Five Things to Watch In the Next Democratic Debate

[DonViejo]

July 19, 2019 at 8:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

A good overview from First Read:

1. The battle on the left: In June, Sanders and Warren appeared on different nights, giving each the opportunity to stake out ground on the left. Competitors seemed particularly reluctant to criticize Warren, which allowed her to occupy that space virtually unscathed on the first night of the first debate. But with Sanders losing ground in recent polls — and Warren rising in both polls and fundraising — both may be eager to create some differentiation between their brands when they share a stage.

2. Biden v. Harris, round two: By far, the most memorable exchange of the first debates was Harris’ damaging attack on Biden over bussing and his past comments about segregationists. Biden didn’t seem well-prepared at all for that onslaught in June, but he’ll have to show he’s ready to revisit racial issues when he shares the stage with her again.

3. O’Rourke and Buttigieg face off: Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s monster second quarter fundraising haul proved what we’d already had plenty of anecdotal evidence to show — that the South Bend mayor had replaced O’Rourke as the fresh young (white, male) face in the race with a strong donor base and compelling personal story. The two appeared on different nights in June, but Detroit could be O’Rourke’s last best chance to reclaim some of that status (if he still can.)

4. One new face on the scene: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will make his debate debut, replacing recent drop-out Eric Swalwell. But his pitch as a middle-of-the-country moderate who can work with Republicans will have competition from plenty of others on the stage who are eager to make a similar argument, including Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Hickenlooper.

5. Night Two candidates probably have an advantage — again: One thing we learned from the first set of debates was that even a candidate who performs well on Night One (i.e. Warren or Castro) gets a maximum of 24 hours of positive coverage before being overshadowed by Night Two’s news. The burden will be on Night One’s contenders in Detroit to break through in a way that keeps them in the spotlight for as long as possible — especially with looming anticipation for Wednesday’s Biden/Harris rematch.

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https://politicalwire.com/2019/07/19/five-things-to-watch-in-the-next-democratic-debate/

[peggysue2]

1. What I'll be watching

Though the buzz was all about Biden/Harris last time out, I fully expect Cory Booker to try to land his own mark on Biden in the 2nd round. Harris' strategy resulted in a bump in polls and Booker needs his own 'moment' to stay viable. The Biden/Harris fallout was quelled considerably after the tee-shirt reveal and the fact that Kamala Harris pivoted from her original remarks/arguments on and support for federally mandated busing. I don't think it behooves either to reignite that brouhaha. Booker, however, has said in several venues that he felt personally 'disrespected' by comments Joe Biden made. Would not be surprised at all to see that sentiment revisited.

The other candidate I'm interested in hearing from is Steve Bullock. Don't know much about him beyond he's a moderate, someone who like Tester has proven a Democratic candidate can win in a ruby-red Trump state. So, I'll be listening, watching.

Finally, I'm still waiting for Beto O'Rourke to have a breakout moment of his own. He's been pretty well trashed and discounted by the press. However, he has qualified for September's debates. If he can hit a memorable line and/or overshadow Buttigieg in some way, on some issue, he'd be heading into the 3rd debate in a much stronger position.

We shall see!