Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were only two on stage on Sunday, March 15, but they had to face a common enemy: the Covid-19. The health crisis linked to the new coronavirus has wiped out everything in its path. The campaign for the Democratic nomination is no exception.
So much so that this debate, which should have been held in Phoenix, Arizona, finally took place in Washington, without audience: security requires. The two candidates for the primaries greeted each other with an elbow and exchanged two meters apart to avoid any risk of contamination.
Joe Biden, 77, and Bernie Sanders, 78, also wanted to reassure: yes, they wash their hands regularly, no, they no longer hold campaign meetings - their teams have also opted for telework - and no, they have no symptoms of the virus.
"If I were president..."
Obviously, most of the questions focused on the major concern of the moment in the United States: how to end this pandemic? But the two men, instead of showing themselves united in the face of a collective threat, displayed their differences by playing "If I were president ...".
Joe Biden insisted on his experience and assured that he would bring together the best world health experts in the "Situation Room" for consultation. In this "war" against the virus, the former vice-president would not hesitate to "deploy the army" to come to the aid of the population.
Bernie Sanders, for his part, emphasized the need for every American to have access to free screening and care. "If you get sick, you don't have to worry about the money," he said. The socialist took the opportunity to promote his flagship program, "Medicare for All", universal public health insurance.
Ideological game
At a time when Americans need to be reassured about their health and that of their loved ones, their jobs and their retirement savings, the two seventy-year-olds have therefore continued their game rather than stand up. However, the political stakes already seemed outdated. Indeed, at the end of the previous primaries, the advance in delegates of Joe Biden already seems insurmountable. The four states that vote Tuesday - Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona - should not reverse this trajectory.
Bernie Sanders was therefore not on stage to garner more voices but to put pressure on Joe Biden's platform. It was the occasion, for the ex-vice-president, to release a little ballast in order to invite in his campaign the allies of the socialist. However Joe Biden has not let go. To "Medicare for All", he opposes a "public option" to which the Americans could subscribe: a form of extension of Barack Obama's health reform. When Bernie Sanders calls for "unprecedented action" and "to understand how we got there and where we're going", Joe Biden responds that "the people are looking for results, not the revolution".
A female vice-president
The two rivals spent the rest of the debate fraying on their political positions of yesteryear: firearms, bank rescue plan in 2008, war in Iraq ... But it was when they raised their points that this debate was the most interesting.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders agree: tenant of the White House is unfit, they say, to respond to the coronavirus crisis. "This president is undermining the work of doctors and scientists," denounced Bernie Sanders. "The biggest threat remains Donald Trump," said Joe Biden. Each undertook to support the other in the event of a victory.
On the possibility of choosing a woman as vice-president, the two candidates also seemed to agree. Joe Biden made a firm commitment to it for the first time. "Many women have the qualities to become presidents in the future. I will designate a woman as vice-president," he promised. Bernie Sanders was less adamant but said he too was leaning toward a mixed ticket. "For me, it is not only a question of designating a woman, it is a question of appointing a progressive woman", he specified. The message got through.
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