We begin today’s roundup with analysis on yesterday’s Democratic debate from Anne Gearan and Karen Tumulty at The Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, meeting Thursday night for their last debate before the New Hampshire primary, squared off fiercely on the question of whether the party should strive toward its liberal aspirations or set its sights on the achievable.
The dynamic between the two contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination was far more intense — and far more personal — than it has been in their previous face-offs. That reflected how close their race has become in the wake of a virtual tie in Monday’s Iowa caucuses.
Over at The Fix, Chris Cillizza praised the debate moderators:
Moderating a debate for state Senate is hard. Moderating a presidential debate is really tough. Todd and Maddow did the thing that is both hardest and best for moderators at this level: They let the candidates actually debate. There is nothing that drives me crazier than when a moderator steps into the middle of a genuine conversation/disagreement between two (or more) candidates in order to move on to some other topic. The whole point of a debate is to figure out where the differences are and how each candidates explains those differences, not to try to see who can ask the most questions. Todd and Maddow got out of the way of the candidates tonight, which is exactly what good moderators should do.
Turning to the Republican primary, Damon Linker at The Week says Marco Rubio is worse than George W. Bush:
[S]ubstantively, Rubio is far, far more right-wing than George W. Bush ever was. That Rubio has a chance of serving as a consensus candidate positioned somewhere near the ideological center of his party is a tribute to just how far right the GOP has lurched since Bush left office seven years ago.
Here are five areas where Rubio clearly and sharply outflanks W on the right...
Eugene Robinson:
Cruz is riding high, of course, and can even dream of sneaking into second place in Tuesday’s primary. But New Hampshire is unfriendly turf for him. Besides being the place where Trump hopes to get his mojo back, it is the state where the lagging establishment candidates — Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich — have to do well. If they don’t, donors and endorsers may begin to coalesce around Marco Rubio, the only establishment hopeful who performed better in Iowa than the polls had predicted.
On a final note, The Des Moines Register pens a blistering editorial against Ted Cruz’s unethical campaign practices:
Frankly, it’s hard to square the dishonest campaign tactics of Ted Cruz with his oft-stated support for Christian values. Then again, it’s hard to square Cruz himself with such values.
When asked during a debate to share with viewers his greatest weakness, he resorted to shameless humblebragging. He first said “he was too agreeable (and) easygoing,” then reversed himself and said his “biggest weakness is exactly the opposite: I’m a fighter. I am passionate about what I believe.”
It seems his biggest weakness may be an inability to recognize — or at least admit to — his own failings. That may be the mark of a successful politician, but it’s a dangerous character trait for someone who aspires to be president of the United States.