Night one of the the CNN Democratic debates from Detroit featured some crystal clear winners and some crystal clear losers.
First up, CNN was the biggest loser. This format was terrible from the start. They spent the first ten minutes doing cheesy introduction videos of each candidate, done in a reality show format, as if they were introducing the newest contestants on Survivor or American Ninja Warrior, followed by a lengthy flag presentation and national anthem. Twitter users immediately erupted into complaints about the start of the program and the hurried nature of the questions. As soon as a candidate started to give a substantive answer, Dana Bash was there to cut them off and say it was time to move on. As a result, the viewers were the biggest losers of all.
With that said, let’s get to the round-up. Buckle up and here we go!
Elizabeth Warren came punching right out of the gate.
She further landed a blow when she interrupted John Delaney to remind everyone to “stop using Republican talking points.”
Bernie went right at Amazon to big applause.
The Daily Show had a bit of fun tonight.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg stood up for progressives, saying we can’t be concerned what Republicans call us, they will paint us as extremists no matter what.
For whatever reason, John Delaney kept getting screen time and he repeatedly mansplained health care and more to Elizabeth Warren and the audience. It did not go over well.
Time and again, CNN moderators failed viewers, repeatedly framing every question from conservative viewpoints.
Sen. Gillibrand was watching from a distance and she noted there were some real issues missing from the moderator’s questions tonight.
Marianne Williamson had a surprisingly mixed night, she dropped a couple of real crowd-pleasing responses, including this one about Flint, Michigan and environmental racism.
The earth is dying and it took 83 minutes for CNN to finally get around to a question about climate change. Even then, look how they framed it:
Speaking of John Delaney after he again complained Democrats are thinking too big, we can’t do this, we can’t do that! Elizabeth Warren wasn’t having it. She delivered the final blow.
Beto O’Rourke had a very solid answer on the legacy of slavery and the subject of reparations.
Oh, I forgot to mention….John Hickenloooper was there.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock also appeared on stage tonight.
Sen. Sanders also echoed Sen. Warren and chided Jake Tapper for his “Republican talking point.”
Mayor Pete again garnered big applause with a message directly to Republicans in the senate.
Marianne Williamson certainly is getting attention after the debate.
In the end, Danny Barefoot of The Las Vegas Journal Review watched the night with a focus group of Michigan voters and they saw one clear winner tonight.
