Round Two:Nine candidates in last night’s Democratic debate were running against Joe Biden and Biden was running against President Donald Trump.

 He said in his opening statement, “I’m running for president to restore the soul of this country.” He finished, “So, Mr. President, let’s get something straight: We love it. We are not leaving it. We are here to stay. And we’re certainly not going to leave it to you.”

  He got the biggest applause of the opening statements.

  In debates broken up several times by hecklers, California Sen. Kamala Harris, who stung Biden in the first debate, came back punching. The two duked it out over health care — Biden would expand and improve Obamacare and Harris wants Medicare for all within 10 years.

  Biden said,  “Take back all the things that Trump took away, provide a public option, meaning every single person in America would be able to buy into that option if they didn’t like their employer plan, or if they’re on Medicaid, they’d automatically be in the plan.”

  Harris retorted, “Senator Biden, your plan will keep and allow insurance companies to remain with status quo, doing business as usual, and that’s going to be about jacking up co-pays, jacking up deductibles.”

  The California senator has chosen a path of stridency with an edge of anger to take on Biden, who’s the front runner. It’s a risk. She comes off at times as nasty and unlikable, attacking a smiling nice guy personally rather than for his ideas and political record, which have vulnerabilities.

  New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said, “Well, first of all, let me just say, that the person that’s enjoying this debate most right now is Donald Trump, as we pit Democrats against each other, while he is working right now to take away Americans’ healthcare.”

  A big point of contention among the Democratic mob is the question of whether to make entering the country illegally a traffic ticket rather than a crime. Former Obama cabinet member Julian Castro said, “My immigration plan would also make sure that we put undocumented immigrants who haven’t committed a serious crime on a pathway to citizenship.”

  Attacking Biden, because that’s the thing the trailing candidates think they need to do, Castro said, “One of us has learned the lessons of the past, one of us hasn’t.”

  One analyst said Elizabeth Warren won last night, and she wasn’t part of the panel.

Some stingers: 

Andrew Yang: — “I’m the opposite of Trump, an ‘Asian man who likes math.’”

Kirsten Gillibrand — “The first thing that I’m gonna do when I’m president is that I’m gonna Clorox the oval office.”

Econ 101:The Federal Reserve yesterday lowered interest rates for the first time since the Great Recession when rates dropped almost to zero in 2008.

  Fed chairman, Jerome Powell said at a news conference that the cut is “intended to ensure against downside risks from weak global growth and trade tensions.” The latter was a recognition that President Trump’s trade wars are hurting American farms and businesses, threatening a downturn in the economy.

  Trump, who needs a strong economy to get re-elected, tweeted a complaint even when he got what he wants; “What the Market wanted to hear from Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve was that this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle  …. As usual, Powell let us down.”

Like Father, Like Son:Hamza bin Laden, son of the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is dead under circumstances they are not explaining, US officials say. President Trump told reporters, “I don’t want to comment on that.”

  Hamza was roughly 30. In his last known public communication, the Saudi native called for a revolt in his home country.

The News Roundup:Accused serial molester Jeffrey Epstein consulted with scientists about  seeding the human race with his DNA, The NY Times reports. Evidently he thinks he’s got the right stuff. —  President Trump yesterday ordered Navy commanders to rescind the Navy Achievement awards given to prosecutors in the acquittal of Navy  SEAL team leader Eddie Gallagher, who was accused of murdering an ISIS prisoner. — After failing to pull their act together, organizers of a 50^thanniversary revival of the legendary Woodstock music festival have given up and cancelled their plans.

The Obit Page: Hal Prince, the Broadway producer and director who had a hand in some of the biggest stage hits of all time, died while visiting Iceland at age 91. He produced and directed — sometimes doing both jobs — some of the most enduring and long-running shows in Broadway history including “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “Sweeney Todd” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” 

To Quote Myself:President Trump, who’s pretty well proved that he’s a racist,  was mightily affronted that CNN’sDon Lemon described him as a racist Tuesday night. Trump tweeted, “In fact I am ‘the least racist person in the world’” quoting himself as the authority on his purity.

  By his own reckoning he’s the least racist person in the world, and by the way he’s also the greatest President in history and his hotels and golf courses are the best ever.