednesday night by proclaiming himself the man to support if you believe in term limits.

“I’m the only person on this stage who will talk about term limits,” Steyer declared, promising that if he’s elected, “You’re going to have to have new and different people in charge.” While Steyer did not specify who he intends to term limit, it’s safe to assume that he was speaking about members of Congress; the president is already term limited.

Sexual misconduct hasn’t been a major issue in the Democratic debates so far this year, despite the prominence of the Me Too movement and the ongoing march of allegations against powerful men. Even a new allegation against President Trump, by prominent author and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, wasn’t enough to jumpstart a major discussion on the topic.

But now the issue is coming to the fore — and not because of the president. Wednesday’s debate will be on MSNBC, whose parent network, NBC, has been accused of mishandling sexual assault allegations against Matt Lauer, and fostering a larger culture of covering up accusations against powerful men.

For the first time this election cycle, the moderators for a Democratic primary debate will be all women, marking only the third time this has happened in US history.

The fifth Democratic debate, taking place on November 20 in Georgia, is set to be moderated by MSNBC anchors Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker, and Washington Post White House reporter Ashley Parker. The panel will be hosted jointly by MSNBC and The Washington Post.

The fifth Democratic presidential debate — which will once again feature 10 candidates — will be on Wednesday, November 20, from 9 to 11 ET at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be broadcast by MSNBC.

The debate will be co-hosted by the Washington Post and will include an all-female panel of moderators, something that’s only happened twice before in presidential primary debates. Here’s where you can watch the livestream.

The fifth Democratic presidential debate is set to take place on November 20 in Atlanta, and will be hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post. It will feature a (slightly) smaller slate of candidates, and will be a crucial opportunity for top-tier contenders to further establish themselves as the early primaries approach.

The debate is expected to air on MSNBC and Radio One, and stream live on MSNBC.com and WashingtonPost.com. It will be moderated by an all-female panel of journalists and hosted at filmmaker Tyler Perry’s studios in Atlanta. Since the criteria for making the stage are significantly tougher than that of past debates, the pool of candidates who’ll participate is expected to narrow some.