9 things we learned on night 2 of the second Democratic presidential primary debate

Here are 9 things we learned from night 2 of the second Democratic presidential primary debate.

"Go easy on me kid" – Joe Biden greeted Senator Kamala Harris with a smile and a quip, asking her to "go easy on me kid." This, a reference to her sharp attacks from the first debate seemed to be meant in jest, but was clearly not the plan. More on that in point #2.

Biden vs. The Field – When you are the front-runner, you are the biggest target. The same as in Miami, former Vice President Joe Biden found himself taking shots from all sides and on all issues. While the former VP seemed much more prepared for the attacks on Wednesday night, he nonetheless was forced over and over to answer for decisions from the crime bill, to busing, to health care, to Iraq. More than 2 hours into the debate, Biden had spoken for a total of 19 minutes, followed by Harris at 14 minutes; the rest of the field had fewer than ten.

Sen Harris is bringing up the segregationist/busing attack against Biden again.
Will see if Biden prepared for this, this time.
— Christopher Heath (@CHeathWFTV) August 1, 2019

Impeachment – On night one, there was no talk of impeachment. Not so much on night two. Sen Cory Booker and Julián Castro came out in favor of impeachment, with Castro saying Congress needs to be able to "chew gum and walk at the same time" referencing that Congress can investigate and govern at the same time. However, Sen Michael Bennet cautioned that the Republican-led Senate would never vote to remove Donald Trump from office.

Impeachment. @CoryBooker says it's time, but @SenatorBennet points out that there is an election coming up and that @senatemajldr won't convict in the Senate.
— Christopher Heath (@CHeathWFTV) August 1, 2019

Health care plan(s) – Much like in night one, the first hour of the debate was tied up in discussing health care. For Democrats, this was the motivating issue in 2018 when they took 40 seats in the House and many see it as a key issue in 2020 as well. Right now, a federal lawsuit could undue much of the Affordable Care Act. For the field, the side seems to be an expansion of Medicare, however, paying for that expansion and "if" it would require people to give up their private insurance remained a major sticking point.

Trump remains in the room – For moments on Wednesday the candidates took time to turn their attacks away from each other and towards Donald Trump. Democrats would like to make 2020 a referendum on Trump, however, they can't get to that point until they pick a nominee, which led to a series of attacks on each other.

Biden up & down & JOE3030? – At times Biden came out firing, at times he pulled punches. For the former VP, the challenge became defending his record and the Obama record against a party that has moved to the left since 2016. Former President Obama still holds a 95% approval rating among Democrats putting Biden in a tough spot, especially when people like Mayor Bill de Blasio went after Obama's record. The night also ended on an off note for the former VP when he told people to go to "Joe 3030 dot com." That website doesn't exist, at least it didn't at the time he mentioned it. The domain has since been purchased.

Booker had his moment – If Sen. Booker vanished in the first debate, he showed up in Detroit. The former mayor and current U.S. senator used to most of his time to discuss criminal justice reform and voter suppression. The senator has an upcoming campaign trip of the Midwest planned and could build off Wednesday especially if he can make inroads in the Rust Belt and with African American voters.

Harris takes heat – In Miami, Senator Harris rose above the crowd, and enjoyed several weeks of rising poll numbers. However, that new attention made her a secondary target on Wednesday as everyone from Biden to Representative Tulsi Gabbard took aim at the senator for her record as a district attorney and attorney general of California. Gabbard at one moment went after Harris, saying that she, "put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana."

No debates for a month – August is a debate-free month. The next debate will be in Houston on ABC in September. The bar for entry for that debate will be higher and could eliminate some candidates from making the stage. If that's the case, expect far fewer than 20 candidates, and perhaps just a single debate.