This past Tuesday, October 15, Otterbein University opened its doors to the public to host the fourth Democratic Presidential Debate. This was the largest primary debate in American history with 12 leading Democrats clashing on stage. The candidates in attendance qualified by reaching two percent in four DNC-approved polls and drawing 130,000 unique donors.

Tuesday’s debate differed from previous debates, as it was the first of this election cycle that was not dominated by the discussion of healthcare. The candidates instead opted for discussion over more current issues, such as foreign policy, healthcare, and Trump and the Republican party. Also, the candidates talked about economic inequality and gun control. What also made this debate unique was that the environment was the least discussed issue, filling less than one percent of total time.

While a majority of the time of candidates was spent pushing personal policy, many Democrats took the opportunity to jab at Massachusetts Sen. and Democratic Frontrunner Elizabeth Warren. Warren has been pressuring former Vice President Joe Biden in the frontrunner position, even overtaking the position by 0.2 points on October 8 before returning to second place, according to Real Clear Politics. Some of the more vicious attacks included questions regarding Warren’s age, her physical health, her political accomplishments, her healthcare policy, her tax policy and even her views on President Trump’s Twitter account. In total, Warren was criticized far more times than any other candidate, 16 to be exact.

All Democrats, aside from Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, agreed that Trump’s sudden withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria was a serious mistake. Additionally, all candidates officially backed the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. However, these two topics were the extent of the topics discussed with a universal opinion amongst the candidates. 

The topic of abortion was also brought to center stage when Sen. Kamala Harris demanded that democrats fight for women’s reproductive rights and provide legislation to make abortions safe and accessible for low-income women and women of color. Sen. Cory Booker was quick to discuss this topic, saying “women should not be the only ones taking up this cause.”

One of the topics discussed that was most polarizing was the discussion of immigration with some candidates like Julián Castro calling for the complete decriminalization of all border crossings. Others, such as former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, countered, recommending policy to end violence in other countries to prevent mass exoduses. Also, many candidates, including Warren, vowed to take action to break up “big tech” and work to prevent election meddling through social media use. Lastly, Warren’s “Medicare For All” plan was attacked for being too expensive while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders outlined his plan to steeply tax the wealthy to fund his rendition for universal healthcare.

The fifth Democratic Presidential Debate will take place in the Atlanta area on November 20 and will boast a smaller panel of candidates, as determined by who has met the polling and donor requirements by then.