A lot harder to identify a clear winner tonight.  The fact that there’s no clear winner means this debate probably doesn’t make a difference to the race overall.

  1. Kamala Harris – Had a pretty good debate, but won me over when she went after the OLC memo and post presidency prosecution of Trump.
  2. Julian Castro – Had a good debate overall, but wins spot number two by his last comeback.  A good comeback to Bennet’s argument against impeachment and invoking “Moscow Mitch.”
  3. Cory Booker – Had maybe the best debate from start to finish.  Didn’t really land any knockout punches
  4. Joe Biden – No clear winner lets Joe stay on top of the race overall.  He’s good with set pieces, like his opening and closing statements.  He’s clearly uncomfortable thinking on his feet.  I look forward to him in a debate with Warren.
  5. Kirsten Gillibrand – stayed pretty well on her message of being the “woman” candidate.  She didn’t get much time, but made good use of it.  Got the worst of her back and forth with Biden.
  6. Andrew Yang – most improved from first debate to second.  I like him.  I hope he makes the next debate.
  7. Jay Inslee – If climate change is going to be your one issue, you should make every answer come back to that.  Might be a good VP candidate for Harris or Warren?
  8. Tulsi Gabbard – as the only veteran on the stage, I thought she should have a better  and more detailed response to the foreign policy stuff.  Probably time for her to go.
  9. Bill DeBlasio – He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be the Progressive standard bearer tonight or a 4th moderator.
  10. Michael Bennet – Didn’t really make an impact.  Time to drop out and be a Senator again.