Democratic debate night one takeaways: Liberal plans, Julian Castro, and that Cory Booker glare

MIAMI — Elizabeth Warren staked out a big new position on health care. Cory Booker’s glare created a meme. Julian Castro drew newfound attention. And Beto O’Rourke took it on the chin.

On a night when several Democrats staked out far-reaching liberal positions, here are some key themes and moments that emerged Wednesday night at the first Democratic presidential debate.

Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, and New York Mayor Bill De Blasio supported moves to eliminate private health insurance in favor of a government plan for everyone. Castro, a former secretary of housing and urban development, called for decriminalizing unauthorized immigration and handling violations through civil courts. Booker, a New Jersey senator, promoted his call for requiring gun buyers to obtain licenses.

On these issues and others, Democrats showed how their party has increasingly embraced big liberal ideas in place of cautious incrementalism.

“There are a lot of politicians who say, ‘Oh, it’s just not possible, we just can’t do it …’ What they’re really telling you is they just won’t fight for it,” Warren said of a government health plan for all in one of several moments when she promised to be a sweeping change agent.

In taking that stand, Warren staked out a position that aligns with Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind., Vt.), her closest rival on the left. Castro was speaking of drastic change on immigration as much of the country digested the searing photo image of a migrant father and daughter who had drowned in the Rio Grande.

But both positions could open them to attack, and not just by Republicans.

“I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years," Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said of abolishing private insurance. She and other Democrats argued that people should have government health care as an option, not a requirement.

President Donald Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, used Castro’s plan to reiterate its talking point about Democrats wanting “open borders.”

After Trump won the presidency in part by making huge promises, Democrats are pushing the boundaries on their proposals, too — possibly exciting their base but testing their reach with swing voters.

Considering his starting position — barely registering in most polls — Castro may have scored the biggest gains.

The Texan steered the debate on immigration, one of the night’s most charged issues. Several other candidates, including Booker, followed his call for decriminalizing unauthorized immigration.

“Stay tuned in,” Castro told reporters immediately after the debate. “I’m the best hope that the party has to get the 29 electoral votes of this state of Florida, the 11 electoral votes of Arizona, and the 38 electoral votes of my home state of Texas.”

DeBlasio, another candidate on the fringes in polls, also landed some much-needed attention, using his New York-honed ability to interject himself and take over conversations.

Warren dominated the debate’s foray into the economy, starting with an opening screed against inequality fueled by the government, pharmaceutical companies, and oil giants.

“When you’ve got a government, when you’ve got an economy, that does great for those with money and isn’t doing great for everyone else, that is corruption, pure and simple,” she said.

That’s the message that has fueled her political career. What was more surprising was hearing other Democrats echo her in tone, if not specific policies.

As Trump boasts about the strength of the economy, Democrats clearly plan to counter by arguing that the “rigged” system he derides is still working mainly for the powerful — essentially throwing his 2016 message back at him.

That strategy aims to undercut Trump’s strongest reelection argument, but also shows how the president has touched a nerve and reshaped the political discussion.

Booker arrived looking for a moment to spark his campaign, and grabbed more speaking time than anyone else, according to news organizations tracking the debate.

His Google searches also spiked as he pushed his plan on guns, embraced Castro’s call to change immigration laws, and spoke forcefully for stronger protections for the transgender community.

Throughout he wrapped his policy views in stories about living in a low-income, mostly minority city, introducing himself more as mayor of Newark than as a senator.

“This is one of those nights where we think … we had a lot of moments that showed America who I am," Booker told reporters afterward.

But Booker’s most remarked-upon moment may have come when he wasn’t talking — just glaring at O’Rourke as the former congressman switched to speaking in Spanish.

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In the press room after the event, Booker said to an aide (loud enough for reporters to hear) that he was looking that way because O’Rourke “butchered” his Spanish. He later eased up, saying his own Spanish isn’t perfect either and that “Beto is an incredible Spanish speaker.”

The glare would prove to be the least of O’Rourke’s problems.

At several points O’Rourke served as a foil for rivals who seemed to view him as a soft target. In an exchange on immigration, Castro told his fellow Texan: “Do your homework on this issue.”

For a candidate whose star has faded, this was the opposite of what he needed.

Perhaps the biggest surprises of the night came from what didn’t happen. The 10 Democrats on stage rarely mentioned Trump directly, and said next to nothing about the campaign’s front-runner, former Vice President Joe Biden.

That may have been a function of the format; Biden was not on stage with the rest. That seemed likely to change Thursday night, when he stands alongside rivals including Sanders, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

The debate solidified some policy positions, filled in a bit more of the Democratic economic message, and perhaps gave a few campaigns opportunities to raise their profiles in the coming weeks.

But with only one of the five leading candidates on stage (Warren), there wasn’t a moment that seems likely to drastically reshape the race by itself.

As FiveThirtyEight analyst Nate Silver put it, on a scale of zero to 10, the debate was probably “a 2 or a 3” in impact.

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