So the Democrats held their third debate. Thank God the field is smaller, but they still need to whittle a few more off he pole in order to have really meaningful competition.
It became fairly obvious that the big three will continue to be the big three after this debate but there might be some considerable whittling away of Bernie Sanders support. I have always liked Bernie’s toughness but he is becoming so irascible that it is getting grating.
Who won and who lost? I thought that along with Elizabeth Warren, Corey Booker, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris did the best jobs, making the clearest points and doing so in the most direct manner but I do not think, at least at this point, this will alter the standings too much.
Who lost? Andrew Yang and Julian Castro, big time! Yang’s dumb stunt of trying to give away a prize showed him to be a clown in a serious race. He has already tried to buy votes with his “one thousand dollar a month” giveaway for everyone. It’s time the Party shuts him down. He demeans the process.
Castro attacked Biden on the question of people buying into his healthcare plan and then about his age. But when he attacked Biden on not remembering what he had said, Castro was dead wrong. It was he, who didn’t get Biden’s statement right. And by using the “buying in” reference, he showed that he is not sufficiently cognizant of colloquial English. “Buying in” has nothing to do with money. It is about accepting a deal that is offered. I think Castro has cut his own throat. He’s a nice young man but he’s out this time around.
I think it’s time for the committee to recognize that Klobachar and maybe Beto are just too lightweight to carry the ball anymore. They are very functional people and I especially liked Amy’s talk about her power in the Mid-West and Beto’s attack on automatic weapons. They should go out and solidify our congressional aspirations for 2020. The fact is that Corey Booker might soon join them. I don’t understand why a guy who is so intelligent and such a forceful speaker can’t seem to get traction but if he doesn’t up his profile soon he will join them as well. That would leave Bernie, Liz, Biden, Pete and Kamala.
Biden will still be the front-runner but he has to up his debate performance. People love and trust Joe but the job they are all seeking, when done right, is a punishing one and what I saw last night from Joe was a man who seems to get a little confused when he has to think fast.. Some of his answers were rambling and while no one wants to see that, it was there.
Warren once again was intelligent and forceful. She has all the answers and most of the tools and even though many want to paint her as a socialist she definitely is not. She does want to get a lot done, but a lot needs to be done if we are to make this country what it should be. The question is, can she win in 2020? I think that if more people were confident that she could, she would sweep her two older opponents aside but that remains the question. I think the more Trump shows himself to be an egomaniacal sociopath the more stature Liz, and everyone else, gains. If he continues to display his weaknesses, it will specifically help her to become the Dems frontrunner.
Kamala and Mayor Pete are the interesting candidates. Pete is the smartest guy in the room all the time. He’s quick and cutting when he has to be and he gives logical, intelligent answers to all questions. The elephant in the room continues to be, will this nation elect a gay man president?
My son was in Duluth recently and he got a lot of interesting feedback from a number of people who had voted for Trump but said they would not in the next election. Surprisingly, Pete was their candidate of choice among the Democrats available.
Harris is smart, tough and functional. I don’t know that I agree with all her positions but I think that like Pete she would make a good president. Her problem is that she combines three problem areas, in that she is black, a woman and so strong she often appears hostile to some people. Obama beat one of them but two may be too much too soon in an election that absolutely positively must be won. It would be nice if our nation were mature enough to not consider color, gender or sexual choice for an office in which none of those things really count, but I don’t think we’ve reached that plateau yet.
That leaves irascible Bernie and the fight he started about healthcare. It was just not necessary.
This is the second debate that has broken down about healthcare and how it is to be delivered. Yes, it’s the most important question to most people but having it or not having it is the question, not how the Democrats will deliver it. The real point that has to be made is that the Democrats want everyone to have it and the Retrunplicans want only the rich to have it. Trump has tried almost as hard to get rid of the ACA as he has to build his idiotic wall. The Dems all agree that it is the right of every person in the country to have adequate health care. It’s that cut and dried and if you need a reason to vote, that’s it. Healthcare touches every single person in the nation so that issue alone should be enough to put Trump in line to be indicted on 1/21/2021.