WINNERS & LOSERS IN 2nd DEMOCRATIC DEBATE

…Kamala Harris proved to be a serious contender at the 2^nd Democratic debate.

The results of the 2 Democratic debates will quickly fade, but some candidates did show some real promise

There seems to be an agreement that the 2^nd round of the Democrat's first debate was supposed to be an event dominated by the differences between former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

But our own junior senator, Kamala Harris, definitely upstaged them both. 

What made the biggest point is that Kamala showed that she would have no problem taking on the bluster and the attacks of a bully such as Donald Trump.

Harris delivered a dominating performance through much of the two hours.  She even attacked Joe Biden on civil rights, as she showed passion on race and other issues.  The heated exchange on race with the former vice president was among Sen. Harris’ standout moments.

Unfortunately, It was very off-putting to hear the cross-talk arguments early on in the debate that threatened to show the Democrats candidates as a squabbling and disagreeing family.

But, per Ms. Harris: “As the only black person on this stage, I would like to speak on the issue of race.”  In that exchange with Harris, Biden’s controversial history on busing for school integration crashed with Harris.

Biden had asserted that Harris’ criticisms on race were a “mis-characterization of my position across the board.”  But her attacks were delivered at close range and it included her personal experiences of being bused as a young student.  Those experiences left a mark on the former vice president and established her as a serious candidate to be reckoned with.

In her first opportunity as one of 10 candidates on the stage, she made the most of the opportunities she was given, and she took some opportunities on her own to announce her arrival on the big debate stage.

This 2^nd round probably won’t change the polls much, but it will probably re-order how Democrats think about the choices before them.

The differences between Biden and Sanders, which are real and unresolved, proved to only be a minor subtext of the debate.  Instead, it was the other candidates who helped drive the debate and shape the tone of the night.

As an example, Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.) came close to Harris at times.  Whether it was attacking Biden for cutting a deal that made permanent the tax cuts first passed during the presidency of George W. Bush, or his offering counter-arguments to those candidates advocating a single-payer Medicare-For-All program.

Biden was the focus of a series of criticisms by his rivals, however it was Kamala who attacked him most directly.  She did this when she challenged him for his recent comments about working with two segregationist senators decades ago.  She also hit him for school busing, noting that she personally had been a beneficiary of past busing policies.  She also pointed to her differences with the Obama-Biden administration on the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Now Biden is a very experienced debater, and he knew how and when to parry the attacks that kept coming at him.

However, the 2^nd round underscored what many Democrats have said about this particular nominating contest.  While Biden today is still a leader in the polls, Biden is not the kind of dominating candidate that others have enjoyed, being in that position of front-runner.

It is interesting that Biden’s advisers said he would use this evening to talk about “really transformational change”, by stressing his belief that he can end this period of hyper-partisanship.  They said he would stress that he could return the country to civility and consensus.  Unfortunately, he rarely got the opportunity to make that case.  Instead he spent the evening mostly on the defensive.

The attacks by Harris proved to be the most dramatic moment of either of the two nights of debating among the 20 Democratic candidates. 

Kamala’s opening came right after South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg was asked about the racial turmoil in his city stemming from the recent killing of a black man by a white police officer . Buttigieg delivered a heartfelt answer to a pointed question about why the South Bend police force was barely integrated in a city that is a quarter African American.

Buttigieg had said the issue of racism and policing “threatens the well-being of every community” and he vowed to continue to help find solutions locally and nationally. The discussion then moved on to other candidates until Harris broke in.

After words of introduction on the topic of race, Kamala turned to Biden, and being a former prosecutor, she began to make her case. “I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground,” she said. “But I also believe, and it’s personal . . . it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”

She continued: “And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

Earlier in the debate, as the conversation spiraled out of control and while the moderators were struggling to maintain order, Harris shut them all down with a quip that accomplished her goal of putting the focus back on her.

She loudly stated: “Hey, guys, you know what? America does not want to witness a food fight,” she said. “They want to know how we are going to put food on their table.”  That shut everybody up.

During the night, Harris ignored how the Republicans might view her as a very liberal candidate.  Her goal on that night was not to persuade Republicans, but it was  to awaken Democrats to her candidacy’s potential, and on that she did succeed.

As for Biden, Biden probably retains the goodwill of many Democrats, including many African Americans, and he continues to make the case that he is in the best positioned to defeat President Trump.  However, as expected, Kamala has made sure that his performance will be raising questions about his candidacy.

As for Sanders, who defended his label as a democratic socialist, he showed his typical confidence, retaining his loyal following and he will continue to remain a force in the months ahead.  But Michael Bennet did emerge as a voice prepared to challenge the progressive wing.  And he did it in the way that Biden is also expected to do.  But Harris put her stamp on her candidacy far more effectively than any of the other candidates..

Both nights of debate highlighted the ideological differences within the Democratic coalition.  These fissures will dominate the Democratic nomination contest well into next year. Those tensions will test the priorities and loyalties of all the Democratic voters as they select their challenger to go against Trump in the general election.

Biden on one hand, and Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on the other, they all seemed to represent the two poles in that debate.  That is, until the Democrats came to Miami for the debates.  Now the choices seem to have widened, and with new and younger voices rising up to make themselves heard.

Some moments on the highlight reels from both nights of debates will likely live through the weekend and into the next week, but nothing will probably will have a long shelf life.  Few anticipated that the debates would significantly alter the shape of the race, but Kamala may have made a more lasting impression.

What came for these two debates was that Elizabeth Warren did show that she can take on some serious attacks, Biden showed that he has some serious competition and Kamala Showed that things can change, and that all the Democrats left Miami with many more questions to deal with.

Copyright G. Ater 2019