What crisis" Health care. The economy. Gun control. Climate change. Race and gender equality. Congressional gridlock. President Trump.
Twenty Democratic candidates kicked off the 2020 presidential election cycle with two two-hour debates on Wednesday and Thursday, and while NBC?s moderators questioned the candidates on a wide array of issues, one was notably absent?housing affordability.
Affordable housing for people making the federal minimum wage doesn?t exist and rising rents in urban areas have turned the issue of housing affordability into a crisis, leading political pundits to forecast housing would take center stage in the 2020 presidential election.
But if this week?s debates were any indication, housing is further down the pecking order than previously believed. Health care was the most discussed issue over the course of the two nights, followed by President Donald Trump, gun control, and climate change. Few candidates have a concrete housing proposal, as only Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Julián Castro have presented anything other than talking points.

No mention of affordable housing in a country where a renter earning minimum wage can't afford a two-bedroom apartment in a single U.S. county. #DemDebate https://t.co/4MqzT2XHli? Curbed (@Curbed) June 28, 2019

Warren has the most comprehensive housing plan. Her plan calls for a roughly $500 billion investment in various federal housing funds to build and preserve a...