Democratic debate, night two: the big winners and losers

| 11:18 pm EDT June 27, 2019
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Tonight’s second Democratic debate was so fiery and contentious, it was enough to make you almost forget that last night’s comparatively quiet first Democratic debate even existed. That said, tonight’s debate was brutal enough at times, it’s enough to make you wonder if the big winners were the candidates who didn’t have to participate in it.

The early moderator questions seemed squarely aimed at scandalizing Joe Biden while setting up Bernie Sanders for an easy win – but the candidates themselves quickly threw the moderators’ game plan out the window. Bernie did little with his softball questions, while Kamala Harris began quickly hitting every question out of the park. Then Harris turned the entire thing on its head by going after Biden hard on the issue of race.

Your take on who won or lost the debate is largely going to come down to how you feel about the sparring match that then erupted between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. No one would argue that Biden, who was clearly angry, won the moment. But Harris’ decision to attack Biden (on race) and Obama (on immigration) is going to define her candidacy, for better or worse.

When it came to the second tier of candidates in tonight’s debate, Pete Buttigieg managed to have a number of strong moments. He’s had a tough week, but tonight has probably put him back on track in the momentum department. Kirsten Gillibrand did a lot of talking, but probably didn’t manage to gain any new followers – and she also tried way too hard to position herself as Bernie’s running mate. Eric Swalwell probably gained supporters tonight, if only because he came into the night polling at zero percent.

Some of the also-rans did better than others. Marianne Williamson, who came across as half awake and gave flaky answers while seemingly using a different accent each time she spoke, and only seemed to be there to sell her books, is in danger of being the new Ben Carson. John Hickenlooper probably didn’t help himself. Andrew Yang might as well not have been there. This field is too darn large.

So who won? Joe Biden definitely did not win the night, but he’ll still be the clear frontrunner when the sun comes up tomorrow. Kamala Harris will end up having won the debate if her anti-Biden and anti-Obama gambit ends up boosting her in the polls. Bernie didn’t do anything to stop his ongoing slide. Pete Buttigieg probably had the cleanest night of anyone who’s polling anywhere close to contention. But this night was ugly enough, you could argue that Elizabeth Warren won tonight’s debate by virtue of not having been in it.