What Went Down In The Fifth Democratic Debate

For what it’s worth, Ford’s pardon of Nixon was incredibly controversial and may have cost him the presidency. So this question about how to handle wrongdoing by a previous president isn’t a simple one to answer at all.

I think Klobuchar has sort of already escaped the sort of gravitational pull of the 0-1 percent range — certainly in Iowa, at least — and has the potential to grow further. I’m less sure about Booker; I think his play is a bit more about having donors and elites notice him and promote his campaign instead of having them hold out and hope Bloomberg gets into the race or whatever.

Klobuchar talked about how voters might sometimes be inclined to vote for the person who is telegenic or charismatic over the person who would do the best job. That is in part a symptom of the very, very open primary system we have in America. In most other countries, people inside the party choose who the party leaders will be, and studies show that that results in better representation of women and more of a focus on experience and loyalty to party. Ironically, when Klobuchar mentioned Pelosi as a woman who beats Trump every day, she mentioned a leader who is chosen by party insiders (House members) and not the broader public.