Blessedly, we're only doing one night this time
The first and second rounds of Democratic debates helped winnow the huge field. The third round in Houston will feature all ten qualifying candidates on the same stage. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Blessedly all on the same stage for the first time, the ten Democratic presidential candidates who qualified for the third round of debates in Houston on September 12 will, as usual, have some objectives in common, and others distinct from each other.
1) Joe Biden Biden needs to replicate his significantly more with-it July debate performance, complete with the ability to counter-punch he showed there, and avoid the stumbling and ineffectual Old Uncle Joe he displayed in the first debate in June, when he became something of a punching bag for Kamala Harris. As the front-runner, he has less to prove, but you get the sense he and his people are worrying about Elizabeth Warren’s slow-but-steady rise in the polls .
Since she has indeed criticized some of the things the Obama administration did and did not do to deal with corporate power, Warren has to be careful not to walk into the trap of sparring not with Biden’s record but with that of his very popular ex-boss and patron. She’s beginning to get a bit of purchase with minority voters; this is no time to blow it.
There’s no reason to believe he won’t keep doing that in Houston, though it might be smart if he did his “hammering” with a bit less volume. He’s still in a position to play the long game. 5) Pete Buttigieg Mayor Pete is another candidate fighting the perception that he made a big splash for a while and then fizzled. He’s done nothing in the debates to damage his reputation for being exceptionally articulate and thoughtful, though he had some uncomfortable moments in Miami dealing with his kryptonite issue: alleged police racism in his city of South Bend.
7) Cory Booker Booker should serve as a warning to those who assume a strong debate performance will always produce a “bounce.” He did well in the Miami debate, and even better in the Detroit debate. He was poised with a strong campaign infrastructure, especially in Iowa, to take advantage of the buzz. And it got him almost nowhere.
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