The CNN Democratic Debate

Tonight’s CNN / Des Moines Register Democratic debate turned out to be a relatively benign event, lacking major confrontations between the candidates. That said, we think there were a few winners and losers.

The Winners: Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders

The Losers: Joe Biden, Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar

Let’s start with the Winners. Warren spoke forcefully and had one of her best nights. She made an overt appeal to women voters on issues such as child care and women’s electability. She pushed for a wealth tax on millionaires and billionaires and gave a coherent response on what type of a commander in chief she would be. Her closing argument is that she is the only viable female candidate for the Presidency. She wanted to grab the attention, appeal to women and she accomplished both goals.

Sanders dominated the policy discussions, offering clear policy red meat to the progressive base. Sanders was able to use the first question on Middle East to highlight Biden’s prior vote for the Iraq War, drawing a huge distinction between his opposition and Biden’s support for President Bush. On health care, Sanders again contrasted his unambiguous support for government medicare for all with others support for incremental steps. He pledged to fight for the green new deal and usher in a revolution. If voters want the true progressive, Sanders is their candidate.

The losers. Biden avoided having any huge gaffes, but he certainly did not have a great one either. He struggled to answer virtually every question, regularly closing his eyes, stumbling over words. He constantly references the 1970s and 1980s. We don’t think anyone could watch this debate and come away believing that Biden is sharp. There is just a lack of enthusiasm that surrounds his entire campaign.

Tom Steyer does not belong on the stage. Twitter was filled with comments about why Steyer was on the stage rather than Andrew Yang, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker or Tulsi Gabbard.

Pete Buttigieg continues to speak reasonably well and tried to sound a positive message. We think he did ok, but he seemed a bit cautious and lacked the enthusiasm or passion of Sanders and Warren.

Amy Klobuchar tried to portray herself as the pragmatist who can beat Trump. She came away as sincere and competent, but she did not dominate the debate and when you are in fifth or sixth place, you need to make headlines, not play it safe.

We close by highlighting that after the debate ended there was an exchange between Warren and Sanders that suggests a level of tension between the two. In the 24 hours leading up to the debate, Warren accused Sanders of telling her that a woman could not be President, something Sanders denies ever saying. This new tension between Sanders and Warren may dominate the headlines and is likely to overshadow the substance of what was said tonight. We think that could help Sanders and Warren by keeping the attention on them while also helping Biden avoid scrutiny on another weak debate performance.