#demdebate
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts did not win Wednesday’s Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont did. You would think otherwise, however, based on how members of the press are covering it.
“The runaway winner was Warren,” Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery declared.
Vox proclaimed elsewhere, “Warren won.”
The Daily Dot’s Ramon Ramirez added, “Warren won the night with palpable energy.”
“Warren won, Bloomberg lost, can we all go to bed now?” asked CNN contributor Sally Kohn.
The problem with these analyses is that they proclaim a thing that simply is not so.
Warren spent the entire evening gutting everyone onstage except for Sanders, the most obvious obstacle to her own success and the one candidate most likely to win the Democratic Party’s nomination this summer.
Warren eviscerated former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg for his alleged history of sexual misconduct. She accused former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of being beholden to wealthy donors. Warren went after Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s healthcare plan. The Massachusetts senator even attacked Vice President Joe Biden for working with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
First, Warren is auditioning to be the Vermont senator’s running mate for the 2020 general election. And if not vice president, Warren may be angling for a role in the Sanders administration.
Lastly, as Tablet magazine’s Yair Rosenberg threw out Wednesday evening, perhaps Warren is trying to market herself as “the failsafe candidate in case of a contested convention or Bernie having a health issue.”
