Sept. 12 Presidential Debate Open Thread

Filed in National by on September 12, 2019

What are you hearing, seeing or thinking?

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  1. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:07 pm

    Castro’s opening statement was largely name-dropping. Klobuchar’s was ‘moderate moderation’. She’s not gonna last much longer, and it sounded like she knows it.

  2. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:11 pm

    Yang actually says he’ll give out a ‘Freedom Dividend’ of $1K a month to 10 families who are listening tonight. There’s the ‘jump the shark’ moment. Not to mention, I think it violates election law.

  3. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:13 pm

    Oh, man, sounds like Bernie’s fighting a cold.

  4. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:17 pm

    Warren with a great opening.

    Biden has been given a ‘refuse to postpone’ meme, and he looks down at his notes every time he has to repeat it. Not the best start.

  5. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:24 pm

    Oh, gawd, Biden’s first response is disastrous. He’s just not sharp.

  6. jason330 says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:35 pm

    Beto sounds good on health insurance

  7. jason330 says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:38 pm

    That was an ugly exchange between Castro and Biden

    • El Somnambulo says:
      September 12, 2019 at 8:50 pm

      I think that was Castro’s plug-pulling moment. I know what he was trying to do, but it was so forced.

      • Paul says:
        September 13, 2019 at 2:42 pm

        I have sensed underlying and perhaps unhealthy egotism in Julian Castro. I think it drives his decision making and draws him into combative moments such as the unhappy one with Biden last night. He did a similar move on Beto O’Rourke in the first debate and received points for it. After last night he should know that getting his blood up is a two edged sword that can bite the hand that wields it.

  8. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:43 pm

    Beto is so great at framing the racism question.

  9. jason330 says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:50 pm

    I wondering how many times Biden is going to say “Obama” on this topic. I’m thinking 4 times.

  10. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:53 pm

    So let me get this straight: This moderator goes hard after Klobuchar and Harris for their records as AG’s, and lobs a softball at Biden, who is more responsible than anyone on this stage for locking up scores of minorities.

  11. jason330 says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:56 pm

    Biden is just not doing well. Its kinda sad.

  12. jason330 says:
    September 12, 2019 at 8:58 pm

    Eesh. that forced/canned moment by Harries was terrible.

  13. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:05 pm

    BTW, is it me, or does everybody want to be Beto’s best friend tonight?

  14. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:07 pm

    Damn, Booker is on fire. I think he’s gonna take support from Harris, who may well soon be circling the bowl.

  15. Dem says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:07 pm

    Castro came off terrible. Was just to much.

    Biden doing ok

    Warren not a lot of time

    Bernie getting beat up

    Beto getting a lot of praise

    Can’t wait till the stage is down to 5

    • El Somnambulo says:
      September 12, 2019 at 9:16 pm

      I think Yang, Klobuchar, and Castro are making their final appearances. Of course, Steyer has bought his way into the next debate.

      • Paul says:
        September 13, 2019 at 2:51 pm

        Watching one of Steyer’s commercials, he talks about Trump the businessman. He makes his point about Trump being incompetent and manages to screw his face into this disapproving prune-face of Puritan disapproval, like a shriveled evangelical preacher. I found it both revealing about the state of Steyer’s inner psyche and distracting. He was better when he limited himself to writing checks for the first ads.

  16. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    Did Biden just punt on immigration b/c he was ‘only’ the Vice President? After taking claim for Obama’s successes?

  17. jason330 says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    Castro seems like he is on Warren’s payroll.

    • El Somnambulo says:
      September 12, 2019 at 9:18 pm

      I think it’s just that he’s gotten tired of Biden saying that he and Obama were joined at the hip b/c he was a member of the same administration. He sees Biden as a hypocrite, which he is, but, on the first response at least, he let his disdain get the better of him. He had a good point on his second faceoff with Biden.

  18. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:23 pm

    2/3rds of the way through this, I think Beto has been the big winner. It may not be just the Big 3 after tonight. Mayor Pete’s been pretty good, but Beto has overshadowed him.

  19. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:46 pm

    Warren was great on bringing troops home from Afghanistan. I don’t think this was her crowd, but she’s still doing well.

  20. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:48 pm

    Buttigieg had his best moment during his discussion of Afghanistan.

  21. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:51 pm

    The over/under we should have done on Biden was on the phrase ‘the fact of the matter’.

    BTW, he is now utterly unintelligible on Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re letting him ramble on, which I think is good. That was close to disastrous.

  22. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:56 pm

    Finally, Bernie’s moment of the night when talking about democratic socialism. I just wish he wasn’t struggling with his voice.

  23. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    BTW, these moderators have their shit together. I want more from this Jorge Ramos, in particular.

  24. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 10:07 pm

    Biden was not even asked the climate change question. Probably best for him.

  25. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 10:10 pm

    Man, Warren was great on public education.

  26. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 10:17 pm

    Holy fuck, Biden is utterly garbled on education. And now he’s doing an unintelligible stream of consciousness… he CAN’T be our nominee.

    We also should have done an over/under on ‘I’m the guy who…’

  27. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 10:45 pm

    My quick take: Beto killed it. Booker killed it. Both seemed presidential to me. Warren was as solid as ever. Buttigieg was very solid. Though struggling with his voice, Bernie’s message resonated as always. I thought that Biden and Harris were the clear losers b/c they had more to lose than Klobuchar, Yang, and Castro.

  28. El Somnambulo says:
    September 12, 2019 at 10:56 pm

    Annnd, I switch over to MSNBC to hear Chris Matthews rail against the ‘ideologues on the left’, I spot Claire McCaskill on the panel, and it’s time for bed.

  29. Mike Dinsmore says:
    September 13, 2019 at 12:01 am

    Could anybody tell what those yahoos were yelling about during Biden’s response to the last question? Whatever it was, Biden looked like a deer in the headlights.

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