-----------------
 Some professional Reviews:
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/democratic-debate-july-30-2019/index.html

 
Ten Democrats took the stage tonight in Detroit for the first night of CNN's debate.

 Analysis from CNN's Chris Cillizza

 Here's a look at some of the candidates who performed the best:

 ▪Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator clearly got the message that he wasn't lively or active enough in the first debate of the cycle. He came out feisty — and stayed that way.

 
▪Steve Bullock: The Montana governor, to his immense credit, understood that this debate was his one big chance to make an impression with voters. Bullock went for it — from his opening statement on.

 
▪Pete Buttigieg: As in the first debate, the South Bend, Indiana mayor played it (relatively) safe. But unlike the first debate, there was a clear message: I am young, yes, but the older people on stage with me haven't fixed any of these problems, so it's time for something different.

 
▪John Delaney: Before this debate, no one knew who Delaney was or what he believed. If you watched this debate, both of those questions were answered.

 
▪Elizabeth Warren: Her retort to Delaney was the line of the night — and encapsulates for a lot of Democrats why it's so important to nominate someone who is willing to take on big fights, unapologetically.


 And here are a few of the Democrats who didn't fare as well:

 ▪Beto O'Rourke: While he was mildly more energetic than in the first debate, there were large swaths of the debate where he simply disappeared from the conversation.

 ▪Amy Klobuchar: She seems to be treading water in search of a moment or a surge. She didn't get one tonight. And candidly, she didn't really come close.

 Sia: Notice who didn't even get a mention ??  John Hickenlooper... He was that boring.  But I'm surprised that Marianne Williamson wasn't even mentioned because she had some major moments.

 ----------------

 11 hr 53 min ago by Mark Peterson/Redux for CNN

 Marianne Williamson's most quotable lines from tonight

 She only spoke for a little under nine minutes tonight, but Marianne Williamson was at her most quotable.

 Here are a few of her lines:

 On stimulating the economy:

"I wonder why you're Democrats. You think there's something wrong about using the instruments of government to help people. That is what government should do."

 On crafting a message:
 
"If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I'm afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days."

 On reparations:
 
"We need to recognize when it comes to the economic gap between black and whites in America, it does come from a great injustice that has never been dealt with."

 On inequality:
 
"We need to say it like it is, it's bigger than Flint. It's all over this country. It's particularly people ... who do not have the money to fight back, and if the Democrats don't start saying it, why would those people feel they're there for us, and if those people don't feel it, they won't vote for us and Donald Trump will win."

 On why you should vote for her:
 
"You can't fight dog whistles. You have to override them. With new voices. Voices of energy that only come from the fact that America has been willing to live up to our own mistakes. Atone for our mistakes. Make amends. Love each other. Love our democracy and future generations."

 
Sia: She made some powerful points that were much stronger when seen in context related to what others had said before her.  You'll have to watch the whole debate to see that.

 ---------------------

 Why are you running for president? Here's what these 10 candidates said
by Gabriella Demczuk for CNN

 The first night of the Democratic debates in Detroit have just wrapped.Ten Democratic presidential hopefuls ended the night by making their final pitches to voters.

 Steve Bullock:

 "This isn't a choice just between center and left, or about — we don't have to chose between what we don't want and what we can't afford. Folks want a different way, they want to believe the economy and our democracy can work for us. And that is why I'm running for president."


Pete Buttigieg:

 "We can do this. If and only if we're ready to walk away from what hasn't worked with bold action. And win. Not only defeat this President. But defeat his congressional allies with the defeat so big it reunites the Republican party with the conscious. As well as bringing Democrats to office. Join me and let's make it happen."


 John Delaney:

 "Donald Trump is the symptom of the disease. And the disease is divisiveness. I'm the only one on stage talking about cures that disease."


 John Hickenlooper:

 "I'd like to ask every American to imagine that you are facing life-threatening surgery tomorrow. Would you choose a doctor who had a track record of proven success who'd actually done the work, or someone who just talked about it. That is the question or facing in this primary. I've actually got a track record as a small business owner, as a mayor and as a governor."


 Amy Klobuchar:

 "We have a President where people turn off the TV when they see him. Not me. I will make you proud as your president."


 Beto O'Rourke:

 "We are as divided and polarized as a country as we have ever been. Right now we have a President who uses fear to try to drive us further apart. To meet this challenge, we have to have hope in one another and faith in the future of this country that includes everyone."


 Tim Ryan:

 "I hope tonight it's some level I captured your imagination. Your imagination about what this country could be like if we united, if we put together real policy that weren't left or right, but new and better."


 Marianne Williamson:

 "There's corruption that is so deep, ladies and gentlemen. And until the Democratic party is ready to speak to the deeper corruption knowing we ourselves sometimes because of corporate donation participated than I'm afraid those who vote for Trump will continue to vote for Trump and those who don't like him will continue to stay home."


 Bernie Sanders:

 "I'm running for president not just to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of the country. A racist and a sexist. And a homophobe. I'm running to transform this country."


 Elizabeth Warren:

 "For me, what this election is all about, is opportunity. Every budget, every policy that we talk about is about who is going to get the opportunity. Is is going to go to the billionaires? Or is it going to go to our kids."

 
Sia: Some excellent statements, IMHO.

 ------------------------

 Fact check: Buttigieg on Republican support for background checks

 From CNN's Kay Guerrero


Pete Buttigieg said that 80 to 90 percent of Republicans want “universal background checks.”

 Facts First: True, according to a major pollster. 

 According to a March Quinnipiac University poll, universal background checks have 89 percent support among Republicans. That’s the same percentage as a January poll from the same organization. 


 Overall, support for universal background checks has ranged from 88 to 97 percent since February 2013, according to Quinnipiac polling.

 13 hr 26 min ago

 Buttigieg vows to withdraw troops from Afghanistan if elected

 Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, vowed to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in his first year of office.

 Buttigieg went on to describe his own experience as a service member in Afghanistan. He served for six years as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves, including a six-month deployment to Afghanistan.

 He said:
 
"I thought I was one of the last troops leaving Afghanistan. When I thought I was turning out the lights years ago. Every time I see news about somebody being killed in Afghanistan, I think about what it was like to hear an explosion and wonder whether it was somebody I knew or served with. Friend or roommate. Colleague. We're close to the day when we will wake up to the news of a casualty in Afghanistan who was not born on 9/11."


 He then proposed a three-year sunset clause for any authorization of military use.

 
"I was sent into the war by a congressional authorization as well as a president. We need to talk not only about the need for a president committed to ending endless war. The fact that Congress has been asleep at the switch. And on my watch I will propose that any authorization for the use of military force have a three-year sunset and have to be renewed."

 13 hr 28 min ago

 Should voters consider age? Here's what the youngest and oldest candidates say.


Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 37, is the youngest candidate running for president. He's 40 years younger than the oldest candidate, Bernie Sanders.


 Buttigieg was just asked "Should voters take into consideration age when choosing a presidential candidate?"

 
"I don't care how old you are," he said. "I care about your vision."Buttigieg mentioned New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and said, "I do think it matters that we have a new generation of leaders stepping up around the world."

 "We can have great presidents at any age," he added.


 Sanders, 77, agreed with the mayor.

 
"Pete is right. It's a question of vision. That's what it is: Whether you're young, whether you're old, whether you're in-between."

 --------------------------

 Sia:  There is SO MUCH MORE there at the link for anyone interested in "fact checking" and other information about topics discussed, plus some video snippets of memorable moments. 

 Check it out.  Here's the link again:

 https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/democratic-debate-july-30-2019/index.html