Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Democrats Debate Round 2 First Night

Owing to the fact that I was asleep by 7:30 pm EDT, I missed it.  So I will have to catch up and rely on the punditocracy for their insight.

Did you watch?  Who won?  Who lost?  Who will become an answer on “Jeopardy” next year, and who will end up in the next Democratic president’s cabinet, assuming we still have a functioning democracy after 2020?

Here’s a sum-up by Josh Marshall:

On balance I thought this was a pretty productive, good debate for the simple reason that a series of central debates in the Democratic party and this campaign were joined clearly, in a generally well argued and illuminating way. Former Rep. John Delaney was clearly the odd man out on the stage (possibly with Gov. Bullock a runner up). He frequently seemed like he was in a time warp back to the 1990s. But he provided an effective foil to Warren and Sanders; he even leveled some reasonable critiques. In so doing he managed to garner wildly more time on air than his non-candidacy possibly merits. But I thought it was good because you had a series of set piece exchanges which really captured the broader debate in a clear and illuminating way.

On balance, I would say Warren was the big winner of the evening. I continue to think and worry that her embrace of Medicare for All, with a deep clarity about the prohibition of private insurance, could be a major electoral liability if she becomes the nominee. But to me she had a clarity and energy that owned the stage. She had directness, moments of memorable humor and compelling explanation. I didn’t think she did as well in the first debate as some others did. In this case I think she had a very strong night.

Mayor Pete made a good point:

“It is time to stop worrying about what the Republicans will say,” Buttigieg said at one point. “It’s true that if we embrace a far-left agenda, they’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists.”

Whoever it is, he/she/they/them will be running against the most dangerous and racist occupant of the office since Andrew Jackson.  All the policies and ideas are fine for discussion, but Job 1 is getting that stain on democracy and civilization out of office.

One bark on “Democrats Debate Round 2 First Night

  1. The whole lengthy opening segment was atrocious, like some combination of ESPN and the Miss Universe competition. The three CNN people had meaningless scripted interjections to throw in. The announcer sounded like Kasey Kassem. Then the would be nominees had to stride out from the wings individually and stand there without a podium. Whoever in the Democratic party who approved this are idiot corporate shills.

    Jake Tapper, as you will read everywhere, specialized in repeated questions designed to create controversies between the more and less lefty participants. Bernie and Warren didn’t bite.

    Warren should cut down on the coffee, or meth though. Being a terrier on issues is part of the deal. The other part is presidenting, and to me she doesn’t look like she would be good at that. She might well be, but doesn’t demonstrate it.

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