Ready, Aim, Maybe Not

Night #1. I thought it was a good debate for the party in that so many different people had good moments, one way or another, and everyone in the auditorium was so clearly Herr Dump's moral and intellectual superior. Mission accomplished for Warren I think in that she managed to deliver her essential message (economic justice) early on, then sort of let the game come to her for the rest of the night, though I'd add that too often she is in "Damn this is wrong" mode when she needs to be in "Here's how we fix it" mode. In fact she has practical ideas to back up all of her dreams and goals (free college, free day care), but this doesn't always come across. I would love a candidate who combined her passion with Klobuchar's calm, but this may be impossible by definition. Klob is my favorite, but I was disappointed to see her fading into the woodwork a bit. Her naturally self-effacing demeanor is one of the things I love, but this was not the format. . . . Except it might have been a good move for the long game -- biding her time till the emphasis of the campaign naturally shifts from "What are your dreams?" to "What is possible?" A lot of centrist voters might have liked what they saw from her, including not a little reticence. Her one surprising zinger at Inslee's expense was adroit and deadly and might prove an excellent investment, as the history of presidential debates shows that successful cheap shots (which it was, really) get replayed endlessly and remembered after everything else is forgotten.
I liked virtually everything Delaney and deBlasio said but would nonetheless eliminate both of them after tonight, based on a powerful and doubtlessly unfair gut impression that the one is a dingbat and the other an insufferable snob. The other two I would cull are Gabbard and Ryan, because Tulsi seems to completely misconstrue the security objectives that have kept us in Afghanistan so long, while Tim was unable to catch her at it and came out second best, in most people's reckoning, when the two mixed it up. (And really, some debate coach has to talk to Ryan about his "resting face," which is what one would bring to interview for a job as an undertaker.) What else? The talking heads all say that Julian Castro had a good night at Beto O'Rourke's expense, but I'm not so sure. I liked Castro but also Beto, not I hope just for his bedroom eyes, though they are a powerful asset. He projects empathy and good will very powerfully, and actually seems to know some things, possibly not including Spanish. Maybe it's just his format, as I think the first 30 seconds of his answers are better than anyone's. After that they taper off.
I'm keeping Inslee on my scorecard for now, out of a sentimental attachment of one nerdy doofus to another, and because he's the only one up there even hinting at the full, transcendent horror of climate change. 

A good night for the party. The Thuglicans will have a tough time caricaturing it as a bickering match or virtue-signaling Olympics, populated by a bunch of crazy spoiled limousine liberals, as is doubtless their intention.