Full Video: Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz Debate

In case you missed it, and I know I did, Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Ted Cruz participated in a real live debate held on CNN last night. The main topic was President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as ObamaCare. However, the discussion quickly steered toward a debate of socialism versus capitalism.

Here is the full video of the ObamaCare debate between Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, and Senator Bernie Sanders, of Vermont:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OBR5J7wNEQ

Report from CNN:

Sen. Ted Cruz urged fellow Republicans Tuesday to quickly “honor the promises” the party made over the years to repeal Obamacare.

“2010, 2014, 2016, I believe were a mandate from the voters. We’re tired of the premiums going up. We’re tired of deductibles going up,” Cruz said at a CNN town hall debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders over the future of Obamacare. “Should Congress move swiftly to repeal Obamacare? Absolutely.”

Cruz and Sanders — two senators with diametrically opposed views of government’s role in health care — faced off at the debate moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and featuring questions from an audience consisting of both defenders and critics of the Affordable Care Act.

Cruz’s call on his party to “repeal every word of Obamacare” came as the GOP is grappling with how quickly to repeal the law. The party hasn’t yet reached a consensus on an alternative to the law. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a replacement plan may not be rolled out until next year.

The town hall debate underscored the many challenges surrounding efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act — a sweeping health care law that covers some 20 million Americans. The evening began with each lawmaker laying out starkly different views of the controversial law.

I think this type of event should happen more often in American politics. It was decent to see two members of opposing parties on stage simply debating policy, not attacking each other personally. I would bet that this debate was educational to many people who have not heard both sides of this argument articulated in detail. So often, as Americans, we retreat to a “safe space” where we hear only news and commentary that reflects our already accepted position on a topic.

There are many topics worthy of such an event like this, the question is whether they can actually hold attention of the viewers by sticking to the issues. This event appears to have been a success so I would expect to see CNN attempt to capitalize on this format again, they just need willing participants. Bernie has said he’ll basically debate anyone anytime, and Ted Cruz has never backed down from debating any issue, most notable ObamaCare. They made a good pair.