DETROIT (WOOD) — After a debate Tuesday night that covered health care, immigration, climate change and race, Democrats vying for their party’s presidential nomination went into the spin room at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, working to emphasize their performance and reinforce their ideas.
The candidates who participated in Tuesday’s debate included (alphabetically): Montana Gov. Steve Bullock; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former U.S. Rep. John Delaney of Maryland; former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas; U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio; U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; and author and activist Marian Williamson.
The latest (all times Eastern):
12:35: As she is pulled from the spin room, Warren stops to answer one last question about what she can promise a Michigan voter. She says she’ll be a president who is on workers’ side, not the side of big business.
12:30 a.m.: Williamson laughs when asked about her use of the phrase “yada yada” during the debate.
11:45 p.m.: Warren says Michigan is a prime example of what happens because of failed industrial policy. She says that policy is negotiated with multinational corporations that care only about the bottom line, not about workers. She says she would institute a wealth tax that would pay to sink money into education and forgive student loan debt.
11:19 p.m.: Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, is a member of CNN’s analysis panel in the spin room. The panel also included basketball player Charles Barkley. Some of the candidates are cycling through that panel or speaking with CNN elsewhere in the theater.
11:08 p.m.: Ryan talked with reporters about his plan to add a chief manufacturing officer, saying that person would work to renew manufacturing in the U.S. with a focus on green energy. He says it would pull a coalition together of environmentalists and workers.
11:05 p.m.: Delaney said the format demonstrated there is a clear choice for voters and took aim at Sen. Warren, saying her plans aren’t realistic.
When asked why he was the candidate who could turn Michigan blue (the state went to President Donald Trump in 2016), he said he’ll do it by addressing “kitchen table issues” including jobs and pay, health care, and improving public schools.
11:02 p.m.: Hickenlooper says there’s a lot of opportunity for Democrats in Michigan. He said he liked the debate format but wished he had been granted more time to speak.
Sanders did not address reporters in the spin room.
The spin room was scheduled to begin immediately following the debate, which was supposed to end around 10 p.m. The debate actually ended around 10:45 p.m., so things didn’t get started in the spin room until about an hour after originally anticipated.
Ten more Democrats hoping to be the presidential nominee will debate Wednesday in Detroit.