What Went Down At The First Biden vs. Sanders Debate

In addition to what others have said, I remain somewhat surprised that the coronavirus situation didn’t usurp more of the debate’s focus — while there was a long discussion at the beginning and it came up again in the wrap-up at the end, the majority of the debate had the two candidates arguing about many of the issues that have dominated the rest of the campaign.

Sometimes debates can dramatically move opinions during a primary election. This was not one of those debates, and it might be the last one — we’ll see. It doesn’t help Sanders that his criticisms of Biden will have to break through during a period when media coverage will be framed almost entirely around the coronavirus. That part of the debate was less divisive, so if it’s covered, it shouldn’t do much to change minds. I thought Biden had a solid debate, too, and he avoided making the sort of mistake(s) that could’ve conceivably caused some voters to question their support for him.

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.