Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg to debate; Warren on separate night

[emmaverybo]

18. These aren't judged by academic debate standards. Sometimes the sharper debater conveys the

impression he or she suffers a superiority complex. Maybe primaries are different.

As to the general, I recall Reagan, according to popular and media perception, winning a debate in which he gave a rambling, near incoherent final statement, looking utterly lost, and Bush, such an obvious dullard against the intellectually superior Gore, seen as the better debater in what must have been a sympathy call.

It is said that the public doesn’t pay a lot of attention to policy, more to a general impression they
get from a candidate’s demeanor, warm or cold, animated or sluggish, engaging or aloof. Not sure
this conventional wisdom applies to Democratic debates this cycle.

But I wouldn't bet on the most articulate, fluent, policy-savy debater winning this round.
I wouldn’t count out Biden. Although I don’t expect to see the moral knock-out young Senator Biden scored against Alexander Haig, cutting his cagey obfuscations to shreds, he has an emotional presence and authority that can outshine more deft debaters.