Booker was his normal charming self, and Warren fended off the frequent attacks pretty well, but I think her continued refusal to lump in all expenses as "costs" is getting really old.
See, I think the media hammering on this one pointless question is the thing that is getting really old. The framing of the question is bullshit, and she is right to push back on it. She has stated multiple times that she will not sign a bill into law if it increases healthcare costs for the middle class. So let’s move on to the 1000000 other important issues we have to discuss.
I also thought Klobuchar came off as trying way too hard so, it’s all in the eye of the beholder I guess.
It's not just the media. It's the other candidates, too. Last night Biden ("vague"), Buttigieg ("yes or no"), and Klobuchar ("invoice") all brought it up. I conclude the other candidates think it is a salient point. I think she needs to come up with a better response than the one she repeated in slightly varied forms multiple times in the debate. Maybe with less "sound-bite" style debates, she'll have time to go into it more.
Of the 12, there are four I would prefer not to see become President. As noted above, it's all in the eyes of the beholder, so I won't bother listing my particular four. I think I have a good chance of being content with whomever is President next.
Other comments:
I did think Gabbard's strategy of calling on other candidates to agree with her (and Harris' similar thing with the Twitter thing, which I didn't hear but read about) doesn't work well for her. She's better when she orates. Her comments on abortion restrictions in the third trimester was an interesting choice.
I thought Klobuchar's decision to quote Trump's 2016 campaign slogan three times (or was it four?) in one of her answers - even though she referred to it negatively - was a bad strategic choice.
I'm not impressed with Steyer, and can't see how he gets the nomination, so I don't understand why he entered the race.
Biden is only occasionally incoherent, but I think that trait is going to wear on his campaign.
I liked Buttigieg's "courage" line, especially how he framed it in the after-debate discussion with CNN. I didn't really get his repeated vision thing of "imagine the day after Trump's Presidency ends".
Booker's "happy warrior" thing worked more for me than it has in the past. Maybe it seems like he's let go of his angry side even more.
I'm glad Sanders appears healthy. I wish him well but somehow think that he's going to do the same thing he did in 2016 and hang around too long and cause problems for the eventual nominee - I don't think it will be him.
I still think it's sort of a Mexican standoff now until the caucuses start. It's hard to see how it shifts from a two- or three-person race to include anyone else. I don't think last night's debate really will shift the landscape much at all, other than that the pundits now seem to consider Warren a co-front-runner or maybe even the front-runner, instead of "second place and rising" with all the attacks on her from the other candidates.