5th Democratic Primary Debate: on Government Reform
Amy Klobuchar:
Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United
Q [to Tom Steyer]: You have spent over $300 million of your own money in support of your political goals. How do you respond to critics who see you as the embodiment of a special interest?Tom STEYER: I've put together coalitions of ordinary
American citizens to take on unchecked corporate power. We have a broken government in Washington, D.C. It's been purchased by corporations. Over the last decade, with the help of the American people, we have taken on and beaten the oil companies,
the tobacco companies, utilities, drug companies.
Amy KLOBUCHAR: I'm someone that doesn't come from money, and I appreciate the work of Mr. Steyer. But right now, we have a system that's not fair.
I would start a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. That's what we should do, so that we stop this dark money and outside money from coming into our politics.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
Experience is needed to get voter rights passed
Mayor Pete Buttigieg: With the White House in the right hands, we can make Election Day a federal holiday. We can use carrots and sticks to induce states to do the right thing with automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, making it
easier for people to vote and, in particular, recognizing that we cannot allow the kind of racially motivated or partisan voter suppression or gerrymandering that often dictates the outcome of elections before the voting even begins.Senator Amy
Klobuchar: I agree with what the mayor has said, but this is a good example where he has said the right words, but I have the experience. I think this kind of experience matters. I think having that experience, knowing how you can get
things done, leading the bills to take the social media companies to task, to say where these ads come from and how they're paid for, and stop the unbelievable practice where we still have 11 states that don't have backup paper ballots.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
Register all to vote; ban gerrymandering and voter purges
I have led the way on voting. One solution that would make a huge difference would be to allow every kid in the country to register to vote when they turn 18. If we had a system like this, and we did something about gerrymandering,
and we stopped the voting purges, and we did something significant about making sure we don't have money in politics from the outside, Stacey Abrams would be governor of this state right now.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Foreign meddling in our elections is an act of aggression
Q: If you win the 2020 election, what would you say in your first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin?YANG: Well, first, I'd say "I'm sorry I beat your guy." Or not sorry.
And, second, I would say the days of meddling in American elections are over and we will take any undermining of our democratic processes as an act of hostility and aggression. The American people would back me on this.
We know that they've found an underbelly and they've been clawing at it, and it's made it so that we can't even trust our own democracy. The third thing
I would say is that we're going to live up to our international commitments. These are the ways that we'll actually get Russia to the table and make it so they have to join the international community and stop resisting appeals to the world order.
Source: November Democratic primary debate, on impeaching Trump
Nov 20, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
Enforce simple rule: every over 18 has the right to vote
People understand that the political system is corrupt. It is not just voter suppression, which cost the Democratic Party a governorship in this state, not just denying people of color the right to vote, we also have a system through Citizens United
which allows billionaires to buy elections. What we need to do, simple and straightforward, in every state in this country through the federal government, if you are 18, you have a right to vote,. We need to move toward public funding of elections.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Cory Booker:
Black voters are pissed off and worried about Dems
I have a lifetime of experience with black voters; I've been one since I was 18. Nobody on this stage should need a focus group: Black voters are pissed off, and they're worried. They're pissed off because the only time our issues seem to be really paid
attention to are when politicians are looking for their vote. And they're worried because the Democratic Party, we don't want to miss this opportunity and lose because we are nominating someone that isn't trusted, doesn't have authentic connection.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Cory Booker:
Voter suppression most affects low-income minorities
In Georgia, it was the voter suppression, particularly of African-American communities, that prevented us from having Governor Stacey Abrams. The heartbeat bill here -- opposed by over 70 percent of Georgians, is the result from voter suppression.
This gets back to the issue about making sure we are fighting every day, that whoever is the nominee, they can overcome the attempts to suppress the votes, particularly of low-income and minority voters.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
End lobbying as we know it
We know what we need to do. We have a lot of good ideas it, and the majority of Americans are with us on it, and yet we don't change. Why not? Because of corruption. I have the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate. It involves ending lobbying as
we know it, blocking the revolving door between industry and Washington, making everyone who runs for federal office put their tax returns online.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Million-dollar donors shouldn't get ambassadorships
How did Ambassador Sondland get there [as Ambassador to the European Union]? This is not a man who had any qualifications, except one: He wrote a check for a million dollars. And that tells us about what's happening in
Washington, the corruption, how money buys its way into Washington. You know, I raised this months ago about the whole notion that donors think they're going to get ambassadorships on the other side.
And I've taken a pledge. Anyone who wants to give me a big donation, don't ask to be an ambassador, because I'm not going to have that happen.I asked everyone who's running for president to join me in that and not a single person has so far.
I hope what we saw today during the testimony means lots of people will sign on and say we are not going to give away these ambassador posts to the highest bidder.
Source: November Democratic primary debate, on impeaching Trump
Nov 20, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Same-day voter registration, and fight voter suppression
Mayor Pete Buttigieg: With the White House in the right hands, we can make Election Day a federal holiday. We can use carrots and sticks to induce states to do the right thing with automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, making it
easier for people to vote and, in particular, recognizing that we cannot allow the kind of racially motivated or partisan voter suppression or gerrymandering that often dictates the outcome of elections before the voting even begins.Senator Amy
Klobuchar: I agree with what the mayor has said, but this is a good example where he has said the right words, but I have the experience. I think this kind of experience matters. I think having that experience, knowing how you can get things done,
leading the bills to take the social media companies to task, to say where these ads come from and how they're paid for, and stop the unbelievable practice where we still have 11 states that don't have backup paper ballots.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Tom Steyer:
I'm the only candidate who'll talk about term limits
What I've done is to try to push power down to the America people, to take power away from the corporations who've bought our government. And I'm talking now about structural reform in Washington, D.C.: Term limits.
If you want bold change in the United States, you're going to have to have new and different people in charge. I'm the only person on this stage who will talk about term limits.
Vice President Biden won't. Senator Sanders won't. Even Mayor Pete Buttigieg will not talk about term limits and structural change. I would let the American people pass laws themselves through direct democracy.
It's time to push the power back to the people and away from D.C.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Tom Steyer:
Electoral victories require high turnout among young people
I think it's important that the Democratic Party not only beat Donald Trump in 2020 but have a sweeping victory across the country. And what that's going to mean is turnout. The Democratic Party keeps talking about trying to persuade a few people who
are Republicans to like us, when up to half the people don't vote at all because they think, "neither party tells the truth; no one deals with my issues; the system is broken; why would we vote?"But what we've found at NextGen America is that is the
start of a conversation about why votes are so important. And if you look at 2018 and flipping the House, what really happened was Democratic voting went up. In the 38 congressional districts where NextGen America was turning out young people, the
turnout went up by more than 100%, more than double.
So for us to win, for whoever's the candidate, to have a Senate that's Democratic, it's a turnout question. We're going to have to tell the truth and we're going to organize across this country.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Dems represent foreign policy establishment, not people
GABBARD: Our Democratic Party, unfortunately, is not the party that is of, by, and for the people. It is a party that has been and continues to be influenced by the foreign policy establishment in
Washington, represented by Hillary Clinton and others' foreign policy, by the military industrial complex, and other greedy corporate interests.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Mandate paper ballots to ensure that every vote is heard
Sen. Amy Klobuchar: [I led] the bills to take the social media companies to task to say where these ads come from, and stop the unbelievable practice where we still have 11 states that don't have backup paper ballots.Rep. Gabbard: I mean, voting
rights are essential for our democracy. Securing our elections is essential for our democracy. I've introduced legislation called the Securing Americas Elections Act that mandates paper ballots to make sure that every single voter's voice is heard.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 23, 2019