Democratic debate: small candidates stand up to Biden, Warren and Sanders

, Washington correspondent

It was expected to see shine the top trio formed by Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. It was the small candidates who voted for them in the Third Democrat Debate for the 2020 US Presidential Election, held Thursday, Sept. 12 in Houston, Texas.

To do this, everyone has bet on a particular tactic. The mayor of San Antonio Julian Castro (1% of average voting intentions of Real Clear Politics) has set himself the task of attacking the favorite Joe Biden (26.8% of the voting intentions). In what will remain as the highlight of the debate, while the ten candidates on stage were discussing health insurance, the former Housing Secretary Barack Obama repeated to the former Vice President of 76 years: " Did you forget what you just said two minutes ago? "

Julián Castro goes after Joe Biden on health care: "I'm fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama, and you're not."

"That'll be a surprise to him," Biden responds. https://t.co/INdRXm0842 #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/GzBMTMFYkq

This is not the first time that Joe Biden, who has become accustomed to cash, is put in trouble on his age. His interventions still flabbergasted on Thursday night, did not fix his image. At the end of the debate, when he was asked a question about reparations related to slavery, he embarked on a disjointed tirade on education, Latin America and Venezuela. "That's a lot," Julian Castro laughed again. After the debate, some netizens - the Republican Mike Huckabee in mind - wondered if the candidate had not nearly lost his denture at the party.

Joe will not be President, but he'll be able to do ads for Poli-Grip. Joe! We want the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing BUT the tooth! https://t.co/cKQE1CDXiH

The tackle of Julian Castro has not been applauded by his colleagues. "That's what people hate about Washington," lamented candidate Pete Buttigieg (4.8% of voting intentions), who bet on his quiet side. But the Latino candidate did not stop there and assumed his role as villain of the evening. "When you say something positive about Barack Obama, Joe Biden says he was there, but when you talk about a negative episode, he says he was only vice president," Julian Castro quipped after a question about immigration.

"You can go back to watching Fox News"

Kamala Harris (6.5% of the voting intentions), who also had a strong attack on Joe Biden during the first debate, changed his target. This time she had only Donald Trump in her mouth. Objective: to show that she has the shoulders to face him in a duel. She began by speaking directly to the president, reminding her of the "12,000 lies" listed so far and the Mueller report. "The only reason you have not been charged is because of a memorandum from the Justice Department that says you can not charge a president in office," she said. Before concluding: "And now, Mr. Chairman, you can go back to watching Fox News." The little phrase - like others during the evening - was prepared long ago but made its effect on the audience.

"First I have a few words for Donald Trump, who we all know is watching."

Sen. Kamala Harris opened the third Democratic debate with a personal message to President Trump, telling him he can "go back to watching Fox News." https://t.co/gDGqobBWIf pic.twitter.com/HVmeCAVJ7R

Beto O'Rourke (2.8% of voting intentions) focused on the subject of gun violence. While his town of El Paso was bruised by a shootout targeting Latinos in a supermarket in early August, he accused Donald Trump's rhetoric of being responsible: "We have a white supremacist in the White House." He also showed himself uncompromising with those who possess weapons of war: "Oh yes, we will take your AR-15 and your AK-47!" The former Texas representative had momentarily paused his campaign after the tragedy and spent a lot of time with the victims. He looked tired Thursday night, but still determined. On stage, several of her colleagues praised her dedication.

Hell yeah, we're going to take your AR-15. If it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on the battlefield, we're going to buy it back. pic.twitter.com/cCEWkG6y0X

Other candidates have done well, such as Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (1.2% of voting intentions), who played the card of moderation, the energetic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker (2, 3% of voting intentions), or entrepreneur with fresh ideas Andrew Yang (3% of voting intentions). So we almost forgot Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. The latter has tried several times to attack Joe Biden to stand out from his competitor who has slightly exceeded in recent polls. According to Real Clear Politics' latest average, Bernie Sanders is back ahead with 17.3% of the vote, compared to 16.8% for Elizabeth Warren. But the 77-year-old Vermont senator, with a more curved back and a broken voice than usual, also looked very tired.

The race remains open

Elizabeth Warren did not miss the debate, but it is clear that his performance was not amazing. The Massachusetts senator, who is teeming with proposals to the left, did not take the opportunity to challenge Joe Biden directly. As she has become accustomed to, she stuck to the bottom of the files: "I know what's broken, I know how to fix it and I'll fight to make it happen," she said. promised.

At the end of this third debate, the race remains open. Should Joe Biden be worried? His first two performances were bad but did not stop him from staying ahead. And his campaign team seems to think that the majority of Democrats are much more moderate than the most progressive candidates advance. To stay in the top three, Bernie Sanders will have to reassure her age and Elizabeth Warren will have to extricate himself from his image of "teacher" and dare the confrontation. As for the other other candidates, they will have another chance to show what they are capable of in a fourth round on Oct. 15 in Ohio.