There will be many defining moments in the presidential campaign over the next 17 months, but there was a big one during the second round of Democrat debates Thursday night. 

Sen. Kamala Harris turned to Joe Biden and said, “I don’t believe you are a racist, but…” She then proceeded to slice and dice him.

The issue ironically was busing, one of the most unpopular social engineering solutions of the 1960s and 1970s that tore communities apart. But Sen. Harris was attacking Biden because he was, according to her, against busing in the early 1970s.

To make her point, Harris described a little minority girl waiting to be bused to her school, and added, “That little girl was me.” It was a powerful moment.

But it was no spontaneous moment. Within minutes, her campaign blasted out a photo of Harris as a little girl, presumably waiting for her bus. Not long after, her online store was selling T-shirts featuring that photo.

Biden’s rebuttal would have gone over well at a Republican debate, but not in today’s Democrat Party. He said he wasn’t necessarily against busing, but he was against the federal Department of Education imposing it on local school districts. 

Well, the first problem for Biden is that his opposition to busing pre-dated the federal Department of Education. It didn’t exist until 1979. Second, his response allowed Harris to hit back, saying that it was up to the federal government to safeguard civil rights.

The moment ended badly for Biden when he eagerly noted, “Anyway, my time is up, I’m sorry.” Usually, candidates are fighting for time, talking well past their allotted time and even talking over one another. But Biden clearly knew this exchange wasn’t going well and just wanted it to be over.

It was a particularly bad sign that Biden campaign staffers are throwing each other under the bus. Operatives say that attendees at watch parties were disappointed with Biden’s debate performance. Others have complained in recent days that Biden is stuck in his ways and won’t take advice.

There’s no question that Kamala Harris gave herself a big boost Friday night. And there’s no question that Joe Biden took a big hit. And you don’t have to take my word for it. Even liberal commentators on MSNBC like Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough said that Biden’s performance was “a disaster” and were asking if Biden is “finished.”

Other Winners

There were two other winners Friday night, but they weren’t on the debate stage.

The first winner from Wednesday and Thursday nights is clearly illegal immigrants. The Democrat candidates are clearly all in on open borders and at times seemed more concerned about helping illegal immigrants than American citizens.

The second winner is Donald Trump. Multiple Democrat candidates embraced radical positions over the past 48 hours that will be incredible burdens against Trump in a general election. 

Of the multiple issues they embraced, one was particularly striking. Every one of those ten candidates Thursday night endorsed taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants, and the audience cheered. I guarantee you that hard-working middle class Americans watching at home were not cheering. 

It wasn’t that long ago when Barack Obama stood before members of Congress and declared that Obamacare would not cover illegal aliens. That was when Rep. Joe Wilson yelled out “You lie!” Remember that? 

Now all the Democrat candidates, including Obama’s vice president, are promising to spend your tax dollars to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants. Only 31% of voters support this radical position.

By the way, we’re already paying $18 billion a year to subsidize healthcare for illegal immigrants. That $18 billion would pay for most of the border wall! 

President Trump was watching Thursday night’s debate and he immediately pounced, tweeting: “How about taking care of American Citizens first!? That’s the end of that race!”

And did you notice the one issue that got virtually no attention in the four hours of debate? Impeachment.

Democrats in Disarray

After months of denying the crisis at the southern border, Democrats were scrambling this week to finally address it. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who once called the crisis “fake,” was worried enough about getting blamed for it that she felt compelled to cross her own progressive caucus. Thursday, she brought up for a vote the Republican Senate version of the emergency border funding bill. (The House version of the bill went down in flames 37 to 55 in the Senate.)

But the extra funding and policies in the Senate bill split her caucus, and nearly 100 House Democrats voted against the Senate bill. Thankfully, it easily passed, 305 to 102, as virtually all Republicans supported it.

Progressive Democrats, who want open borders and who want to defund ICE, were furious. Several outlets report there is “open warfare” among the Democrat ranks. Progressive leaders accused the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus of becoming “the Child Abuse Caucus." 

The left-wing media does its best to cover up the deep split that exists within the Democrat Party. But they could not avoid this open food fight. 

These tensions did not materialize Thursday. They have been simmering under the surface for some time, and it is likely to get worse as the campaign season heats up.