by Amal Ahmed, Gus Bova, and Andrea Valdez
September 13, 2019
The third Democratic presidential debate and all its attendant hullabaloo stampeded into Texas Thursday night. It was a historic night for Texas Southern University, the historically black university in Houston that graduated U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan, a woman who represents a litany of “firsts,” so it was only fitting that TSU was the first HBCU in Texas to host such an event. But it didn’t prove to be that historic of an evening for San Antonio native Julián Castro and former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke. Both candidates needed a breakout moment, and while they each sort of got one, it likely won’t be enough to buoy them in the polls.
Castro’s moment came in the first half hour, as the candidates sparred over health care. Former vice president Joe Biden had explained his policy, in which qualified uninsured people would automatically be enrolled into a Medicare-type option. But because Biden talks in winding half-sentences that tend to trip over one another, the message was muddy and convoluted. When it came time for Castro to speak, he pounced on Biden.
