WESTERVILLE:
Surging White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren faced a barrage of attacks from
fellow Democrats at the party's fourth 2020 debate Tuesday, cementing her
status as a frontrunner in the race to challenge Donald Trump. The president
himself loomed large as the dozen Democratic contenders trained their fire on
him, calling for his impeachment and assailing a Syria troop pullout that Joe
Biden slammed as "shameful."

"The impeachment
must go forward," thundered Warren, the progressive senator who is neck
and neck with former vice president Biden at the head of the 2020 nomination
race -- a stance loudly echoed by her fellow Democrats on stage. Washington's
impeachment brawl has dominated US politics for weeks, centered on Trump's
effort to press Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden.

Dragged into the
scandal, Biden made clear he believes Trump should be impeached -- and pushed
back hard on the president's charge he himself intervened in Ukraine to protect
his son Hunter. "My son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong,"
Biden said, when asked about his son's employment with a Ukrainian company,
which even some Democrats say held the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The Ukraine
scandal thrust Biden into the spotlight, while 78-year-old liberal Senator
Bernie Sanders -- the other heavyweight in the race -- was under pressure to
project fortitude two weeks after being sidelined by a mild heart attack. But
it was Warren who weathered the sharpest attacks from her fellow Democrats --
on everything from kitchen-sink issues such as healthcare and taxation, to
foreign policy and even business automation.

'Pipe dream'

On health -- a
flashpoint issue for American voters -- Warren faced stiff blowback from
moderates who challenged her to come clean on how much her "Medicare for
All" plan would cost. "The difference between a plan and a pipe dream
is something that you can actually get done," said Senator Amy Klobuchar,
while Biden called Warren's health policy "vague."

Ex-congressman
Beto O'Rourke accused Warren -- who advocates a wealth tax on the biggest
fortunes -- of "punitive" policies, and "pitting some part of
the country against the other." Warren stood out in calling for the United
States to "get out of the Middle East" -- while most of her rivals
focused on assailing Trump's decision to pull US troops out of northern Syria,
which critics say amounted to a green light for a Turkish assault on America's
Kurdish allies there.

"This is
shameful, shameful what this man has done," Biden said of Trump's Syria
pullout, while Senator Kamala Harris said she would "stop this
madness" if elected. With the candidates in broad agreement on their
opposition to Trump -- as well as on such issues as the opioid crisis and
income inequality -- much of the back-and-forth was about performance rather
than substance.

And South Bend
Mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose numbers are improving in early voting states like
Iowa, repeatedly grabbed the limelight by clashing with rivals on everything
from foreign policy, to health care to gun control. When O'Rourke told
Buttigieg it was time to ignore polls and be bold about buying back millions of
assault weapons, Buttigieg snapped back: "I don't need lessons from you on
courage, political or personal."

With 12
candidates on stage, including billionaire activist Tom Steyer who was making
his debate debut, each struggled to get heard. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang warned
candidates must not forget the economic disillusionment that paved the way for
Trump's 2016 victory. "When we talk about him, we are losing," he
said, noting the dramatic manufacturing job losses in battleground states like
Ohio. "These are the problems that got Donald Trump elected," Yang
said. With the three frontrunners in their seventies, moderators confronted
them directly on the sensitive subject of age.

Asked if he were
healthy enough for a year-long race after his heart attack, Sanders insisted he
will mount a "vigorous" campaign to "reassure" voters --
while teasing a high-profile endorsement to come, which US media said was from
star congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ilhan Omar, the first black Muslim
woman elected to Congress, announced late Tuesday that she was also endorsing Sanders'
bid for the White House. Biden, 76, said his age and vast experience was an
asset. "With it comes wisdom," he said. Warren for her part said she
would "outwork, out-organize, and outlast anyone, and that includes Donald
Trump, (vice president) Mike Pence, or whoever the Republicans get stuck
with." - AFP