Here Are The Democratic Debate Winners And Losers (Night 2)

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:11 pm

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had great debates, as here are the entire list of winners and losers from the second night of the Democratic debate.

Winners And Losers From The Democratic Debate

Winners:

1). Joe Biden- Joe Biden had one mission during the first Democratic debate. He was out to show that he is the only Democratic candidate who can defeat Donald Trump. Biden was pressed hard by Kamala Harris, and he withstood it all. Biden did nothing to lose his front runner status and cemented the idea that he is the top candidate in the Democratic field. Joe Biden didn’t stumble, and none of the other Democratic candidates on stage with him were able to knock him down. Biden’s message was I can defeat Trump. I can get things done, and nothing that happened in this debate hurt his message.

2. Kamala Harris- Sen. Harris needed a strong debate, and she delivered. No candidate was more dynamic or got more applause lines than Harris, who had several stellar moments. She took a risk by attacking Biden for his comment about working with segregationist senators, and it will be seen whether or not she was able to dent Biden’s support with African-American voters in South Carolina. Sen. Harris was the one candidate who stepped up and took a major step forward in the first debate.

3).Pete Buttigieg – Buttigieg didn’t have as strong of a performance as Sen. Harris, but he was low key, calm, steady, got his message across, and he more than held his own against Biden, Sanders, and Harris. Mayor Pete didn’t deliver a moment that will dominate the cable news shows, but he was strong on every question, and it was a solid debate that should do nothing to hurt his campaign.

Democratic Debate Losers:

1). Bernie Sanders– Sen. Sanders debate started off with a clip that will start in a thousand Republican ads as he honestly said that he will raise taxes on the middle-class. Sanders didn’t attack Biden, which turned out to be a good move after seeing what happened to Eric Swalwell when he went after Biden. The biggest problem for Sen. Sanders is that much of what he has to say is a replay of his 2016 campaign. Voters have heard it all before, and so far, they have been hearing it better out of Elizabeth Warren. Sen. Sanders has a bit of the same problem as Trump as he is trying to replay the 2016 election when the country has changed heading into 2020.

2). Eric Swalwell- Eric Swalwell tried to attack Joe Biden for being old, and the audience turned on him, all hell broke loose, and it just made Swalwell look bad. Rep. Swalwell is a cautionary tale for his fellow Democratic candidates. Attack Joe Biden at your own peril.

3).Marianne Williamson- Williamson tried to tell Democrats that they don’t need policies, but a catchy slogan to defeat Trump. She lost the room at that moment and never got them back

4). Andrew Yang- Andrew Yang struggled to describe his signature issue, the universal basic income. Yang has interesting thoughts, but it was clear that he didn’t belong on the debate stage with the Democratic heavyweights.

5).Kirsten Gillibrand- Sen. Gillibrand didn’t get much time to talk, and she wasn’t able to break through. At every large field primary debate, there are always candidates who get stuck at the end of the stage and can’t get airtime. Unfortunately, for Sen. Gillibrand, this is where she found herself in this debate.

6). John Hickenlooper – Hickenlooper got to talk about Democrats and socialism early and then vanished for roughly an hour. He did comment on Buttigieg’s question about the officer shooting in South Bend. Hickenlooper is a qualified candidate.

7). Michael Bennet – Sen. Bennet was perfectly ok in this debate, but when a candidate is trying to gain traction that is not good enough. Sen. Bennet sounded more like a vice presidential candidate than a future president.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association