Who Exceeded Expectations:
Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro and current Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard both exceeded expectations in Wednesday night's Democratic debate. Both candidates are currently polling at 1% and needed to perform well in this debate to have a chance of remaining in the race. Castro shone on immigration policy, smoking former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke on border control, while Gabbard excelled on foreign policy, slamming Ohio Representative Tim Ryan over his comments on 9/11 and keeping troops in Afghanistan. After Wednesday's debate, Castro's favorability rating jumped almost twenty points, and Gabbard's rose by twelve (RealClearPolitics).
Who Underperformed:
Former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke earned the designation of "Most Disappointing" in Wednesday night's debate, dodging direct questions in favor of personal anecdotes. Speaking and appealing to the masses is O'Rourke's strong suit, but in order to stay viable, he needed to answer actual policy questions. In the first question directed to him, a question on the proposed 70% top marginal tax rate, O'Rourke masterfully danced around the topic, prompting a follow-up from the moderator asking him to answer the original question. O'Rourke still managed to dodge the question, but squeezed in that he was in favor of a 28% corporate tax rate (again, not answering the original question). Later in the night, O'Rourke was also bested by former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, who grilled O'Rourke over his refusal to support repealing Section 1325 of U.S. immigration law, which makes crossing the U.S. border illegally a criminal offense, rather than a civil offense. Castro showed a firm grasp of the subject, while O'Rourke came out looking like a deer in headlights.
Who Performed as Expected:
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the frontrunner of Wednesday's group, only needed to avoid attacks from her fellow candidates to do well in the debate. She was unable to fully explain her incredibly detailed policy positions with the limited time allocated to each question, but made her foundation and core policies clear, and she was calm, collected, and respectful of other candidates. She also was one of only two candidates to openly say they would get rid of private healthcare in favor of Medicare for All (the other being New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio).
Senator Amy Klobuchar cemented her position as the anti-Trump candidate, attacking him over every issue she was asked about, and pointing out the fact that she consistently wins districts President Trump won in 2016 by twenty points. She is against student debt cancellation and abolishing private healthcare (the only quasi-attacks on Senator Elizabeth Warren of the night, although she didn't call her out by name), but argued for free community college and Medicare for All. Klobuchar held her own and had no bad moments throughout the night, but no real shining moments, either.
Senator Cory Booker had one the highest amounts of talking time, second only to Julián Castro, where he argued against corporate consolidation and corruption, supported Medicare for All and DACA, renegotiating the 2015 Iran Agreement, and instating a federal firearm buy-back program. Booker had a good night overall, but struggled when it came to actual policies. He had lots of opinions and ideas, but no clear way to make anything happen.
The Ugly:
Former Maryland Representative John Delaney wins the award for "Worst Candidate" of Wednesday night's debate. He consistently yelled over other candidates, trying to gain talking time after other candidate's questions, only to add nothing new or relevant to the conversation. His only saving moments were his proposal for a tax on carbon, while giving an offsetting dividend to the American people, and making a strong financial argument against Medicare for All, although he didn't state his plan for healthcare. Moral of the story: be respectful and wait your turn, otherwise everyone will hate you.
The Irrelevant:
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
I'm not convinced these three guys AREN'T the same person.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's only memorable parts of the night were, along with Elizabeth Warren, being the only one to support abolishing private healthcare, and reminding everyone he was the only one on stage with a black son.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, known for running exclusively on the platform of climate change, had a silly exchange with Rachel Maddow when she directed the first question on climate change to him.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee smiling at question on climate change
He also claimed he's the only one on stage that had passed legislation on reproductive rights. Amy Klobuchar came at him pretty hard for that one.
Ohio Representative Tim Ryan's only notable moment was his heated debate with Representative Tulsi Gabbard over foreign policy. Ryan supported keeping U.S. troops "engaged" in Afghanistan, and when Gabbard shot back at him, he claimed the Taliban would keep flying planes into our buildings, to which Gabbard responded that "the Taliban didn't attack us on 9/11, Al Qaeda did".
Wednesday night's first Democratic debate was certainly a lot, and it will all be repeated Thursday with the remaining ten candidates. The race is not even close to over.
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