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Winners and Losers of the Democratic DebateSkip to CommentsWinners and Losers of the Democratic Debate
Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for the Jan. 14 Democratic presidential candidate debate in Des Moines. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rank the candidates on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 means the candidate probably didn’t belong on the stage and should probably drop out; 10 means it’s on, President Trump. Here’s what our columnists and contributors thought about the debate.
Read what our columnists and contributors thought of the December debate.
Elizabeth Warren
Jorge Castañeda (7.5/10) — A substantive candidate, even if her position on the trade agreement between the United States and Mexico is not very credible. On Iran and troops abroad she was categorical and honest.
Gail Collins (8/10) — It does sound as if she really has a plan for everything, and no one could really take that on. She’s the one the debaters need to focus on the next time around.
Ross Douthat (6/10) — The moderators basically took her side in the he said/she said with Sanders and she got to deliver what was no doubt a prepared speech. So a good-enough night, but hard to see a momentum swing for her.
Maureen Dowd (4/10) — Her slide continues. Sanders has gotten back the progressive high ground on health care and soaking the rich, even after the Warren forces tried to submarine him this week. She didn’t want to push it too hard and that let him off the hook.
Michelle Goldberg (9/10) — One of her best debates. She had the most memorable line of the night: “The only people on this stage who have won every single election they have been in are the women.”
Nicole Hemmer (9/10) — Barbara Lee was the clear winner of the debate, repeatedly cheered for her lone vote against authorizing the use of force after 9/11. But Warren was a close second, turning a challenging conflict with Sanders into a forceful case for her candidacy.
Robert Leonard (9/10) — Best line of the night on whether a woman can win the presidency — the women in the debate were undefeated.
Liz Mair (5/10) — She’s lucky no one pressed her on whether Sanders said what her campaign is alleging — if she said he had, I’m not sure many people would have believed her.
Daniel McCarthy (6/10) — She’s especially cogent on trade when defending the new NAFTA against Sanders. Made the case she can threaten Trump’s Rust Belt support.
Melanye Price (9/10) — She gave an amazing answer to the question about electability and it was her best moment of the entire debate.
Mimi Swartz (7/10) — She maneuvered the gender issues handily, kept her cool and didn’t take the bait to go to war on Sanders. But we know her brothers were in the military and that she’s determined to fight corruption. She needs to refresh her talking points.
Héctor Tobar (8/10) — I saw flashes of the conviction that briefly propelled her to the top of the Democratic field. Of the progressive candidates left standing, she’s the most credible and presidential.
Pete Wehner (6/10) — What she said on policy during the debate won’t matter much. Her refusal to shake Sanders’s hand after the debate will. My bet is this now intensely personal confrontation — she’s essentially accusing Sanders of being sexist, he’s essentially accusing her of being a liar — won’t help Warren or Sanders.
Will Wilkinson (8/10) — She needed a strong night and delivered. She made a fiery, galvanizing case on women’s electability that made Sanders seem less than honest. She’s a fighter and still very much in the hunt.
Bernie Sanders
Jorge Castañeda (8.5/10) — His best performance yet: authentic, eloquent and on-message. But will Americans elect a socialist?
Gail Collins (7/10) — He isn’t the most appealing, but he did have a whole lot of the most rousing moments.
Ross Douthat (6/10) — Himself, himself, himself: The most consistent candidate from debate to debate was consistent once again. The Biden-Bernie debates after Super Tuesday will be deliciously grumpy.
Maureen Dowd (8/10) — Waving his arms with the flair of a maestro, Sanders dominated the stage, didn’t give any ground on his give-away programs and stared down Warren over her claim that he had told her that a woman couldn’t win. He said he totally believes a woman could win. He obviously doesn’t want one to win this year.
Michelle Goldberg (8/10) — Bernie is more or less always the same, which is one thing his fans love about him.
Nicole Hemmer (7/10) — He is debate-stage comfort food: You always know exactly what you’re going to get.
Robert Leonard (7/10) — Bernie is Bernie. But if Elizabeth Warren looked over the top of her glasses at me like she did at him, I’d confess. He had different math teachers than I did — he needs to show his work on Medicare for All.
Liz Mair (5/10) — Let me keep telling you how I’m totally not sexist and make you think I’m totally sexist.
Daniel McCarthy (7/10) — I don’t share his faith in multilateralism, but he’s the alternative to the foreign-policy status quo and clearest contrast to the G.O.P. all around.
Melanye Price (9/10) — He looked like the nominee. His supporters should be ecstatic.
Mimi Swartz (8/10) — The Cassandra of the campaign, but circumstances are conspiring to make him look ever more rational.
Héctor Tobar (7/10) — He was cornered on health care. What will happen when the G.O.P. cannons are aimed at his campaign?
Pete Wehner (5/10) — He was Bernie: curmudgeonly, loud, deeply ideological, a rock star to his base but unattractive to pretty much everyone else. The exchange with Warren that was leaked by her campaign wasn’t one he was going to win, and he didn’t.
Will Wilkinson (7/10) — He burnished his anti-war cred and deftly defused Warren’s “a woman can’t get elected” allegation. Despite some shakiness in his hair-splitting opposition to NAFTA 2.0, which is good for Iowa, he’s heading toward the caucus with his mojo intact.
Amy Klobuchar
Jorge Castañeda (6.5/10) — She was substantive on health care. Yet even by a politician’s standard, she talks too much about herself.
Gail Collins (6/10) — Since her strong points have been so much about her performance in the debates, this wasn’t a help — or at least not a step up. Still waiting for the moment where she goes beyond likeability and really rouses the audience.
Ross Douthat (7/10) — She forgot the governor of Kansas’ name, and she sometimes gets lost in Senate procedure, but another solid, personable performance that probably isn’t going to be quite enough to lap Buttigieg in Iowa.
Maureen Dowd (6/10) — She mined her ore-mining Midwestern roots and whacked Sanders and Warren for their pipe-dream math, their “grand ideological sketches that will never see the light of day.” But no breakthrough moment to get better traction in Iowa.
Michelle Goldberg (7/10) — She was sharp, empathetic and charming. If I were looking for a pragmatic moderate, she might have won me over.
Nicole Hemmer (7/10) — She should be the moderate’s choice, but she sounds senatorial, not presidential — she’s good on the ins and outs of legislation but often fails to tell a bigger story.
Robert Leonard (9/10) — The women won the night. Klobuchar was pragmatic and tough — but if you are going to name-drop the Kansas governor, you should remember her name.
Liz Mair (4/10) — A weak debate. She often stumbled and sounded uncomfortable. She must be all in on Nevada with all the casino and gambling references.
Daniel McCarthy (4/10) — She was the second-tier, standard-issue politician this time and came off as a foreign-policy lightweight.
Melanye Price (6/10) — Someone should tell her the center is disappearing and the party has moved to the left.
Mimi Swartz (8/10) — Once again, the queen of competence. Good idea to limit the one-liners. Biden-Klobuchar?
Héctor Tobar (8/10) — The new centrist hope. Her reasonableness, competency and empathy could carry her to an upset in Iowa, and maybe in New Hampshire, too.
Pete Wehner (8/10) — She needed an outstanding debate, and she got it. She’s authentic, informed and persuasive, is able to criticize other candidates without being nasty and (in an increasingly radical Democratic Party) she comes across as fairly moderate.
Will Wilkinson (6/10) — She dominated the contest to name-check Iowa municipalities and built on her impressive electability bona fides. Yet every note she hit, like this entire debate, felt like a rerun.
Joe Biden
Jorge Castañeda (7.5/10) — Uninspiring but solid on Iraq, Iran and women’s issues. This may well be all he has to do to win the nomination.
Gail Collins (5/10) — He didn’t screw up! But I can’t really celebrate the fact that he seemed functional but flat. Fair to mention the many things he did in previous administrations, but you still need a new thought to grab onto.
Ross Douthat (5/10) — A very Biden performance — he rambled, evaded and courted disaster in multiple answers but somehow always stumbled through. Nobody really attacked him; nothing happened to hurt his lead.
Maureen Dowd (5/10) — Bidin’ his time til South Carolina; as he reminded his competitors, he’s strongest among African-American voters. No gaffes but no heat, even though he had more breathing room because the candidates who used to attack him are gone.
Michelle Goldberg (6/10) — He seemed sleepy and tripped over his words, at least until his riff on the economy. But none of his fellow candidates hurt him.
Nicole Hemmer (6/10) — Biden debated like a candidate whose biggest goal was not to say anything dumb. (He gets an extra point for succeeding).
Robert Leonard (8/10) — At times presidential, others a scold, and occasionally forgetful, he nailed it on paying farmers to sequester carbon to help fight global warming and stabilize a crumbling rural economy.
Liz Mair (8/10) — Not a great debate, but at least he made people laugh once when the debate otherwise made people cry and tear their hair out.
Daniel McCarthy (5/10) — Stumbles haven’t hurt him before — he’s almost Trump-like in his resilience. He’s not getting sharper, though.
Melanye Price (7/10) — He has done a lot, but not enough to avoid a dumpster fire of political division and bigotry.
Mimi Swartz (7.5/10) — He flogged his record during the Obama administration like crazy and held his own for 120 minutes, which was all he had to do.
Héctor Tobar (5/10) — Ugh. He’s a shadow of the man who we knew just four or eight years ago. At the most pointed moments of the debate, he seemed to disappear.
Pete Wehner (6/10) — He wasn’t dominant or terribly impressive, but he didn’t make any damaging errors. No one went after him. He used Trump’s attacks against him to his advantage.
Will Wilkinson (7/10) — Biden hasn’t “won” a single debate, but it clearly doesn’t matter. He’s ahead in the race and he capped off the night with energetic authority. The nomination is still his to lose.
Pete Buttigieg
Jorge Castañeda (7/10) — He’s strong on education and articulate, but he comes across as scripted at times. He acknowledged that the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada was not perfect, though it seems he half-heartedly supports it.
Gail Collins (7/10) — He had some of the best arguments, but worried that he still sounded like a really, really smart high school debater. He knows how to do those “As a war veteran ...” moments, which would be terrific in a debate with Trump.
Ross Douthat (4/10) — Every answer was equally smooth, and at this point that’s the problem.
Maureen Dowd (4/10) — He continued to emphasize his veteran cred and how he would take down Cadet Bone Spurs. But he still seems canned and comes across as the star of the high school debate team. He’s straining to come up with the Vision Thing.
Michelle Goldberg (6/10) — He was, as usual, poised and agile, but in a night with no fireworks, none of his answers stood out.
Nicole Hemmer (6/10) — Last debate, everyone attacked him. This debate, they mostly ignored him — and his overly rehearsed answers felt less relevant to the actual debate raging around him.
Robert Leonard (8/10) — While Biden and Sanders bickered over old wars, Mayor Pete looked to future wars — climate, cybersecurity and election security. He was the only one to mention the Poor People’s March that took place at the debate site.
Liz Mair (7/10) — Mayor Pete was one of two people who managed to not mangle the English language. Thank goodness.
Daniel McCarthy (5/10) — He’s right that millionaires’ and billionaires’ kids shouldn’t get “free” college from taxpayers. So why not means-test all entitlements?
Melanye Price (6/10) — He will have to work to get some energy back. But no matter how he performs, pundits will say he was excellent.
Mimi Swartz (6/10) — He’s starting to sound over-rehearsed. Nice try answering the question about his lack of black support, but the numbers speak louder.
Héctor Tobar (6/10) — He’s the most polished and telegenic guy up there, but his ideas don’t inspire me.
Pete Wehner (7/10) — Strong but not outstanding. He told some humanizing stories, he’s future-oriented and he’s the only Democrat who isn’t afraid to talk about his faith.
Will Wilkinson (6/10) — Mayor Pete felt too much on auto-pilot to extract himself from the depths of the wine cave and reverse his slumping Iowa numbers.
Tom Steyer
Jorge Castañeda (6/10) — Decisive on issues like impeaching Trump and climate change. He was unable to break through on other issues.
Gail Collins (2/10) — We have a better billionaire.
Ross Douthat (5/10) — His best night — don’t roll your eyes.
Maureen Dowd (3/10) — Steyer pressed his case that he is the one to take on corporate America, given that he has already wrung a billion dollars out of the economy. But if we have to listen to a rich guy, let’s hear what Mike Bloomberg has to say.
Michelle Goldberg (7/10) — He was fine, but why is he there?
Nicole Hemmer (3/10) — The guy pointed to his globe-trotting as evidence that he’s qualified to be commander in chief. Yes, he’s got good answers on climate, but c’mon.
Robert Leonard (5/10) — Getting stronger, but Cory Booker and Andrew Yang should have been on this debate stage.
Liz Mair (6/10) — He also managed to not engage in rampant word salad — yet still came off as someone just running a massive vanity exercise.
Daniel McCarthy (2/10) — If nothing else, this minor-league candidate shows Democrats that money does have a role in facilitating discussion of big issues.
Melanye Price (5/10) — He is paying a ton of money to become the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mimi Swartz (7/10) — He’s growing into his candidacy, but I don’t see him breaking out of the pack to become the nominee. Secretary of climate?
Héctor Tobar (4/10) — It’s shameful that a man can buy his way into the semi-finals of the Democratic primary. He’s a marketing phenomenon, and not a political one.
Pete Wehner (2/10) — He spoke less than any candidate — and he still spoke too much. For future debates can we trade Steyer for Andrew Yang?
Will Wilkinson (7/10) — He delivered a clear, impassioned case for a progressive agenda, especially on climate change. His billions undercut the credibility of his left message, but they bolster his claim to be able to rattle Trump.
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About the authors
Gail Collins, Ross Douthat, Maureen Dowd and Michelle Goldberg are Times columnists. (Ms. Goldberg's husband is consulting for Ms. Warren’s campaign.)
Jorge Castañeda (@JorgeGCastaneda), Mexico’s foreign minister from 2000 to 2003, is a professor at New York University and the author of “Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left After the Cold War” and a contributing opinion writer.
Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) is an associate research scholar at Columbia University and the author of “Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics.”
Robert Leonard (@RobertLeonard), the news director for the Iowa radio stations KNIA and KRLS, is the author of “Deep Midwest: Midwestern Explorations.”
Daniel McCarthy (@ToryAnarchist) is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Quarterly.
Liz Mair (@LizMair), a strategist for campaigns by Scott Walker, Roy Blunt, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry, is the founder and president of Mair Strategies.
Melanye Price (@ProfMTP), a professor of political science at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, is the author, most recently, of “The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race.”
Mimi Swartz (@mimiswartz), an executive editor at Texas Monthly, is a contributing opinion writer.
Héctor Tobar (@TobarWriter), an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine, is the author of “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free” and a contributing opinion writer.
Peter Wehner (@Peter_Wehner) a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, served in the previous three Republican administrations and is a contributing opinion writer, a visiting professor at Duke and the author of “The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump.”
Will Wilkinson (@willwilkinson) is the vice president for research at the Niskanen Center.
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