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A Feel-Good Night for Debating Democrats

A Feel-Good Night for Debating Democrats

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- I’m always reluctant to predict which candidates will benefit from a debate performance. I’ll stick to my guns after the fifth debate of the Democratic presidential primary contest in Georgia Wednesday night. I suspect that all of the seven plausible nominees out of the 10 hopefuls on the Atlanta stage feel pretty happy with how they did. 

In particular, three candidates who trail in the polls seemed to have good nights. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey had the most at stake: He needs a polling boost quickly if he’s going to qualify for the next one of these events, on Dec. 19 in Los Angeles, and it’s hard to see anyone recovering from failing to get an invitation at this point. He had several excellent moments, particularly on criminal justice. On the other hand, Booker has seemed to be solid in several previous debates and other events, and it hasn’t done much for him so far. Maybe his wisecrack aimed at former Vice President Joe Biden’s statement opposing marijuana legalization — “I thought you might have been high when you said it” — will do the trick. Maybe not.

The strong version of Senator Kamala Harris showed up in Georgia after the former California attorney general made little impact in the last two debates. Harris has a cadence and style all her own and, at her best, a commanding stage presence (or at least that’s how it comes across to me, watching on TV). She didn’t show that command in September and October, but it was back this time, both in lecturing Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii (an easy winner for most Democrats, since Gabbard is disliked by many Democrats for her frequent attacks on party stalwarts) and in a critique of President Donald Trump’s meetings with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota was on her game, too, and she’s become an adept debate performer. At one point she pivoted neatly away from whatever the question was to a substantive answer on voting rights, beat the others to first mention of the local Democratic Party star, 2018 gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, and ended with one of her trademark goofy jokes. That’s harder than it looks. 

I don’t know yet what the prevailing media reaction will be, but can picture any of those three getting debate-winner treatment or having a flattering moment showing up repeatedly on Thursday in a lot of Twitter feeds.

That said, it wasn’t as if they stood out from the higher-polling candidates. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont displayed his usual grumpy energy as he repeated his familiar call for a “political revolution” against “unfettered capitalism.” Also looking comfortable was Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who had to put up with a lot of attacks during the previous debate last month but was back touting her “I have a plan” bona fides this time. Both appeared to do exactly what they wanted to do. 

The conventional wisdom going in was that Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who has enjoyed some recent polling surges, would take Warren’s place as the favorite target, but it didn’t really happen. Harris and Klobuchar both came after him a little, but in both cases it was more to build their own case than to take him down a peg. Gabbard did attack him, but that surely helped him with most Democrats. Of the seven leading contenders, he struck me as the least successful in producing standout moments, but I wouldn’t be shocked if others saw it differently.

That leaves Biden, whose debate featured the kind of verbal bloopers he’s known for. At one point, for example, he urged the nation to change the culture of sexual violence by punching it. And he managed to mangle a bit of history in claiming the support of the only black women ever elected to the U.S. Senate. He meant Carol Moseley Braun, who became the first black woman in the Senate when she represented Illinois in the 1990s; the problem was that the second black female senator, Harris, was standing just a few feet away. Worse than that was a claim that President Barack Obama had supposedly put him on the ticket because … well, it sounded as if he was boasting about being a part of the black community. But Biden also had strong moments — along with a thoroughly unexpected prepared attack on the coal investments of billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer.

As one expects in these debates, the candidates spent a lot of time pandering to Democratic party actors and voters, and little appealing to independents and Republicans. That said, the solid field of plausible nominees gives Democrats plenty of reasonable choices. 

The best news? After a slow start with an impeachment question, the MSNBC and Washington Post moderators asked good policy questions. These included inquiries on North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other foreign-affairs matters. With only a few exceptions, they avoided gotcha questions or attempts to provoke fights, and they covered a lot of ground. I’ve bashed some of the moderators in other debates, but this was a model for how to do it. 

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Landman at jlandman4@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

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