What Went Down In The Fifth Democratic Debate

I mentioned a moment ago that Democrats rank climate change fifth in terms of important issues. But in the same survey, only 1 percent of Republicans ranked climate change as the most important issue — it didn’t crack the top 10.

Seems like a bad night for Deval Patrick, in that Klobuchar and Booker seem to be very much positioning themselves as moderate alternatives to Biden and Buttigieg. That is the lane Patrick, who is not on stage, is trying to carve out.

Buttigieg has clearly been spending a lot of time in Iowa. And it’s important to keep in mind that his surge is quite Iowa- (and to some extent New Hampshire-)centric. In a world where South Carolina and Nevada voted first, it’s unlikely he’d been in the same position right now.