The First Democratic Debates

The First Democratic Debates

Three Dissent editors on the first Democratic Party primary debates of the 2020 campaign.

Three Dissent editors on the first Democratic primary debates:

Who Can Lead a More Progressive Party?

The ironic consequence of Sanders’s 2016 campaign is that most Americans now have a difficult time understanding how his socialism differs from the stands taken by other progressive candidates. —Michael Kazin

Bernie Versus the Establishment?

The primary field isn’t polarized between left and center as clearly as it was in 2016. But Sanders is still the only candidate who tells us, over and over, that we need more than a good president. —Nick Serpe

How Movements Moved the Debate