What Went Down At The First Biden vs. Sanders Debate

It’s pretty amazing that the first two-person debate of the 2020 primary — winnowed from a field of 20-plus — felt in so many ways inconsequential. And I think it largely will be — Biden’s grip on the race just seems too tight.

But my one note of caution would be that the fact that this was the first two-person debate maybe introduces some extra potential power? IDK … maybe not. It’s sooooo hard to imagine this debate altering the trajectory of the race. At the same time, a lot of things have happened in politics — including in this race — that were hard to imagine.

It’s kind of sad that this debate took place in the midst of a global crisis that is naturally drawing everyone’s attention away, because it was a good one. Without the audience and the cacophony of seven+ candidates on stage, we finally got a chance to have Biden and Sanders challenge each other and actually respond. Still, while coronavirus naturally featured heavily in the top of the debate, there was something comforting about being reminded that the world is continuing to spin, and we continue to have an election that is about more than the current crisis at hand.

This was a pretty fragmented debate, each fragment of which had a different takeaway, in my opinion. On the coronavirus, both Biden and Sanders seemed very serious and prepared and projected the leadership people are probably looking for in this time of crisis. On most other policy issues, though, they spent a lot of time bickering — a lot more than I thought they would, given that the primary is basically not competitive anymore. I think Sanders won most of those exchanges and did a good job exposing that Biden has not been consistent in his positions over the years, but I think Cuba and China was one topic where Biden bested Sanders. Finally, though, I think the most newsworthy parts of the debate were when Biden made, well, actual news — he committed to ending most deportations and picking a female running mate. Overall, the debate did not feature the kind of colossal Biden gaffe that was needed to dislodge him as a national front-runner.