So, coming off the first Democratic primary debates, I want to remind myself of a few things. It’s too much to remember everything, but I’m certainly left with some strong impressions.
To start off, I go to the end, actually after both events were over, when they cut to an exhausted, reeling Rachel Maddow, answering the question, “how did it feel to be out there?”
I have no feeling, of any kind, and I expect I that won’t for several weeks. This was absolutely, freaking terrifying. It was– I mean, as you know, moderating a debate is always really hard. Moderating a ten way debate two nights in a row is not a thing that humans can do, and we should never try it again.
It was crazy. It was too many people. And the moments where they talked, yelled over each other, were awful. Which would be why Kamala nailed it, when she cut through the noise, literally:
America does not want to witness a food fight, they want to know how we’re going to put food on the table
That said, I thought msnbc handled it fairly well, given the sheer number of people to pull into the conversation, and still ask relevant questions of candidates who’d made them central points of their platforms. But good god above, there must be a better way to handle a plethora of candidates early in the campaign cycle. I keep thinking some kind of tournament system, with about 3 or 4 candidates at a time. I should start a website, a twitter page—- nah. I’ll let the DNC figure it out.
The first night, I was quite impressed with Warren both in substance and tone, think Amy probably won’t last to the end but would like to see her in a Cabinet position, and was fairly impressed with Booker but somehow he didn’t quite shine for me. In particular, all three have a comprehensive view of how to get things done, have actually gotten things done in their various roles working for the People, and don’t look like they are stopping any time soon. But of the three, Warren shone most brightly. She has a Plan (hopefully not the one the Cylons were working on), in fact she has many plans, and she’s able to talk about them in practical terms I think most voters can absorb. She is aspirational – all the candidates are – but she constantly ties it back to practical plans, practical research, practical efforts she’s made in the past. She’s able to talk about her personal experience and tie it effectively to those plans, and has a good enough sense of humor to join in on the jokes about her Many Plans. She knows she’s wonky, and she’s not embarrassed about it, nor does she hold it up as some kind of trophy (looking at you, substance-free Paul Ryan).
I was amusingly un-impressed by Beto, who seemed terribly out of his depth; wondered why Castro is not nearly as engaging as his brother; thought Tulsi played the ex-Military thing too hard while making some good points along the way. Then there were the annoying white guys, of whom deBlasio stood out but not enough, and was abrasive on top of it, and the other three are just a mush of good ideas with no sense of leadership power. Inslee maybe, but I’m not enthused. And Delaney… what an annoying little shit. Sure, he has ideas, but… lots of people have ideas? Why should I pay attention to you, Yet Another White Guy?
The little struggle between Beto and Castro was… interestingly painful? Beto’s unfabulous response was yet more grist for my mill of “white guys should just fucking step down this cycle.” Other voices are more relevant. It’s not that Beto is terrible. It’s that he’s not the voice we need leading us right now.
Might I note that the two dudes on each end of the stage where positioned there for a reason, and I didn’t appreciate them trying to shout their way into the middle. Not a good setup, which is why maybe I should lobby for that tournament thing.
The second night? That’s another story.
The annoying shouting from the end-caps situation was still going on, and boy howdy, that Marianne Williamson was… Something Else there, with her closing statement.
Just in case love doesn’t save America (and hey, I’m not saying it won’t play a role), Kamala Harris is here to get the fucking job done!
Damn, that woman is a force of nature. I often think about the Presidential election cycle as a massive job interview process, a hiring committee of several million people. And so I think about job qualifications, one of which is being able to clearly speak to the People and sell your ideas, but all that is for naught if you can’t get the job done once you’re in the Oval. The President needs to be a good administrator, a good manager of people, and good at seeing The Big Picture, of playing the long game as well as handling every damn fire that lands on the Resolute desk, and evaluating which plans (yes, Plans!) and which policies will achieve the goals of the administration.
(This, by the way, is one of the weirdly disturbing, yet in this case fortunate aspects of the Trump administration. They are very, very bad at what they do. Can you imagine what horrorscape we’d be living in if they were actually competant? It makes me shudder.)
In any case, Harris made a good case for being the person who can get shit done. And in her now famous exchange with Biden, she asserted the worth of her experience, her personal knowledge, her vantage point in thinking about the Big Picture. She also drew a sharp line between tactics of past decades, which may have worked then (and yes, I’m referencing Biden’s remarks about working with segregationists), but are no longer appropriate or even productive. Basically, she delivered.
Biden wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t on his game, and fumbled badly. Both he and Bernie were too aspirational, and not grounded in current ability to Get Things Done. Great words, great goals, but how ya gonna get there? And Bernie, typically, came off as a curmudgeon, a grumpy man who’s revolution is built of memories of what he imagines to have been his better days. I am sick of him, and comforted by the fairly certain future in which he will no longer be running for president of this or any cycle.
Mayor Pete was interesting. He tried hard. He was on the mark a number of times. But I don’t think he’s ready. Keep Mayor-ing, Mayor Pete, and maybe move into DC down the road. But not necessarily as President. There are a ton of other positions in DC, and I wish some of these contenders would aim their sights a bit lower.
So, where the first night’s debate positioned the White Guys on either end, the second night positioned the “Nope, not gonna happen” folks on one end, and the “could be but not likely” candidates on the other end.
The absolute Nopers, for me, are Williamson and Yang. Not. Gonna. Happen. Of course, I said that about Trump too, but where the GOP has a huge contingent of voters who seem genetically predisposed to avoiding critical thinking at all costs, the Democratic party pats those types on the head, and finds them a place to sit in the corner where they won’t bother anybody. Witness the positioning of Williamson at the far end of the pack. Yang is only slightly better, in that he is less woo but more “Thousand Bucks, bro!” and woefully inadequate to fill the job. Hickenlooper, for whom I feel a little sorry in his positioning between Williamson and Yang, isn’t quite as “nope” as the other two, but it ain’t gonna happen, Mr. Colorado. On the other hand, keep Governor-ing, and maybe try to get into Congress. You could go far, young man!
The opposite end were what I consider the serious contenders who won’t get far.
Gillibrand… I hate to say it, because OH GOD LET’S NOT REVISIT THIS SHIT, but that woman is shrill. She does smile a lot, so she has that problem nipped in the bud. She’s wicked smart, but somehow I don’t think she’ll appeal to enough people – she’s very strident, and while I admire that in a woman, encourage it even, it’s something that will turn off anyone looking to fight with feminists. I think she’ll be out before long. But that will keep her in the Senate, where I think she will do some good.
Similarly, Bennet and Swalwell are smart people with great ideas. But somehow, I don’t think they give the impression of Future World Leader. They are more like modern-day Joe Bidens, smart guys on the right path, who will provide fabulous support to the Executive Branch (god willing it’s a Democratic one), and work hard for both their constituents and the nation. But yeah, in the mean time, Say the Things, and Fight Hard for the Issues, and it will help build the Democratic party enthusiasm and, more importantly, substance.
And on that note, I’ll say this: a huge priority is to get Trump the fuck out of office. It’s not because Trump is an icky person (though he is) or that he advances a conservative agenda dangerous to most of us (though he does), but that he’s crashing through the norms and healthy functioning of our democracy like a T-Rex in the Jurassic Park Visitors Center. Dude needs to go, and right soon!
But, on January 20th, 2021, when the newly elected President places her hand on what I hope is a Constitution and not a Bible, I need her to hit the ground running, have a game plan in place and the chops (and people) to implement it, because this place is in serious need of some clean up. We need to set things to rights, and somebody who paints pretty pictures with their words won’t be enough.
I’d say Warren and Harris came out the best during these two nights. I’ve made a decision not to pick Just One for now, and probably the next few months. But those women could get things done, and have the skills to fill the position. I mentioned it’s like a big hiring committee, right? Their resumes look really good.
When you cut out the lightweight candidates, the Democratic field looks like an excellent group of people to get things done, in Congress and in the Executive Branch agencies. And hell, give ol’ Marianne Williamson a role as Witch Laureate for a while, but keep her away from Health and Human Services, because that girl is anti-vax crazy, and maybe some other kinds of Out There.
I’ll close with a link to Joy Reid during msnbc’s post-debate chit chat Thursday night:
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