Ten Democratic candidates struggled to overcome an abysmal debate format and moderators bent on forcing them to address right-wing talking points and attack each other. Some managed to rise nonetheless. Others continued to spur only questions about why, exactly, they were on stage to begin with. Once again, the winners were the progressive policies shaping the race and, by extension, the two candidates who have championed and driven those policies into the national debate. And once again, the big losers of a Democratic presidential debate were the universally panned moderators, the terrible format, and everyone who had to try to extract useful information from the context created by the setting and the moderators.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren managed the moment of the night, responding to yet another “sensible moderate entrepreneur” answer from former Rep. John Delaney by saying “I don't understand why someone goes to the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really shouldn't do or can't fight for.” Warren was also a strong contender for the second biggest moment of the night, when she pushed back on Delaney’s positions on health care, saying “We're Democrats. We're not taking away health care from anyone. That's Republicans, and we should stop using their talking points.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders also effectively parried attacks from Delaney and other moderate candidates trying to elevate themselves by taking him down, with a particularly rich moment when he snapped “I do know, I wrote the damn bill” in response to Rep. Tim Ryan’s claim that he didn't know the effects of Medicare for All on union workers. But most of all, both Sanders and Warren were the candidates defining the debate, and both were more than equal to the task of defending their policies.
- Warren had a second strong debate performance, with those big moments and her customary ability to communicate how policy affects people’s lives.
- Sanders raised his game from a first debate in which he sometimes risked seeming irrelevant and hewed too closely to his regular talking points. Bernie’s gonna Bernie when it comes to being ornery and shouty, but he was engaged and got deeper into the details on policy, which gives the orneriness some resonance when he lands points about why exactly we should be mad.
- Mayor Pete Buttigieg had a stronger, more substantive performance than in the first debate, doing a good job of talking about his own positions without trying to score points off of other candidates on the stage. In particular, he had a great moment with “It is time to stop worrying about what the Republicans will say. It's true that if we embrace a far-left agenda, they're gonna say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, you know what they're gonna do? They're gonna say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. So let's just stand up for the right policy, go out there and defend it.”
- Marianne Williamson, of all people, had a potential breakout debate. Sure, she sometimes veered off into talking about a “dark psychic force,” but she spoke fluently and with conviction, dominated the reparations question, and overall did a better job pairing her dismissal of policy wonkery with the impression that she might know something about policy or politics. She remains deeply problematic, of course.
- Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke seemed more than ever like someone doing an Obama impression, and it’s not quite working for him. Without Julián Castro targeting him, though, O’Rourke probably came out better than in the first debate—he may not have been the most attention-grabbing or relevant, but at least he wasn’t flailing as another candidate climbed over him.
- Rep. Tim Ryan seemed slightly less terrified and a little more engaged in policy than in the first debate, which still doesn’t mean he did well.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar didn’t have any memorable moments and at times seemed shaky or ran through talking points without an organizing principle to her answers.
- Former Rep. John Delaney remains combative and smug, but this time around he did provide some memorable moments as the loser to Warren.
- Gov. Steve Bullock probably didn’t have the space to introduce himself fully to voters, struggling to stand out from the other white guys presenting themselves as the sensible moderate who can win Trump voters.
- Former Gov. John Hickenlooper is the most consistently weak and unmemorable candidate on stage, the one it’s difficult to make yourself tune into in the moment, never mind remembering what he said.
