I wondered about that too. It definitely has made this debate seem at times like 9 friends who hate Trump happily ripping into him.
Oh Biden…
Not sure tonight is gonna move the needle for anyone.
Hah, sorry to go for the shallow reference. Here’s my second try at describing Gabbard’s new style.
Steyer is pretty impressive. So is Booker.
Just saw the closing statements of Sanders, Warren and Biden. If the latter is the candidate and he miraculously wins, it won’t be because people are inspired by him but rather because they really hate Trump that much. Trump on the other hand does fire up his adherents.
Pete with an excellent challenge thrown back at Tulsi there at the end.
Tulsi managed to conflate that into Pete calling for sending troops to Mexico. Or something. And Pete wasn’t having it, and chewed off whatever was left of Tulsi after Kamala had finished with her.
Just go away, Tulsi. Or join the Trump party. Your choice.
Interesting observation from the Whiz Kid:
Great closing statement by Cory Booker, I may even contribute to his campaign.
I’m kind of confused why Booker hasn’t gotten any traction. Is there a difference in organizational ground game or other elements that are really moving the polls around?
I’ve often wondered the same. I’ve always enjoyed listening to him speak but he’s never had any traction at all.
Correlation or causation? Attacking the front runner seems like a good strategy if you’re in the discount bin and looking to make some noise.
The problem with Booker is that all the lanes were occupied by better-known candidates from the start. He can’t be the left candidate because Sanders and Warren are there. He can’t be the moderate centrist because Biden has that sewed up. He can try to be the younger alternative, but that’s a scramble between a whole bunch of people, and if they just split the non-leaders support that isn’t going to be much at all.
Too many people in the race. The best-known people take the early lead and tend to hold it. Only Pete has managed to make a splash, and that’s largely because everyone is very focused on Iowa where he has something of a natural constituency.
I think you can make a case for some causation in there, too, if only because going after Biden pretty heavily in some cases is going to mean attacking the Obama era. Which – whatever anyone’s personal thoughts are – is something that I think a lot of folks consistently underestimate the popularity of with Democratic primary voters, particularly in places like Iowa.
I tuned in for about an hour last night. It was pretty boring since I basically agree with most people on the stage about everything, including that guy whose name I don’t know who was on the right side of the screen, standing next to Yang. I’m fine with any of them being the nominee I guess. During the hour that I saw Elizabeth Warren only spoke once, and it was about 30 seconds. It’s a shame, because if she had talked more I probably wouldn’t have gotten bored.
I agree with that analysis. I really wish Biden and Bernie weren’t in the race, since either of them as the nominee takes away a weapon against Trump, and their presence is taking oxygen from other candidates who otherwise might build into a more exciting choice for next fall.
It was nice to see Steyer go full Inslee on climate.
That shit needs to be said. It needs to be said with a forcefulness and intensity that stops just short of Chicken Little and all the candidates need to be exposed if they are (relatively) neglecting it. 90% of the time these debates go on and on about health care. Which is obviously important, but when the house is on fire you don’t stop saying “the house is on fire!” until there are firemen blasting hoses and everyone is safe outside.
Yes, every Dem candidate is 400,000 times better than the GOP on climate, but that’s still not good enough.
Steyer goaded Biden and Bernie into strong climate rhetoric, which IMO is all to the good. This stuff cannot be buried in a policy paper on the candidate’s website.