Biden ‘Dated Himself,’ ‘Underperformed’—and ‘Was Eaten Alive’
The four-hour, two-night debate is over. According to our experts, Bernie Sanders was eclipsed, Joe Biden (maybe) survived a pummeling, and Kamala Harris changed the 2020 race.
By POLITICO MAGAZINE
June 28, 2019
It’s a democratic-socialist party now—but it might be in the hands of some younger stars instead of Bernie Sanders. After two nights and 20 Democrats scrapping on a national stage, that’s the conclusion of our panel of experts, operatives and longtime political observers who sat through all four hours of debating and watched a party reshape itself on live TV.
Who came out ahead? Kamala Harris captured a lot of the attention, not least for her ability to go toe-to-toe with frontrunner Joe Biden on Thursday night. The other big winner was Pete Buttigieg, whose smooth intelligence and moral seriousness stood out, though at age 37 he might not have had quite the commanding presence of Harris. Both of them, in our experts’ views, eclipsed Biden—though the former vice president still grabbed the most screen time, and there’s no telling whether anything we saw this week will move the polls.
Looking at both nights, our panel thought that Elizabeth Warren held her own, and Julián Castro pushed his name up the leaderboard, at least for now. And many observers thought Sanders seemed eclipsed by more diverse and dynamic candidates.
Who else had an electric kickoff, and why? Read on for their insights.
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https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/06/28/dem-debate-winners-losers-roundup-227245
