Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for the Jan. 14 Democratic presidential candidate debate in Des Moines. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rank the candidates on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 means the candidate probably didn’t belong on the stage and should probably drop out; 10 means it’s on, President Trump. Here’s what our columnists and contributors thought about the debate.
Read what our columnists and contributors thought of the December debate.
Elizabeth Warren
7.2/10
Jorge Castañeda (7.5/10) — A substantive candidate, even if her position on the trade agreement between the United States and Mexico is not very credible. On Iran and troops abroad she was categorical and honest.
Gail Collins (8/10) — It does sound as if she really has a plan for everything, and no one could really take that on. She's the one the debaters need to focus on the next time around.
Ross Douthat (6/10) — The moderators basically took her side in the he said/she said with Sanders and she got to deliver what was no doubt a prepared speech. So a good-enough night, but hard to see a momentum swing for her.
Maureen Dowd (4/10) — Her slide continues. Sanders has gotten back the progressive high ground on health care and soaking the rich, even after the Warren forces tried to submarine him this week. She didn't want to push it too hard and that let him off the hook.
Michelle Goldberg (9/10) — One of her best debates. The most memorable line of the night was when she said, “The only people on this stage who have won every single election they have been in are the women.”
Nicole Hemmer (9/10) — Barbara Lee was the clear winner of the debate, repeatedly cheered for her lone vote against authorizing the use of force after 9/11. But Warren was a close second, turning a challenging conflict with Sanders into a forceful case for her candidacy.
Robert Leonard (9/10) — Best line of the night on whether a woman can win the presidency — the women in the debate were undefeated.
Liz Mair (5/10) — She’s lucky no one pressed her on whether Sanders said what her campaign is alleging — if she said he had, I’m not sure many people would have believed her.
Daniel McCarthy (6/10) — She’s especially cogent on trade when defending the new NAFTA against Sanders. Made the case she can threaten Trump’s Rust Belt support.
Melanye Price (9/10) — She gave an amazing answer to the question about electability and it was her best moment of the entire debate.
Mimi Swartz (7/10) — She maneuvered the gender issues handily, kept her cool and didn’t take the bait to go to war on Sanders. But we know her brothers were in the military and that she’s determined to fight corruption. She needs to refresh her talking points.
Héctor Tobar (8/10) — I saw flashes of the conviction that briefly propelled her to the top of the Democratic field. Of the progressive candidates left standing, she’s the most credible and presidential.
Pete Wehner (6/10) — What she said on policy during the debate won’t matter much. Her refusal to shake Sanders’s hand after the debate will. My bet is this now intensely personal confrontation — she’s essentially accusing Sanders of being sexist, he’s essentially accusing her of being a liar — won’t help Warren or Sanders.
Will Wilkinson (8/10) — She needed a strong night and delivered. She made a fiery, galvanizing case on women's electability that made Sanders seem less than honest. She's a fighter and still very much in the hunt.
Bernie Sanders
7.1/10
Jorge Castañeda (8.5/10) — His best performance yet: authentic, eloquent and on-message. But will Americans elect a socialist?
Gail Collins (7/10) — He isn't the most appealing, but he did have a whole lot of the most rousing moments.
Ross Douthat (6/10) — Himself, himself, himself: The most consistent candidate from debate to debate was consistent once again. The Biden-Bernie debates after Super Tuesday will be deliciously grumpy.
Maureen Dowd (8/10) — Waving his arms with the flair of a maestro, Sanders dominated the stage, didn't give any ground on his give-away programs and stared down Warren over her claim that he had told her that a woman couldn't win. He said he totally believes a woman could win. He obviously doesn't want one to win this year.
Michelle Goldberg (8/10) — Bernie is more or less always the same, which is one thing his fans love about him.
Nicole Hemmer (7/10) — He is debate-stage comfort food: You always know exactly what you're going to get.
Robert Leonard (7/10) — Bernie is Bernie. But if Elizabeth Warren looked over the top of her glasses at me like she did at him, I’d confess. He had different math teachers than I did — he needs to show his work on Medicare for All.
Liz Mair (5/10) — Let me keep telling you how I’m totally not sexist and make you think I’m totally sexist.
Daniel McCarthy (7/10) — I don’t share his faith in multilateralism, but he’s the alternative to the foreign-policy status quo and clearest contrast to the G.O.P. all around.
Melanye Price (9/10) — He looked like the nominee. His supporters should be ecstatic.
Mimi Swartz (8/10) — The Cassandra of the campaign, but circumstances are conspiring to make him look ever more rational.
Héctor Tobar (7/10) — He was cornered on health care. What will happen when the G.O.P. cannons are aimed at his campaign?
Pete Wehner (5/10) — He was Bernie: curmudgeonly, loud, deeply ideological, a rock star to his base but unattractive to pretty much everyone else. The exchange with Warren that was leaked by her campaign wasn’t one he was going to win, and he didn’t.
Will Wilkinson (7/10) — He burnished his anti-war cred and deftly defused Warren's "a woman can't get elected" allegation. Despite some shakiness in his hair-splitting opposition to NAFTA 2.0, which is good for Iowa, he's heading toward the caucus with his mojo intact.
Amy Klobuchar
6.6/10
Average score
