Did we learn something new about the candidates?
Otterbein: They can actually debate! More seriously, I was struck by Sanders’ response to Bloomberg’s attack that he is a millionaire who owns three homes: The Vermont senator listed his homes and called one a summer camp. It wasn’t a strong response — and it’s a sign that the son of the working class is not comfortable with his newfound wealth and hasn’t come up with a good way to talk about it. Months ago when Sanders released his tax returns, he told a reporter, “If you write a bestselling book you can be a millionaire, too.” Awkward.
Thompson: We learned how much they all hate Bloomberg and resent the unprecedented hundreds of millions of dollars he has spent in ten weeks, which has put him right in the middle of the delegate race on Super Tuesday — and put him on that debate stage Wednesday night.
Cadelago: Klobuchar’s streak of successful debates came to an end tonight. She’ll need a big finish this weekend to keep herself in the game.
Schneider: However, we did learn from Klobuchar that Post-It notes were invented in Minnesota.
How will this debate change the Nevada caucuses — and the South Carolina primary, and Super Tuesday?
Thompson: It looks like we are about to see a pretty brutal fight begin after a mostly cordial year-plus of the primary race so far.
Sanders is in the lead, but he hasn’t completely broken out yet, and we saw strong performances from several of the candidates who don’t seem like they are going anywhere. In other words, I think this debate makes it more likely we could see a protracted, lengthy battle for the nomination instead of Democrats largely wrapping it up by Super Tuesday.
Schneider: Could the debate set off a Warren surge in Nevada, like Klobuchar had in New Hampshire after her strong debate? Her strong performance certainly could give her some momentum, and Warren undoubtedly has the campaign machinery on the ground in Nevada to try to capitalize it. Maybe the biggest thing standing between her and a surge of important momentum is Nevada Democrats’ early voting system. A huge chunk of Democrats in Nevada caucused before the debate took place, so she may not benefit from the same kind of leap that propelled Klobuchar.
Cadelago: There’s been huge early voting in Nevada. And, Warren may have missed some of that wave. But, she could make up for it in droves if the folks from Super Tuesday states with early voting liked her performance tonight enough to give her their votes. In addition, she may raise enough money off this debate to make a difference in the sprawling Super Tuesday landscape, where only Sanders and the two billionaire candidates, Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, have had the resources to air big TV ad campaigns so far, though Warren has done some spending in Maine.
Otterbein: We’ll see when the results from the caucuses come in! But it’s notable that in Nevada, where Sanders is the frontrunner, he got off relatively easily — at least compared to Bloomberg. Sure, Sanders was attacked by Warren over his health care plan, by Bloomberg for having three homes, by Biden and Klobuchar for his immigration record. It was more incoming than usual. But it was far less than what Bloomberg sustained, and Sanders sustained it better than Bloomberg.
Source: politico.com
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