And my son John is live-blogging it here.
7:07 — Oh, no! A gun! Tim Ryan doesn't have his hand over his heart for the National Anthem. Great rendition of the song.
7:11 — Amy and Liz are wearing red jackets (Liz's is brighter and longer), and Marianne is in an all-black suit. The men are, of course, all in dark suits, but Buttigieg is distinguished with a somewhat lighter blue-colored suit.
7:14 — Opening statements, what a bore! Bullock — he gets stuff done. He says people "can't wait for revolution" — that's ambiguous! Marianne Williamson rails against an "amoral economic system" which has become "a false god." John Delaney is against "impossible promises" that "will get Trump reelected." Tim Ryan has a top-of-the-head/bottom-of-the-head-disproportion... and not in the right direction. Hickenlooper shares progressive values but is "a little more pragmatic." Who's clearing their throat into the mike while Hickenlooper is talking?! Amy Klobuchar has "had it with the racist attacks" (not sure if she means the attacks from Trump or on Trump). Beto O'Rourke wants to stand up against "a lawless President." Buttigieg says "our country is running out of time." What's that thing on his face? Elizabeth Warren says Trump is a "disgrace" but he's just part of a "rigged system" that "kicks dirt" at... oh, is that what happened to Buttigieg's face? Bernie Sanders is pissed at Amazon. His upper lip is Nixonizing.
7:26 — The first question goes to Bernie Sanders and lets him plug in his health-care proposal. Dull! He's pitted against Delaney, who's criticized Sanders's plan. "Why do we gotta be the party that's taking something away from people?" Warren breaks in. Her theme tonight seems to be about how the Democrats really all want the same thing. She insists on telling an anecdote about a "cute little boy." It's all out of control! Jake Tapper breaks in to tame her: Are you for Medicare for all? She brushes it off to get back to her anecdote — "I want to get back to Addie" — and the crowd laughs. She chides, "It's not funny." We are scolded, scolded for expecting her to answer the question asked.
7:34 — The health-care issue is too complicated to discuss in this agitated, rushed way. It's making me ill. So much yelling and stress. I'm tuning out on this issue. I don't think it works well in a debate, not with all these contestants and tight time limits and permitting candidates to break in and go overtime. It's incredibly irritating.
7:45 — A lot of concern about union members losing the private health insurance benefits in the move to Medicare for all. Delaney explains how health care will decline under that plan — it's a matter of simple arithmetic — and Sanders accuses him of profiteering off private insurance. It seems like a wild slur. Sanders gets so mad and turns bright red. It's so off-putting!
7:51 — They're talking about immigration. Sanders just assured us we would have "strong border protections," but most of the talk is about "de-criminalizing" crossing the border. Bullock was sounding a bit like Trump and then he said the whole problem was Trump. I'm hearing a lot of emotion and railing against Trump, but the substance is a jumble. No one is standing out. Maybe Buttigieg, just for staying calm.
7:58 — Guns. I don't think any of this is new. How much longer is this debate? Another hour.
8:06 — Bullock brags about "gettin' the Koch brothers out of Montana." That doesn't sound right to me! Singling out particular private citizens and driving them out of your state?
8:11 — Is Bernie Sanders too far left to beat Trump? Tapper asks Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper doesn't give a clear "yes" and there's such a barrage of words that I have no idea what he said. He's not defining himself, so he is losing. There is some cute byplay when Hickenlooper says Sanders just throws his hands up and Sanders does the throwing-the-hands-up gesture and Hickenlooper does it back at him.
8:17 — Elizabeth Warren is "not afraid" and she thinks Democrats win when they figure out what they believe in and fight for it. Delaney says something pragmatic and she smashes him with: "I don't understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for President of the United States just to talk about what we really can't do and shouldn't fight for." That’s the quote of the night.
8:24 — Amy Klobuchar is invited to say who is making promises just to get elected. She declines to attack anyone individually... other than, of course, Trump. But now that I think about it, no one is landing any serious attack on Trump. It's a given, often repeated, that Trump must be defeated, but I'm not hearing anything memorable undermining Trump.
8:33 — Climate change. I got distracted looking into what that necklace is that Williamson's wearing....
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) July 31, 2019
8:37 — I'm checking out Twitter. Interesting that some of the candidates are tweeting during the debate. In other words, the illusion that they tweet their own tweets is ruined.
8:40 — I don't know what Marianne Williamson was just saying, but it was very exciting and I kinda got chills.
8:47 — Drudge has a "who's winning?" poll. I thought a second, then voted for Williamson. Turns out she has 43% of the vote. That's way out in front. Delaney is next, with only 10%. Not scientific, but weird.
8:58 — May the yelling end soon. I am weary....
9:28 — I thought this would end at 9, and I’ve basically treated it as over since then. I am kind of listening, but... whoa! Marianne!!! Okay, I checked back in for that radical psychic energy, and now I’m back out again.
9:39 — That thing is now gone from Pete Buttigieg’s face. I wonder what it was?
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