For anyone who wants to see Trump defeated in November, this was your worst nightmare. Even though, in the big picture of things, the candidates don’t disagree on very much, they appear to hate each other more than Trump, who has to be thrilled by this turn of events.
Otherwise:
1. After a brief hiatus, Fighting Liz is back! She had the best night of anyone on stage. Unfortunately for her, her continuing unwillingness to distinguish herself from Sanders disqualifies her from being any kind of a unity candidate. She can’t win as left-wing Pepsi, and that’s what she was last night.
2. As predicted, Bloomberg was bad. He comes across as someone who thinks that America, LLC needs a much better manager. For everyone who rejects the premise of an America, LLC, that presents a problem.
3. Mayor Pete probably got the better of his exchanges with Klobuchar, which is a loss for people like me who think she is better positioned to win in November. He also did a pretty good job of arguing that he represents the middle of the party. We’ll see if it makes an impression in a few days.
4. Biden had a pretty good night by his admittedly low standards, and didn’t take any serious attacks from anyone. Is it too late? He needs to finish no worse than second in Nevada and win South Carolina; otherwise, he needs to quit.
5. Sanders did what he does. You either accept it or you don’t. No one is ever going to make any headway with him at a debate. You should note, however, that he invariably changes the subject when he is asked about the electoral liabilities of being a socialist instead of trying to convince anyone that socialism is actually popular. That won’t work in a general election.
6. Klobuchar’s closing was effective, but the rest of her performance was uneven. I’m afraid her moment may be gone.