2nd DEM Debate Thread: July 30 & 31, Detroit (MI), CNN

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Does anybody else think Biden is gonna go after Harris on something and it's gonna massively backfire?

Actually I think Harris is going to embarrass herself attacking Biden on something.

A smarter move on her part would be to stay above the fray and let others attack Biden (which they will probably do since it worked for Harris last time).

I doubt that. She's a prosecutor and they plan things out meticulously before trial and are very well composed. I just don't see how people who see Kamala perform in Senate hearings think she'd perform poorly in a debate.

It's kinda-of an aside, but of all the candidates, the one I would most like to see up on a debate stage with Mr. Trump is Sen. Harris. (Assuming he holds together well enough to be the nominee.) A competent series of attacks that he can't walk away from and fails to deflect will expose him for the liar and fraud that he is. It probably wouldn't matter to the Republicans, but it would still be good to see. And Sen. Harris is probably best-equipped of all the likely candidates to deliver such a verbal dismemberment. (Rep. Gabbard likely could as well,  but seems unlikely to win the nomination, and seems like she might refrain from doing so even if the possibility presented itself.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This debate is already a dumpster fire

Now, lets be fair. It's something of a mess (which yes, is what CNN wants), but it could still do a better job running the company than Trump has.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Bullock is doing much better than I expected. Especially on guns and immigration

He's doing well practically every time he gets a chance to talk.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Oh yeah, Sen. Klobuchar is here too.

She declines to take CNN's bait. Good for her.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Warren is right on this.

We need a new paradigm, not rehashes of the old paradigm.

To borrow a libertarian phrase, we're seeing a clear split on stage this evening, between the future, and its enemies.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Is it just me or does Don Lemon seem bored?

His cage fighters are mostly refusing to fight and instead making decent little speeches and accurately bashing Trump.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

At least we don't have any candidates comparing their size of you know what.

Well there will obviously be some big boots to fill post-Trump.....

Oh, come on.  There's not that much room in Trump's footwear. We all know he wears lifts.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Having a good night:

Bullock, Delaney, Sanders, Williamson

Not having a good night:

Hickenlooper, Ryan, Klobuchar

Having an OK night:

Buttigieg, O'Rourke, Warren

Delaney is having a good night only in that he handily defeated Hickenlooper and Ryan to be the most obnoxious candidate of the evening.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Ryan is a closet Trump supporter I bet

I keep thinking he looks like he's worried that we're all going to notice the flaw in his human suit any moment now.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I'm not trollin when I say I think Delaney would beat Trump

But would he beat him at giving #MoscowMitch what he wants?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Tim Ryan just said "Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador" in reference to the Golden Triangle countries when the Golden Triangle countries are Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Is this the end of the Tim Ryan campaign?

I don’t think even 10% of Americans know what the golden triangle countries are.

Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos.

or

Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange

More aid to se asia please!

Haven't seen it since I'm in Thailand, but all I can tell for sure is that Hickenlooper and Ryan were the worst. Am I correct?

Nope. It was a close fight, but Delaney made a surprise showing to beat them out for "the worst"

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

He’s literally saying automation is replacing workers and that he is ok with it. (Yang)

Automation is 100% inevitable, why try and stop something that is for the greater good?

Jobs are not  inherently a good thing. Wealth creation, creativity, personal fulfillment are good things.  Jobs are a cost we pay to keep civilization going.

For thousands of years, 99% of everyone spent their lives doing food production to keep what passed for civilization going. That number slowly dropped, and now we're down to something like 1%. The key is to keep civilization going, and keep improving the human condition.  How you make that happen, how best to make that happen, is a question and a challenge, but I doubt it will require the same social structure we've had for the last few centuries.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

“How is he wrong”

He’s not wrong...

Its seriously so annoying. He literally wants open borders and then denies that .

He's right that "open borders" is a meaningless Republican talking point.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

CNN moderators asking Fox-esque questions again. Nice.

Yeah, the DNC should run its own debates with impartial moderators, not let a network take potshots at their candidates for ratings.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

China will likely reach CO2 emissions targets years ahead of schedule

Inslee is still right. The clock is ticking.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Do the NPCs here still think Biden is winning this debate?  lol

Let me roll and die and see what the wizard thinks.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

CNN Anchors: Fight! Fight with each other for our fleeting ratings advantage!

Candidates tonight: Um, okay.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Did Gabbard just say that Trump supports Al Qaeda? What's that supposed to mean?

Either "he's bad, and his being bad helps Al Qaeda", or, more likely, "attacking Al Qaeda's opponents, like Syria and non-Al Qaeda parts of the Islamic State, is directly helping Al Qaeda".