My Quick Post-Debate Thoughts
Did anything change because of tonight? It’s difficult to say: One of the most important factors affecting public opinion after past debates has been the media’s reaction. We’ll be watching how that plays out over the next several days.
So far, the media consensus seems to be that there weren’t any “game changers” tonight. This is perhaps summed up best by this exchange on Twitter:
Bernie Sanders is likely to continue to appeal to a sizable minority of the Democratic base, particularly white liberals. Nothing happened tonight that will change that. The flip is probably also true: I’m not sure Sanders did or said anything to push his support much higher.
Perhaps more importantly, Hillary Clinton, who seemed to have stemmed the bleeding before the debate, is getting good reviews. In other words, tonight’s debate is unlikely to cause Clinton any media headaches.
The one loser from tonight’s debate? It might be Joe Biden, who wasn’t in the debate. Nothing happened on stage that would obviously coax Biden into the ring.
These are just first reactions, but so far the mainstream media does not see the race changing much after this debate. And that seems about right to me too.