Here's how I rank the Democratic candidates' debate performances from debate 8:
6) Michael Bloomberg: Welcome to the show... Ouch! The last time I saw a beating like that was in the film Airplane!, when a woman began having a panic attack and a line of people formed to literally knock some sense into her. On second thought, I think the Bloomberg beatdown last night superseded even that. After that anguishing performance, Mike may very well want to change his identity and be called Shirley.
5) Amy Klobuchar: Disappointed is the first word that comes to mind for me when describing Senator Klobuchar's debate performance last night. As regular readers know, I thought she had been progressively improving in each and every debate since #2 - peaking last time around, where I felt she performed head-and-shoulder's above the rest. The Minnesota Senator had impressed me so much, she took over the reigns in my Democratic candidate leaderboard. Last night, though, she stumbled. She got shaken early by questions regarding her record on immigration and the Latino-American community - getting called out for not being able to correctly name the President of Mexico. Her zingers came across as more rehearsed and less humorous. Her defenses came across as pretty petty and weak. When Mayor Buttigieg mentioned her record on immigration and said a person with her experience in such affairs should know the name of the President of Mexico, she came back with, "Are you calling me dumb?" and "I wish I could be as perfect as you." Weak. She's better than that and I hope she's able to rebound in the next debate. If not, though, and she continues to lag behind the other "moderates" in the next two contests, I think she should drop out in order to give the other "moderates" a chance at the nomination. Given her performance from last night, though, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her stay in the race while shouting, "Well, don't we all wish we had as many delegates as you, Bernie!"
4) Joe Biden: Having watched each and every one of the eight debates thus far, I have to say, this was the strangest showing by Vice President Biden, and it wasn't even his fault. In a majority of the other debates, Biden was treated as the front-runner, and faced more questions from moderators and attacks from other candidates than anyone else on the stage as a result. Last night, however, that wasn't the case. Sure, Biden was literally there, and spoke, but not much. Can you remember any great lines of his or awful gaffes? Me either. Now, if Biden is confident about his chances in Nevada and South Carolina, perhaps this was a good night for him, because he was just kind of there and didn't do anything to hurt his standing. Also, fellow "moderates" Bloomberg and Klobuchar didn't have good showings, which can't hurt the former Vice President either. On the flip-side, former South Bend Mayor and fellow "moderate" Pete Buttigieg did have a good night, and unlike any of his "moderate" opponents, actually had the gall to confront Bernie Sanders. With the two candidates trending in opposite directions, and Biden trending in the wrong direction, this could very well lead to some of his supporters moving to Mayor Pete's camp. Like I said, though, weird debate for Joe Biden. Even Casper is saying, "Whoa! Not even I can see that ghost! Surreal, man!"
3) Bernie Sanders: As I say regarding just about every one of his debate performances, Bernie was Bernie. The only candidate who was able to as least partially successfully confront Senator Sanders was Pete Buttigieg, and those confrontations were short and sweet, so I highly doubt they'll have a great impact on the Vermont Senator's standing in the race. No real standout moments for Sanders, in my opinion, but he didn't really need any. So long as Elizabeth Warren doesn't significantly eat into his support and Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar are splitting votes, he should be in pretty good shape going forward.
2) Pete Buttigieg: A good night, not a great night for Mayor Pete. He was able to successfully rebound from his less-than-stellar performance in debate 7, where he flubbed on a question regarding his record as South Bend Mayor and the disparity between whites and blacks on marijuana criminal charges. He didn't suffer any such flubs this time around, had some good lines about the divisiveness of Sanders and Bloomberg, and was able to rattle Amy Klobuchar in a manner I personally hadn't seen before. Probably a smart strategy, since the two of them are splitting votes. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mayor Pete expand his lead over the Minnesota Senator due to last night's debate. As a side-note, Vegas will start taking bets on which foreign language Buttigieg will speak in future debates. For debate #9, my guess is Klingon.
1) Elizabeth Warren: You remember what I said about the beatdown on Michael Bloomberg? Yeah, the biggest punches were landed by Senator Warren. While she had largely tried to present herself in a rather unifying manner in previous debates, she came out fighting last night. She landed her first punch just moments into the debate and didn't stop jabbing and uppercutting for two full hours. This was one of the strongest debate performances I've seen through this primary cycle. I wouldn't be at all surprised, in light of last night's incredibly strong performance, to see the Massachusetts Senator chew into Bernie Sanders' progressive support, as well as from Biden, Klobuchar, and Bloomberg, perhaps to a lesser extent. Well, after last night, if someone ever asks me who I want to take to a knife fight, I'll, without hesitation, say Elizabeth Warren, for she'll bring a pair of rocket launchers.
6) Michael Bloomberg: Welcome to the show... Ouch! The last time I saw a beating like that was in the film Airplane!, when a woman began having a panic attack and a line of people formed to literally knock some sense into her. On second thought, I think the Bloomberg beatdown last night superseded even that. After that anguishing performance, Mike may very well want to change his identity and be called Shirley.
5) Amy Klobuchar: Disappointed is the first word that comes to mind for me when describing Senator Klobuchar's debate performance last night. As regular readers know, I thought she had been progressively improving in each and every debate since #2 - peaking last time around, where I felt she performed head-and-shoulder's above the rest. The Minnesota Senator had impressed me so much, she took over the reigns in my Democratic candidate leaderboard. Last night, though, she stumbled. She got shaken early by questions regarding her record on immigration and the Latino-American community - getting called out for not being able to correctly name the President of Mexico. Her zingers came across as more rehearsed and less humorous. Her defenses came across as pretty petty and weak. When Mayor Buttigieg mentioned her record on immigration and said a person with her experience in such affairs should know the name of the President of Mexico, she came back with, "Are you calling me dumb?" and "I wish I could be as perfect as you." Weak. She's better than that and I hope she's able to rebound in the next debate. If not, though, and she continues to lag behind the other "moderates" in the next two contests, I think she should drop out in order to give the other "moderates" a chance at the nomination. Given her performance from last night, though, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her stay in the race while shouting, "Well, don't we all wish we had as many delegates as you, Bernie!"
4) Joe Biden: Having watched each and every one of the eight debates thus far, I have to say, this was the strangest showing by Vice President Biden, and it wasn't even his fault. In a majority of the other debates, Biden was treated as the front-runner, and faced more questions from moderators and attacks from other candidates than anyone else on the stage as a result. Last night, however, that wasn't the case. Sure, Biden was literally there, and spoke, but not much. Can you remember any great lines of his or awful gaffes? Me either. Now, if Biden is confident about his chances in Nevada and South Carolina, perhaps this was a good night for him, because he was just kind of there and didn't do anything to hurt his standing. Also, fellow "moderates" Bloomberg and Klobuchar didn't have good showings, which can't hurt the former Vice President either. On the flip-side, former South Bend Mayor and fellow "moderate" Pete Buttigieg did have a good night, and unlike any of his "moderate" opponents, actually had the gall to confront Bernie Sanders. With the two candidates trending in opposite directions, and Biden trending in the wrong direction, this could very well lead to some of his supporters moving to Mayor Pete's camp. Like I said, though, weird debate for Joe Biden. Even Casper is saying, "Whoa! Not even I can see that ghost! Surreal, man!"
3) Bernie Sanders: As I say regarding just about every one of his debate performances, Bernie was Bernie. The only candidate who was able to as least partially successfully confront Senator Sanders was Pete Buttigieg, and those confrontations were short and sweet, so I highly doubt they'll have a great impact on the Vermont Senator's standing in the race. No real standout moments for Sanders, in my opinion, but he didn't really need any. So long as Elizabeth Warren doesn't significantly eat into his support and Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar are splitting votes, he should be in pretty good shape going forward.
2) Pete Buttigieg: A good night, not a great night for Mayor Pete. He was able to successfully rebound from his less-than-stellar performance in debate 7, where he flubbed on a question regarding his record as South Bend Mayor and the disparity between whites and blacks on marijuana criminal charges. He didn't suffer any such flubs this time around, had some good lines about the divisiveness of Sanders and Bloomberg, and was able to rattle Amy Klobuchar in a manner I personally hadn't seen before. Probably a smart strategy, since the two of them are splitting votes. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mayor Pete expand his lead over the Minnesota Senator due to last night's debate. As a side-note, Vegas will start taking bets on which foreign language Buttigieg will speak in future debates. For debate #9, my guess is Klingon.
1) Elizabeth Warren: You remember what I said about the beatdown on Michael Bloomberg? Yeah, the biggest punches were landed by Senator Warren. While she had largely tried to present herself in a rather unifying manner in previous debates, she came out fighting last night. She landed her first punch just moments into the debate and didn't stop jabbing and uppercutting for two full hours. This was one of the strongest debate performances I've seen through this primary cycle. I wouldn't be at all surprised, in light of last night's incredibly strong performance, to see the Massachusetts Senator chew into Bernie Sanders' progressive support, as well as from Biden, Klobuchar, and Bloomberg, perhaps to a lesser extent. Well, after last night, if someone ever asks me who I want to take to a knife fight, I'll, without hesitation, say Elizabeth Warren, for she'll bring a pair of rocket launchers.
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