If the success of a primary candidate’s debate performance is measured by the difference in interest and awareness by the political class from before and after the debates, then there is no question that self-described “bitch for god” Marianne Williamson is the easy winner even if, and maybe because, few had any idea of what she was doing there or what she was saying. She definitely got the attention of New Zealanders with her response to the question of what would be her first priority as president. Rather than the expected items of climate change or health care or gun control or relations with China, she threw down a challenge to their prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
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I mentioned earlier how jaded we seem to have become about Donald Trump’s behavior that the latest serious allegation of sexual assault by him brought by author E. Jean Carroll got very little play in the major media, apart from a few brief appearances. However, rising anger over this poor coverage has resulted in more attention being paid and for the Times to apologize for its earlier downplaying of the story.
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This debate was rowdier than the first with more occasions where speakers ignored the limits on time and moderators’ efforts to pick responders.

So here are my summary reactions followed by more substantive comments.

Those who gained: Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Andrew Yang,

I knew something about the first before the debate and had a pretty good impression of Buttigieg but not so much about Harris. But all did well in answering questions, in that they were articulate and clear, particularly Buttigieg. I knew nothing about Yang but his call for giving every person $1,000 per month funded by a value added tax was interesting and deserves more attention. Gillibrand’s responses were also largely on point, refreshingly wonky at times, and seemed less canned.

Those who lost: Joe Biden, John Hickenlooper,

I am not a fan of Biden and tried to not let my bias influence my judgment but I really felt that he seemed flat. I did not know much about Hickenlooper and his distancing himself from socialism turned me off. I really do not know why Williamson is in the race at all.

Those who remained the same: Bernie Sanders, Marianne Williamson, Eric Swalwell, Michael Bennet

As I said yesterday, this is a tricky category that requires elaboration because staying the same in my estimation did not mean that I viewed them as the same. As with Warren yesterday, I already had a high regard for Bernie Sanders and that view remained unchanged because he was strong last night. I knew little about Swalwell and Bennet but their performances did not inspire me to know more.
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You would think that the person in the government with the title of Chief of Protocol, who assists the president on overseas trips and briefs the president on protocol, would know proper behavior and practice it. But when you are talking about the Trump administration, all such bets are off. The old norms just do not apply anymore and boorish behavior abounds. But just before Trump left for the G20 summit in Japan, Sean Lawler resigned from the post.

Why? I am glad that you asked. Apparently he was the subject of an investigation for harassment and discrimination. But what jumped out at me was that “Lawler has been accused of intimidating staff and bringing a whip into the office”.

Really? He brought a whip to the office to intimidate his staff? What exactly did he do with it? Crack it when he wanted to get people’s attention? Give people lashes when they did not perform their duties satisfactorily?

Weird.

I watched the first of the two debates involving ten of the twenty people who qualified for it. Given the large number, the two-hour time allowed for an average of about ten minutes per candidate and each was given just one minute to respond to questions. So it was unreasonable to expect a detailed examination of candidate positions since they all largely agreed on how to respond to the issues that were raised, with the possible exception of John Delaney who seemed more like a Republican, touting his credentials as a businessman.
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