Las Vegas Democratic debate grades: Bullies versus the bullied
This debate will go down as the most turbulent of the nine thus far. Here’s who came out on top and who probably needs remedial politics.
Senator Elizabeth Warren: A
With a campaign on the ropes, the senator from Massachusetts came to fight tonight. Where she broke through the most? Her challenging former Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his treatment of women.
Beyond that, she came to play on health care, challenging all of her rivals with specifics on how her plan compared to theirs. It is no surprise that her campaign said they had their best hour of fundraising to date during the debate.
Former Vice President Joe Biden: A-
Maybe all the former vice president needed to have a good debate was to have his entire presidential run on the line. Perhaps the lack of the spotlight was what made him shine — or it is entirely possible that I have come to expect so little of him on the debate stage that any debate in which he doesn’t trip over himself is decent.
However he did more than not trip over himself tonight. He came with a message: He is the most experienced and best positioned to take on Donald Trump and got it across effectively. It’s the first time we can say that for him and mean it.
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg: B+
The former mayor started off incredibly strong, coming out swinging against Sanders for the actions of his supporters. The rest of his night was a typical performance for him in which he characteristically came off as having a good grasp of the issues, making the case that the right answer for the country is not another “Washington insider.”
Speaking of Washington experience … the Midwestern mayor spatted with his fellow heartland contender on competency, rising above Klobuchar on her misstep in forgetting the Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s name by referencing the importance of reverence and collaboration with the U.S.’s southern neighbor.
But overall, his performance was reminiscent of Marco Rubio’s 2016 debate self-destruction: Buttigieg managed to broadly attack Sanders and Bloomberg as he kept repeating that “two most polarizing” candidates line throughout the night.
Senator Bernie Sanders: B
The guy’s got a message — one he is damn good at getting across. After dealing very poorly with early attacks about his supporters, it ended up “business as usual” for the senator from Vermont. From then on, it was a lot more “I wrote the damn bill” and skirting away from answering questions about how he was going to pay for it.
The showdown in the weeks to come of Bernie versus Bloomberg will serve to help his candidacy, as it did tonight: He now has a Trumpian foil on the stage to make the case against.
Senator Amy Klobuchar: C+
She did not mess up. She did not have a moment. After a campaign-saving New Hampshire debate, expectations for Senator Klobuchar were sky high. With the addition of Bloomberg to the stage last night, it was already going to be tough for her to stay at the forefront of the conversation.
And the moderators were holding her accountable, prying about a muddied case she handled which landed a black teen behind bars for life and her inability to name the president of Mexico just one week prior. Warren had to come to the Minnesotan’s rescue, ultimately damaging the typically-feisty Klobuchar’s commanding on-stage presence.
She handled herself quite well, responding to attacks on her health care plan by Senator Warren, and got in effective attacks on Mayor Pete’s lack of experience. Overall, tonight was no harm, no foul for Amy.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg: F
Yikes. Not much more to say beyond that. His national debut went awry moments in and did not get much better; when you get booed by the Democratic audience, it is never a good sign.
Bloomberg appeared not relatable when asked about his tax returns. The former N.Y.C. mayor said it takes a long time to gather and release, adding it could be “thousands of pages,” a comment that did not play well with the audience or a Democratic race that continually questions the existence of billionaires. A funny moment of the night came when moderator Chuck Todd asked Bloomberg if “he should exist?”
Bloomberg also fueled controversy as Senator Warren and others asked about his various non-disclosure agreements involving interactions with women, his past comments on the transgender community and the workplace culture he cultivated. The big question will be whether or not his ad buy tomorrow can cover up the questions he left unanswered and the debate performance he undoubtedly regrets.
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