Thursday, June 27, 2019

Fight Night 2 (The A-Team)


From left, the roster (onstage, not in the picture above) is:

  • Author and activist Marianne Williamson
  • Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
  • Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
  • South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
  • California Sen. Kamala Harris
  • New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
  • Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet
  • California Rep. Eric Swalwell

Due to the luck of the draw, this is effectively the marquee night for the debate -- with frontrunner Biden, second-place Sanders, and tied-for-fourth-place Harris and Buttigieg all onstage.

And all eyes will be on Biden. He’s certainly no stranger to the format; his first presidential debate was 32 years ago, and he was in several more during his 2007 campaign, as well as general election vice presidential debates in 2008 and 2012. Still, for the clear frontrunner, the pressure will be on, and his rivals will be sure to pounce on any misstep.

Sanders, for instance, will have an opportunity to make the case that his vision for the presidency would be far different -- he wants a political revolution, whereas Biden emphatically does not. Harris and Buttigieg, too, could argue that new leadership is needed for the party. But it’s not clear just how aggressive these candidates will be in attacking Biden; they could decide it’s a mistake to go too negative this early.

The two Democratic candidates without experience in political office will also be onstage on this night. Williamson, an author who has written on spirituality, has recently tried to backtrack from comments she made criticizing vaccines. Meanwhile, entrepreneur Yang will tout his plan for a universal basic income of $1,000 a month.

With most of the top-polling contenders as well as Williamson and Yang on this night, it may be more difficult for the other politicians onstage -- Gillibrand, Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Swalwell -- to stand out.

Like last night, I will put down the phone and step away from the laptop and just let the experience wash over me without feeling the urge to interact with a second, small screen.  Old school, '90's style, not so much sifting and sorting of wheat from Twitter chaff.

Seems to give me a clearer perspective for the morning-after take.
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Voy a patear te el culo

"I'm going to kick your ass".


The former San Antonio mayor had been running below the radar -- WAY below the radar -- until Wednesday night. That is likely to change after his performance, in which he was able to carve out a remarkable amount of speaking time for a candidate polling somewhere between 0% and 1%. (An hour into the debate, Castro had spoken as much as Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is in the midteens in national polling, according to a count kept by the Washington Post. Hugely helpful!) Castro's battering of Beto O'Rourke on immigration was hard to watch (especially if you were related to O'Rourke), but a clear win for Castro.

Even the TexTrib poll, reported in the Wrangle ten days ago, showed Castro tied with Tulsi Gabbard here in Deep-In-The-Hearta, with 3% apiece.  This is -- should be -- the moment we mark as Beto's final mistake.  He was never tough enough to take on Ted Cruz, and when Julián punched him in the nose last night, he reeled around the ring and toppled over.  Good night, Bob.

Tulsi also whipped some white man culo.

Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran and frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy, shot back at (Ohio Cong. Tim) Ryan after he said the United States needs to stay "engaged" in hotspots like Afghanistan.

"As a soldier, I will tell you that answer is unacceptable," Gabbard said, urging the U.S. to pull back and focus on America.

"When we weren’t there, they started flying planes into our buildings," Ryan replied. "If we go in there and say we want to withdraw from the world -- that’s what President Trump is saying."

Gabbard noted it was Al Qaeda, not the Taliban, that attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, and said, "The Taliban was there long before we got in and will be there long after we leave."


(What is the 'Rachel Madcow smear'?  Glad you asked.)

So while Trump, Joe Biden, and Liz Warren -- the elephants in the room -- escaped unscathed, some people won by not losing.  Not Chuck Todd, however. 

Some of these ten will now fade away (we all hope).


Look for a preview of Fight Night 2 later this afternoon.
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