The "winners" of this Debate were Harris and Buttigieg

[brooklynite]

Biden wasn’t as clear spoken as he sometimes is, and Bernie was....Bernie.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. I think so too. I would put Biden third.

[IluvPitties]

2. Biden won too.

Everyone else lost big time.

[onetexan]

4. second that. I would say Joe, Kamala & Hickenlooper. Buttigieg was good but still a little too wet

behind the ears for me.

[crazytown]

6. Hicklooper's closing statement was wretched.

[bornsunny]

11. You could at least pretend to be objective.

[ancianita]

3. I ranked them to help me decide. Harris, Biden, Sanders, Buttegieg all got 9's.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Biden is on his way back to the pack after tonight

Bernie too.

Agree with you on the winners.

[aaaaaa5a]

7. My list.

Winners

1-Harris
2-Buttigieg
3-Biden

Losers
Sanders

[Bradshaw3]

8. I liked Bennet too

Grasp of the issues combined with some nice personal touches.

[thesquanderer]

34. Weak delivery, though. (n/t)

[Raven123]

9. I agree

My recollection is that Joe has been better in previous debates. I liked Bennett and wished he had entered the race sooner.

[democratisphere]

10. Joe Biden is the most qualified person to be our President.

Joe Biden proved that tonight.

[emmaverybo]

54. Yes. He is still the most qualified. He held his own. He did not hurt himself, but he did take

a surprise hit. It is very difficult for anyone to respond to a challenge on an issue
which the challenger personalizes so effectively.

[democratisphere]

62. Bussing for school integration was done nearly half a Century ago.

WTF are we doing revisiting THIS in 2020 for? Anyone involved in bussing didn't like it and any attempt to make it different is a fraud. I no longer support KH for her orchestrated cheap shot on Biden. This is a single issue election, to remove drumpf from office, and for any candidate that doesn't get that, they will be on the outside looking in.

[womanofthehills]

68. However, some of his comments back in the 70's were cringeworthy - the poor white kids

“The real problem with busing is that you take [white] people who aren’t racist, people who are good citizens, who believe in equal education and opportunity, and you stunt their children’s intellectual growth by busing them to an inferior school,” https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/25/joe_biden_anti_busing_segregation_history

[Agschmid]

56. Clearly qualifications don't get you "elected"

[Locrian]

60. I think the last election proved that 100% - n/t

[democratisphere]

63. Either do misinformed cheap shots.

[Agschmid]

64. What I said is a statement of fact, 2016 proved that.

I think it’s something we need to be aware of.

[emmaverybo]

12. Depends on how you measure "win." NT

[tarheelsunc]

13. Buttigieg, Harris, and Biden were the only ones who stood out. Eom

[Honeycombe8]

14. Agreed. nt

[cbelle1039]

15. I'm liking a Biden/Warren ticket right now.

Harris was doing fine until she attacked Joe with an epic mischaracterization of his comments on working with segregationists. I think she made a grave mistake. She might have been a running mate for Biden if he wins.

I also believe Joy's praise for Harris misses the mark. Harris looked too staged and phony.

[a kennedy]

24. and you're new......

welcome and thanks for your input.

[Thekaspervote]

26. +1000

[highplainsdem]

30. Welcome to DU!

[Goodheart]

16. Harris and Buttegieg, for sure.

Harris stumbled a bit, I think, with her bussing attack on Biden. She certainly scored the technical point, and Biden was forced into a duplicitous defense on the matter, but some will see it as an attempt to question his attitudes on race. I don't think she needed to go there. So while her first half of the debate was stellar, she lost a few points in the second for me. Still, she won.

And Mayor Pete is just massively impressive every time he speaks.

[Capt. America]

37. I would certainly second that ticket.

[defacto7]

46. I agree but not necessarily in that order.

[mdelaguna]

57. Agreed.

She was phenomenal but that attack had me cringing.

[hlthe2b]

17. Biden held his own and that's all he had to do. Kamala's attack backfired and will give him sympathy

Kamala was exceptional throughout the first half until that incident-- that for the audience came across as inexplicable rage/grievance. I think she likely recovered towards the end, but it was a nasty incident in an otherwise stellar performance.

[Thekaspervote]

29. Yup!!

Harris should be looking at how the attacks on Biden have been backfiring one after another after another. It won’t help her no matter what the media is saying about her being the winner

[womanofthehills]

67. She is pulling in the money today

She is a force.

[emmaverybo]

55. She has a terrific presence and style. But I found her challenge unfair. It was like "I know you're

not a war-monger. But you voted for the Iraq war. There was a young father killed in it. Guess what? He was my husband.”

I can’t even find an analogy. But what she did is not debating.

[oasis]

66. Many voters are turned off by displays of naked opportunism. nt

[Politicub]

18. CNN is gushing over Harris - Van Jones is saying, "A star was born tonight."

Hard to argue with that.

I also agree about Buttigieg. It reminded me why he caught fire like he did when he hit the scene.

On edit: Jones just said that Buttigieg as the other person who commanded the stage. Boom

[Celerity]

45. Harris started to really find her voice at the fish fry & the next day's speeches at the SC Dem Con

She was streets beyond any of the other 20 candidates in the debates of the last 2 days.

Pete was also really good tonight. They were the only two tonight who had great nights.

Harris is by far my second choice atm. I could easily see her becoming my first choice, and would LOVE to see her take apart the fat orange fuck who occupies the WH at present.

Pete slashing Pence apart in the VP debates would be icing on the cake, lolol.

[Politicub]

47. Harris/Buttigieg or Buttigieg/Harris

Can you imagine how amazing that would be? It would fire up a lot of people.

[Celerity]

48. I'm leaning towards Harris/Pete due to age (Pete has plenty of time, he's 17 years younger)

[bornsunny]

19. Eric Swalwell?

No one thought Swalwell did a good job? I did.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. I thought he was very good.

[Kind of Blue]

31. He sure did!

[StarfishSaver]

49. I didn't

I thought he sounded petty. I was disappointed because I really like him.

[mcar]

20. Harris kicked ass, Mayor Pete was great

Biden, I'm sorry to say, looked old.

[mobeau69]

21. Joe did not look good tonight.

I"m afraid his time has passed. He should be enjoying whatever days he has left with his grandchildren.

[Capt. America]

38. +1000

Biden and Sanders have had their shot. Time for new leadership.

[mtnsnake]

22. Yes, without a doubt it was Harris and Buttigieg tonight.

[gopiscrap]

25. I agree

[sop]

28. Kamala Harris was the strongest and most impressive

Joe was too relaxed, he comes off better when he's agitated and passionate. Buttigieg's answers are always clear, concise and make a lot of sense. Williamson and Yang didn't belong there.

1. Harris
2. Biden
3. Buttigieg

[Raine]

32. Biden, Bernie and Yang stood out to me

in a good way.

[thesquanderer]

33. re: "Biden wasn't as clear spoken as he sometimes is"

Welcome to this year's Biden. His speech has become very sloppy. Tonight was actually better than what I've seen in other recent appearances.

[Spider Jerusalem]

35. my take (and polls-wise, probably): Harris ↑ Buttigieg ↑ Sanders → Biden ↓

[Capt. America]

39. Agree 1000.

[Still In Wisconsin]

42. More like Biden ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

[dansolo]

36. I agree completely

Those two really stood out for me. I was especially impressed with Buttigieg.

[PatrickforO]

40. I agree. n/t

[Still In Wisconsin]

41. Biden flopped badly and Bernie came off as a crazy, ranting old kook. n/t

[LeftInTX]

44. Bidden messed up on the busing thing...

Not good

Kamala had me in tears with her story and Biden should have embraced her story instead of being defensive.

[BlueWI]

65. Saw Sanders differently.

Passion. Focus. Command of facts. Clarity and fierceness.

He had 3x the energy of most on the stage, as the most elderly candidate.

He's not in my top 5, but he brings verve to the stage.

[LeftInTX]

43. Bernie seemed angrier than in 2016

Maybe his anger was seen as passion in 2016, but this time, he seems more angry.

[NurseJackie]

59. You're not the only one who's making that observation. Many feel as you do.

[sellitman]

50. Mayor Pete always sounds great

He and Kamala rocked the floor tonight.

[Mike Nelson]

51. I agree...

… Harris / Buttigieg. I thought last night's debate was better, overall, tho... there was too much shouting...

[RHMerriman]

52. Interesting take from Josh Marshall

[link:https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/quick-take-on-a-more-jagged-debate|]


The big winner tonight was Kamala Harris. She was consistently strong in her answers. Her dramatic confrontation with Joe Biden is clearly the story of the evening. But again, score over libretto. Somewhat like Booker last night but much more so, she took possession of the room and turned it to her advantage.

and

Biden doesn’t need fireworks. He’s already ahead. He needs to not make mistakes, not seem old, seem on his toes. I think he basically did that. The confrontation with Harris is a case in point. It was a powerful moment for her. But I thought it was a decent moment for him too if you judge it by the part of the electorate he’s appealing to and the strategy of the race he’s running. Someone said he wasn’t the guy from his veep debates. But that was a different brief.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

53. In the end Biden still front runner

[mdelaguna]

58. Pete was so measured, in control, and articulate..

Very impressive. Inspiring confidence and showing leadership. Also, original answers and not struggling to say his piece within the time limit.

[ElementaryPenguin]

61. Bennet did well for someone placed on the outside

He has too much potential as a candidate to be written off after one debate.