Since June and July’s twenty-person, two-night debate extravaganzas, each democratic debate has shrunk. Last night’s Democratic debate stage held the smallest group yet; only seven Democrats qualified for the December debate. Qualifying was former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN), Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), philanthropist Tom Steyer, Senator Elizebeth Warren (MA), and businessman Andrew Yang. Notably, the qualifiers were the least diverse yet, with only one person of color and two women appearing on stage. Roughly two weeks prior to the debate, Senator Kamala Harris (CA), dropped out of the race despite meeting the qualifications. Additionally, Senator Cory Booker (NJ) and Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI) did not qualify. Politico and PBS Newshour hosted the night at Loyola Marymount University, where a labor union strike threatened to shut down the event.

Pre-Debate Context

In the past two debates, the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry regarding foreign aid to Ukraine has been a key issue. However, the night prior to the December debate, the House officially voted to impeach Donald Trump. The decision only increased the issue’s importance on the debate stage, as the first set of questions of the night was about impeachment. As for the polls, Joe Biden has maintained his lead. Behind him are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who comprise the progressive wing of candidates, and have held an unspoken truce throughout their campaigns. Despite their nonaggression, Warren’s earlier status as a frontrunner has evaporated, allowing Sanders to overtake her in the polls.

Winners

Biden

By no means was Joe Biden’s debate performance perfect– but it was good for his standards. Throughout the 2019 debates, we’ve seen Biden repeatedly stumble on his words and embarrass himself, especially while interacting with other candidates. In this debate, he seemed more comfortable and refined, even joking with the moderators and Bernie Sanders. He also held his own in difficult questions, specifically when asked about The Washington Post’s recent publication of The Afghanistan Papers and his role in the Obama administration’s Afghan foreign policy. The promises of his campaign have also centered around bipartisanship and cooperation with the Republicans, and on stage, he continued to promote his plan. Joe Biden needed to show eloquence and strength in this debate to legitimize his role as the frontrunner, and his performance allowed viewers to see that side of him.

Yang

Of all the Democrats, Andrew Yang appeared the most comfortable all night, which greatly helped his performance. He had some more candid moments, like when he commented, “If you get too many men alone and leave us alone for a while, we kind of become morons” while answering a question about women in politics, but he also showed voters that he has a serious side. During the discussion about clean energy, he described complex details about nuclear power, and when asked about representation, he referred to his status as the only candidate of color on stage as “Both an honor and disappointment.” Many of his answers also neatly tied back into his signature universal basic income policy, the Freedom Dividend. Even though he’s only polling at a little over 3%, Yang is serious about his campaign, he delivered an amazing performance to show it.

Klobuchar

For the past few debates, Amy Klobuchar has been trying to produce a breakout moment to boost her popularity. With her 27 county campaign in Iowa coming, the December debate could have been the turning point she needed. She positioned herself as a reasonable, moderate choice for those who don’t feel like they align with far-left leaning candidates like Warren and Sanders, and reminded the audience of her plentiful experience passing policies with bipartisan support. Klobuchar also added to the attacks against her fellow moderate Pete Buttigieg, successfully targeting his comparative lack of experience and previous election losses. If Klobuchar’s numbers do start to rise in the coming weeks, her performance in the December debate gave her the momentum to push them upward.

Warren

Warren’s slipping polling numbers didn’t seem to affect her debate performance. She delivered powerful responses throughout the night, especially when defending some of her most important policies. One of Warren’s greatest strengths is her ability to deliver short, candid responses that generate applause from the audience, and she played to that strength on stage. When asked to comment on claims that her tax proposals would “Stifle growth and investment” her response was upfront: “Oh, they’re just wrong,” prompting the audience to erupt with cheers. She was also effective in her attack on certain candidates’ donations and fundraising practices, and held that edge against Buttigieg in their clash. In response to a moderator’s observation that she would be the oldest president ever inaugurated, she replied, “I’d also be the youngest woman ever inaugurated,” impressively alluding to gender equality and representation while shutting down the discussion of her age at the same time.

Losers

Buttigieg

Although Mayor Pete had been enjoying a lead in Iowa polling ahead of the debate, his newfound popularity put a target on his back. Throughout the night, he engaged in uncomfortable spats with other candidates that only weakened his performance. After a comment from Warren about fundraising, Buttigieg and the Massachusetts Senator clashed on fundraising. Warren chastised him for his recent upscale fundraiser in a wine cave. Buttigieg made efforts to counter Warren’s attacks, but by the time he responded, the altercation had already damaged him, and Amy Klobuchar felt the need to interject and promote campaign finance reform. The wine cave became a punchline in other candidates’ responses, and Buttigieg’s performance remained underwhelming for the rest of the debate. Klobuchar also criticized his lack of experience compared to some of the other candidates, referencing elections he’d previously lost.

Steyer

One key question about Steyer’s campaign has yet to be convincingly answered: why is he even running? Steyer floated above Andrew Yang in terms of speaking time, receiving the second to least amount, but unlike Yang, he didn’t make the most of his limited time. To his credit, he had an impressive answer on immigration, describing how President Trump’s immigration policies are intertwined with racism, but aside from that, his performance was lackluster. He continuously pivots back to two key talking points, impeachment, and climate change, making his lack of experience with policy apparent.

Honorable Mentions

Sanders

Sanders had a mixed performance, placing him somewhere between a winner and a loser. He had some shining moments, like criticizing Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg’s wealthy donors, discussing Israel and Palestine, and advocating against income inequality throughout the night. However, he undercut that momentum with some more uncomfortable moments, like attempting to dodge a question about race and making an awkward joke on former President Barack Obama’s remarks about the need for more young, diverse voices in politics. Sanders always brings remarkable energy to the debates, but it wasn’t enough to win him success in this debate.

Get Bernie Sanders on a debate stage against Donald Trump. Trump would get ROASTED #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/qJ1uZ7vvDc — People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) December 20, 2019

Conclusions

With the Iowa caucuses approaching quickly, the Democrats are running out of time to make an impression on voters. Biden, Sanders, Warren, and Buttigieg have to lead the pack. But candidates like Amy Klobuchar and Andrew Yang are clearly trying to break out of their single-digit polling. With Buttigieg on the rise and Warren’s numbers slipping, the moderate candidates are in strong standing. Progressives, such as Sanders and Warren, will likely face issues in the near future, putting the moderates in a place to snatch some of their supporters. Individual policies are becoming more of a point of contention, like healthcare, education, and economics, allowing the candidates to distinguish themselves in the vast field. However, one common goal unites the Democrats: the need to take down President Trump.

The January debates are being held in Iowa at Drake University in Des Moines. Qualifications for the next debate have also risen: Democrats will need 225,000 donors and 5 percent support in four DNC-approved national polls or 7 percent support in other polls. Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg are all set to appear on the stage, and according to Amy Klobuchar’s campaign, she has also qualified. Despite the divide between the progressive and moderate wings, it’s clear that every single candidate is increasingly concerned about their ability to defeat the president. Each has offered unique perspectives on why they are the best candidate to take Trump down, but with the projected nominee still unclear, everyone still has some work to do in spreading their message.

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