Joe Biden wasn’t slated to appear on the Democratic debate stage on Wednesday night; still, he was expected to loom large. Many commentators, guided by the polls, have called him the presidential candidate to beat. The 10 candidates who did appear Wednesday didn’t mention Biden once. But that didn’t stop pundits mentioning him afterward, despite the abundance of substantive issues that the debate offered up. Biden’s absence from the discussion was surprising, we were told. Some went so far as to call it a boon for him. “I think the winner tonight was probably Joe Biden, because to quote Sherlock Holmes, ‘The dog wasn’t barking tonight,’” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said late Wednesday. “No one took on the Democratic frontrunner the whole two hours and I think that’s a big surprise.” Fast forward 24 hours—to the aftermath of Thursday’s second night of debates, in which Biden did participate—and Matthews, for one, had radically changed his tune. “I don’t know how Biden’s gonna survive this,” Matthews said, referring to a “mortal blow” to Biden’s candidacy. ICYMI: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence What had happened? During an exchange about race relations, Kamala Harris, one of nine candidates to join Biden on stage, pivoted to the former vice president and addressed his recent remarks hailing his “civil” past working relationships with segregationist senators. “I do not believe you are a racist,” Harris told Biden. However, she continued, “it was hurtful to hear you... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2019-06-28 11:54:32 UTC ]