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Democratic Debate Review (Debate 9)

Here's how I rank the Democratic candidates' debate performances from debate 8:

7) Bernie Sanders: With "front-runner" status attached to his name, Sanders received the brunt of the attacks for the first time in this election cycle, and with mixed results. He seemed rather taken aback by some of the boos he heard from the crowd and felt a little off his game as a result. Having said that, it wasn't a horrible night for Sanders, as his less-than-stellar performance I feel was overshadowed by the ineptitude of the debate moderators (yikes!), but still, he'll need to up his game when playing defense in the future. In essence, he'll need to heed his own advice and feel the Bern going forward.

6) Michael Bloomberg: Eh. It was an improved performance from his first debate showing. Of course, that'd be like saying, "This migraine is better than my gout attack." Bloomberg made some good points and we'll see if he can continually improve in future debates, but man, someone get that guy a better joke writer. "Many people mistake me for being 6-foot." Really?!? That's the best you got?!? Where are Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler when you need them? I mean, really?!?

5) Tom Steyer: Why he's still in the race I don't really know, although he has been polling pretty well in South Carolina. Regardless, he made some good points and continues to be the only one of the group to even approach the subject of reparations, so that's, I'll call it ballsy. I can see the bumper sticker now: Vote Tom Steyer. Vote Ballsy Businessman. Yeah, that could work.

4) Elizabeth Warren: Senator Warren had a pretty solid performance overall, as she typically does. I wasn't crazy about her continual attacks on Mayor Bloomberg, though. What was that all about? His poll numbers have been on the decline ever since his first debate performance. What point does it make to kick a guy while he's down, as opposed to confronting the party front-runner? As the saying goes, "to be the best, you have to beat the guy who has zero delegates and is on a downward trajectory in the polls." Wait, is that how it goes? Sure, let's go with it.

3) Joe Biden: In my opinion, this was Biden's best debate performance to date. The guy had appeared to be sleepwalking through most of his other showings, but he apparently ate his Wheaties or took the greatest nap of all time earlier in the day, because he was fired up and ready to go! I sincerely hope this helps to rejuvenate him and his campaign. Like with Senator Warren and her attacks on Mayor Bloomberg, though, why did Biden feel the need to go after Steyer? He's at the end of the debate stage for a reason - he's not polling well. Trust me, Joe, Tom Steyer should be the last of your worries moving forward. I'm not sure it'd be a very appealing campaign slogan to essentially say, "Yeah, we'll kick you when you're down, but then we'll help you back up." Yes, sign me up!

1-tie) Pete Buttigieg: Mayor Pete is often called the white version of Obama for a reason - he's smooth. I wonder what kind of lotion he uses... Anyway, where was I? Yeah, Mayor Pete... Well, in a debate which featured a lot of raised voices and food-fighting, he and Senator Klobuchar came across as the calmest, most even-keeled of the bunch, in my opinion. Ironically, when asked what people most commonly misconceive about him, Mayor Pete said, "That I'm not passionate; I'm too calm..." I had to laugh at this, because after the last 3+ years under the crazy train that has been Donald Trump, I'll take cool, calm, and collected any day! That sounds like a Stevie Wonder song in the making. Stevie, get to work!

1-tie) Amy Klobuchar: Similar to Mayor Pete, Senator Klobuchar sounded like the most mature voice in the room. She made her points; had decent zingers (psst, Bloomy, take lessons from Kloby); and had an effective, unifying message. Also, for the first time in the past 473 days, she didn't tell her FDR story. Yeah, you know the one. You've heard it too. 128 times.

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