The third Democratic debate

Thursday night, we prepared to watch the third debate with somewhat high expectations, but after three hours of spectacle we didn’t hear or see anything likely to “move the needle” in one direction or the other.

In my simple opinion, Warren maintained her upbeat tone, Biden kept his head above water by avoiding a big gaffe, but Sanders looked old and beat up. I still believe that this trio is clearly too old for my taste.

I thought O’Rourke did a good job and so did Castro; both might have advanced a notch. Klobuchar was a tiny bit better too while Buttigieg and Booker didn’t do much to advance their cases. Yang made me yawn and Harris shot herself in the foot with her questionable humor.

It seems to me that when the top three leaders meld into two viable candidates, Biden is likely to suffer the most as those supporting Harris, O’Rourke, Castro and Buttigieg will go towards Warren (I don’t think Sanders will be capable to hold up and his fans will support Warren), while Booker and Klobuchar’s supporters might still go for Biden.

My sense is that Warren still remains the likely victor, but she will have to shed a lot of her leftist agenda if she gets the nomination and hopes to beat Trump.