Joe Lockhart: The big winner tonight is Joe Biden.

[highplainsdem]

https://www.cnn.com/opinions/live-news/opinion-democratic-debate-night-july-30/index.html

Tuesday’s debate felt a lot like the Democrats were trying to clean up after last month's first round of debates. In those first two debates, Democratic candidates seemed intent on outbidding themselves for who could be the most progressive. Hands shot up on who was for Medicare for All, who wanted to decriminalize undocumented immigrants' crossing the border and who would provide health care to those who are undocumented.

This debate should be called the revenge of the moderates. From the outset in opening statements, most of the candidates directly took on the policies of Senator Sanders and Warren as “wish-list politics” and unworkable political promises.

The good news is Democrats have a much clearer view now of the choice they have. Sanders and Warren are offering revolutionary change, and the rest of the field is offering progressive, but more incremental change. When it comes to public polls on issues like Medicare for All, the Democratic party and the public at large tend to side with the moderates, not Sanders or Warren. There is very little support for eliminating the private health insurance option. The irony for Democratic voters is Sanders and Warren are much more effective in advocating for an unpopular position than the rest of the field is for promoting the more popular policy.

The big winner tonight is Joe Biden. The moderates had two hours to attack the policy ideas of Warren and Sanders underscoring polls that show the party has not lurched to the left as is so frequently repeated. And while doing it, none of them particularly distinguished themselves as a powerful candidate for the nomination. That leaves the voter-rich center left wide open for Biden. That is if he can deliver a stronger debate performance Wednesday night than he did last month.

[JI7]

1. wouldn't it be better to wait until tomorrow to see who won ?

[Cha]

2. No Pressure!!

The big winner tonight is Joe Biden. The moderates had two hours to attack the policy ideas of Warren and Sanders underscoring polls that show the party has not lurched to the left as is so frequently repeated. And while doing it, none of them particularly distinguished themselves as a powerful candidate for the nomination. That leaves the voter-rich center left wide open for Biden. That is if he can deliver a stronger debate performance Wednesday night than he did last month.

TY highplains

[BlueMTexpat]

19. That last sentence, IMO,

has a BIG "if" in it.

Perhaps Joe will surprise me.

Btw: I agree with several posters here who do not have the same takeaway as that expressed in the OP. Yes, several moderates were able to make their voices heard and that, to me, is good. But they did NOT drown out either Warren or SBS,* or, for that matter, Buttigieg. I do not believe that the poll percentages for "moderates" will rise as a result. Warren's already has, on DU at least.


*You can only imagine how much it cost me to admit that.

[Cha]

21. Oh, I think Senator Warren won

from all I can gather. A lot on twitter were saying Elizabeth looked Presidential.. and BS looked angry.

I was surprised these journalists and pundits were bringing Biden into last night's debate.. but then I'm not a political analyst. I just know who I like for the job after trump is taken out.

And yes, like I said.. no pressure on Joe Biden!

BlueMT

[BlueMTexpat]

22. These so-called "political analysts"

are, IMO, full of BS.

But what do I know?

[Gothmog]

3. Joe Biden won tonight

Link to tweet

[greyl]

4. An evasive, silly, non-serious take. Disapointed in Lockhart.

Dude, what do you think of the ten candidates tonight? Simple question.

[Cha]

6. No, it's right on point that a few are making..

there's other OPs on the candidates who were on stage tonight.

[greyl]

7. It's on A point, but one that it irrelevant to tonight's debate.

It's evasive, trying to be clever meta, as if what happened tonight only matters as a stepping stone to tomorrow.

Not saying the clever meta is entirely untrue, but at least put a static latch in your opinion about the candidates tonight.

[Cha]

8. It's not "irrelevant" to everybody.

Some of us are interested in what they have to say.

[greyl]

9. It's irrelevant to a particular question, not uninteresting to certain people.

The whole point was to ignore the positives about tonight's candidates, and cast Biden as de facto winner. That's evasive.

[Cha]

10. That's their point of view.

[greyl]

11. Lockhart's POV is an evasive, silly, non-serious take, imo.

[Cha]

12. Of course, that's your opinion.. Thanks for

kicking the thread,

[greyl]

13. Who do you think won tonight? nt

[ucrdem]

15. Biden won it.

In other words tonight’s performances aren’t Going to change any math. I didn’t get to hear much but I heard Delaney laying into Sanders and warren and basically pointing out the obvious — campaigning against workplace insurance is suicide. When Warren had to say “it’s not funny” as she ground through take two of a pre-planned hard luck tale I knew it was going to be a long night. As it turned out that’s when my phone died and I missed the rest, sigh.

[greyl]

16. I guess that leaves the possibility open for someone from tonight's debate to win tomorrow's. nt

[ucrdem]

17. LOL

Hey why not. Incidentally the one impression I managed to get before my phone overheated was that Beto’s opening statement was really good. Short, and not a game changer, but still a standout.

[LanternWaste]

27. Ironic your allegations, as you appear to be guilty of the same you indict the author for.

[BeyondGeography]

5. I think I know who has the tougher assignment when Warren and Biden are on the same stage

[greyl]

14. Right.

I do love Joe, truly, but it's not clear what issues he owns for himself. He's a strong part of the offense while we choose the one who will carry it over the line.

[Lordquinton]

18. People who are backing JB claim he won a race he wasn't in

Really not surprised.

[Cha]

20. These are journalists and pundits

who started saying it and gave their reasons. And, yes, there are Biden supporters agreeing with their analysis.

[Lordquinton]

30. Yes, that is correct

[wyldwolf]

23. bitter medicine for 'progressives.'

[TSIAS]

24. Somewhat accurate

The big winner tonight was John Delaney. I expect to see a spike in his polling and fundraising. I can't help but think of the Dream Team. Some on the far left say its Sanders/Warren. After tonight Biden/Delaney would be unbeatable.

[hedda_foil]

28. Jesus Christ! Biden Delaney on a ticket would be a one way ticket to lose.

Delaney is an Irish Joe Lieberman with even less charisma.

[IronLionZion]

29. How about O'Rourke if you want an all Irish male ticket?

It would be a mistake to not have a woman or minority on the ticket somewhere.

[Gothmog]

25. I agree that Biden won the debate last night

I agree with this analysis https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/07/31/dem-debate-gop-strategists-roundup-227491?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Joe Biden won this debate. The candidates on stage really went after each other tonight and in ways that highlighted how extreme some of their views are. The moderates on stage, who have no chance of winning, spent their time highlighting how far left and unelectable Warren and Sanders are. They were doing Biden’s work for him and he didn’t even get his hands dirty.

[IronLionZion]

26. 2016 should teach us to take nothing for granted

in that election, Trump was the extremist. People chose to shake things up.

No matter how liberal or moderate our candidate is, the GOP will say we're socialists. Remember them calling Obama a socialist for his marketplace for private insurance? Biden probably remembers.