It is September. Another Democratic primary debate just happened and hostility is in the air. The purpose of the debate is to narrow down who is running for president, but with only a bit more than a year until the general election, it does not make sense to for candidates to be so aggressive towards each other. 

That is not to say that candidates should censor their values to avoid conflict. Debates are exactly for that: debating. Disagreements are natural and no one should lie about their values, especially since one of these candidates could be the next president of the United States. Honesty is the best policy and each candidate should say how they truly feel, so potential voters know exactly what they are voting for. 

At the end of the day, only one of these candidates are moving onto the general election. If any of them wish to stand a chance of stopping Trump from being re-elected, they should not be mud-slinging their fellow candidates. Any in-fighting done within the debates will only be used as fuel against them later on. 

Cory Booker and Joe Biden were having a disagreement at the debate this past week. Joe Biden appeared to misspeak, then back-track on his previous views. Everyone misspeaks, obviously, but questions of Biden’s age has been called into question when discussing if he would be fit to be president. With this misspeak, Booker claimed that Biden forgot what he had said only two minutes prior. Upon rereading the transcript, it appeared that Booker misunderstood what Biden meant. 

Regardless of the actual discussion, this was a low blow from Booker. No one is denying that Biden is getting older; he’s currently 76. But instead of calling out his policies or his moderate viewpoints, which could have easily stolen some support from Biden, Booker resorted to petty insults. 

The debate stage is the time to be aggressive, if there ever is an appropriate time. It is time for candidates to prove that they would be the best choice for president. The way to go about this is through mature conversation and civil disagreements. The debate stage is not the place to roast each other. 

Part of this goes hand-in-hand with the want of candidates to be hip and get more attention. Comedy Central has an entire show about roasting celebrities, and social media loves that sort of thing. Speaking negatively of their opponents only gets them more attention and shows they are not afraid to say it how it is, or so they think. In reality, all that happens is that they look extremely disrespectful towards someone they might end up voting for, should they lose the primaries. 

Biden is currently the front-runner for this election. Booker is much further from the top, and time is running out for him to catch up. Attacking the former vice president, who was traditionally well-liked within the Democratic party, might just push Booker’s run for presidency off the table.

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