Democratic debate: Here are the winners and losers from the November stage

Savannah Behrmann | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Democratic debate appeals to voters of color in Georgia The Democratic debate weighed in on communities of color in Atlanta, Georgia, as the Dems eye the state for the 2020 elections.

WASHINGTON — The first votes will be cast in the 2020 Democratic primary in less than three months, and the 10 candidates on the debate stage Wednesday night were all looking for a breakout moment.

While the field has grown and shrunk repeatedly in the past few weeks, with candidates dropping out and jumping in, the candidates on stage in Atlanta have all been in this race for months.

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Here's an early take on the winners and losers:

Winners

Amy Klobuchar

The Minnesota senator was ready Wednesday night.

She got laughs and cheers for her answer when asked to follow up about her recent comments that a female candidate with Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s experience probably would not have made it to the debate stage.

After clarifying that she believed Buttigieg is indeed qualified, Klobuchar doubled down on her belief that women are held to a different standard.

"Otherwise, we could play a game called 'Name Your Favorite Woman President,' which we can't do because it has all been men," she quipped, adding that female candidates “have to work harder, and that’s a fact.”

Klobuchar: “Women are held to a higher standard, otherwise we could play a game called name your favorite woman president."#DemDebate updates here: https://t.co/YO6KeZ2Wm7pic.twitter.com/MgHzilwIrd — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 21, 2019

But if voters worry that a woman can’t beat Trump, she concluded, “Nancy Pelosi does it every single day." It landed with the audience.

Pete Buttigieg

Buttigieg has rocketed to lead some polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, and came into Wednesday night's event with a target on his back.

But he left the debate stage mostly unscathed; Notably, none of the other top-tier candidates went on the offensive against him.

When Sen. Kamala Harris was asked about Buttigieg's campaign's use of a stock image of a Kenyan woman on a campaign site, she simply said she believed he had apologized and moved on to talk about larger issues.

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When rebutting criticism that he has dealt only with small issues as a mayor, Buttigieg stated that "Frankly, where we live, the infighting on Capitol Hill is what looks small."

In response to critiques of his experience from Klobuchar and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Buttigieg said, "There’s more than 100 years of Washington experience on this stage, and where are we right now as a country?"

Buttigieg certainly has an uphill climb in several states, and a long way to go in earning support from black voters, but the widespread attacks on him that were expected Wednesday didn't come to fruition.

Kamala Harris

Harris needed a strong night — she has recently cut staff and shifted resources to Iowa, but still trails the front-runners there and nationally by double digits.

The California senator had clear and concise answers, while also providing a few zingers.

She didn’t mince words as she went on the attack over Trump’s policy in North Korea following reports that Kim Jong Un has no interest in another summit with the president.

“Donald Trump got punked,” Harris said to laughs in the crowd. “He has traded a photo-op for nothing.”

She had a strong moment later in the night, talking about politicians showing up for black people not just during campaign season, and drawing attention to the fact that black women in particular have historically been the backbone of the Democratic Party.

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"At some point, folks get tired of just saying, 'Oh, thank me for showing up' and say, 'Show up for me,'" she said.

Harris was ready when challenged by Gabbard, who has fundraised off comments from Hillary Clinton that were initially erroneously reported as her saying Russians appeared to be "grooming" Gabbard as a potential third-party candidate.

Gabbard said Wednesday that the party needs to break away from the “Bush-Clinton-Trump” foreign policy that she described as being driven by “greedy corporate interests.”

More: 2020 debate: Tulsi Gabbard prompts a brawl with Kamala Harris over dig at Democratic Party

“I think that it's unfortunate that we have someone on this stage that is attempting to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, who during the Obama administration spent four years full time on Fox News criticizing President Obama,” Harris shot back.

Kamala Harris just slammed Tulsi Gabbard for her criticism of the Democratic Party at the #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/PSloH37T13 — NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 21, 2019

Losers

Julián Castro

The former Housing and Urban Development Secretary was a notable absence from the stage after participating in each previous debate.

Castro is the only candidate still in the race who was on the debate stage in October, but not Wednesday. Castro also has not hit either the donor threshold or poll threshold needed to appear in the December debate, though he still has time.

In the past month, Castro's campaign had to to lay off staff in two early primary states, New Hampshire and South Carolina, to focus instead on Iowa. The news came after the campaign asked supporters to help him raise $800,000 in 10 days to stay in the race.

I’m not on the #DemDebate stage tonight. Some have asked “why stay in?”



In the communities I grew up in, people didn’t quit when it got tough.



Those folks deserve a candidate who has lived their struggles, who champions the issues that impact them. pic.twitter.com/jsYkc0En8g — Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) November 20, 2019

With fewer than 80 days until the first votes are counted in Iowa, Castro is trailing many of his Democratic rivals in both national and early-state polls. The window for his campaign to make a splash is closing and missing out on the debate stage means fewer voters will get a chance to hear his message.

Castro said Tuesday night that while he wasn't on the debate stage, he's "shaped a lot of the debate already." His campaign also noted that his name was trending on Twitter, even without being on stage.

Immigration and gun violence

Issues related to immigration and gun violence were largely ignored during Wednesday's debate.

The issues have been winners in previous debates, where there were substantive exchanges about undocumented immigrants and issues at the southern border, and passionate discussions following a string of mass shootings.

Sanders mentioned immigration in his closing statement, saying, "I am the son of an immigrant. I will stand with the some 11 million undocumented immigrants of this country. I will lead an administration that will look like America, will end the divisiveness of Trump, and will end hate in America."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren was asked at one point whether she would keep any parts of the border wall up if the Trump administration builds new sections.

More: Democratic candidates traded barbs and attacks but agreed Trump should be impeached

"A great nation does not separate children from their families. We need to live our values at the border every single day," she said passionately. But in her closing statement, she pointed out there hadn't been any talk about gun violence and little talk about immigration.

The lack of substantive conversation around immigration and gun violence came during the first debate, where Castro, the only Latino candidate and a candidate who has shaped much of the discussion on immigration, wasn't on the stage. Also missing from the stage was former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who has been an outspoken advocate of gun control but who recently ended his presidential bid.

In early August, O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso was the site of a mass shooting where 22 people were killed. After the shooting, he took time away from the campaign trail. When he returned, he advocated a mandatory buyback program in which gun owners would be required to sell certain weapons back to the government.

“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” O’Rourke said during the September debate, which came weeks after the El Paso shooting.

The lower tier

Three of the four candidates who haven't yet qualified for the December debate were also the three candidates who spoke the least Wednesday.

Businessmen Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer, and Gabbard each spoke for less than 10 minutes, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. All three have so far failed to meet one or both of the thresholds for the December debate, and are looking for a breakout moment to gain momentum.

Gabbard sparred with not only Harris, but also Buttigieg. The two veterans clashed after Gabbard implied Buttigieg wanted to use the U.S. military to combat the drug cartels in Mexico. He denied the claim and called it “outlandish.”

Steyer made it clear that though much of his campaign is self-funded, he isn't going anywhere. He has met the polling requirements for the December debate, but not the donor threshold.

Yang made good use of his time, speaking concisely about his vision, and also got a few laughs, like when he quipped that if he talked to Russian Vladimir Putin after he won, the first thing he'd say is, "Sorry I beat your guy."

But it's a pivotal time in the race where candidates need to truly swim, and not just float. And the lack of speaking time could prove detrimental as the lower-polling candidates fight for attention.

A special hat tip to the moderators

For just the third time in U.S. history and the first time in this election cycle, Wednesday's debate was moderated by an all-female panel.

The moderators were MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell and Rachel Maddow, NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker, and Washington Post reporter Ashley Parker.

The panel asked questions about abortion, the #MeToo movement, paid family leave and child care, white supremacy, and housing, several of which had been largely ignored at previous debates.

How far we have come! Four, count them, four women moderators of tonight’s Democratic presidential debate! pic.twitter.com/M1hKu5kIph — Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) November 21, 2019

The moderators also got love from fellow journalists and non-journalists alike on social media.

Really a pleasure to watch four female journalists moderate tonight's debate. Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Kristen Welker & Ashley Parker, thank you for your work. #DemDebate — Felicity Doyle (@feliciousdoyle) November 21, 2019

Can we just talk for a second about how friggin' fantastic it is that we have a panel of amazing woman? Andrea Mitchell, @maddow, Kristen Welker and Ashley Parker. Then add to the fact that 4 out of 10 are women on stage! @TulsiGabbard, @amyklobuchar, @KamalaHarris, @ewarren — 📸Ash🌎 (@I_LOVE_my_Earth) November 21, 2019