Warren wins debate

By: Andrew Gelman

(Sydney Hastings-Wilkins)

Silver Spring, Md. -- Presidential candidates Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren debated against each other on the morning of June 5th. The candidates discussed various topics, including climate, immigration, prison reform, abortion, and others. The debate was really an opportunity for the candidates to expand on their platforms.

Warren impressed early on, with specific plans to save the climate. She plans to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, enforce the Green New Deal, and allocate funding from the military budget. Meanwhile, Scott only mentioned vague taxes that will slightly nudge companies to pollute less. Unlike Warren's proactive plans, Scott seems to be dealing with the issue reactively.

Warren's tour de force came while discussing prison reform. Warren plans to institute reduced sentences for non-violent crimes, and mandate more comprehensive bias training. Conversely, Scott is basing his policy on the racial profiling he has experienced and by conducting studies on how race affects prison sentences. Basically, Scott is planning to take no action. Warren is obviously much more prepared for making changes to the unjust prison system we have in this nation.

Scott's performance continued to be lackluster as they tackled one of the more important issues in this campaign: abortion. Warren plans on reversing the Hyde amendment and making abortions legal by law. Warren also mentioned that each state will have its own jurisdiction in terms of carrying out that law. Scott then, according to Warren campaign manager Dana Graham, copied Warren's policy by saying laws should be carried out on a state-by-state basis.

Although Scott had a rebound when discussing the economy, the damage was done. In a post-debate poll, Warren had gained a lot of ground.