Night one of the debates. Snooze fest? Talking heads are calling it

[redstateblues]

“The Undercard”. I may opt for the cliffs notes version. Warren should crush the others.

[question everything]

1. "Talking heads" can stuff it. It will give us a chance to hear ideas instead of concentrating

on personalities that we know will hover over the others.

[VarryOn]

3. Talking heads were so correct in 2016...

So I'm not putting too much stock in them for 2020.

I wish debate 1 had more than one major candidate. But, while I expect Senator Warren to do quite well, I do hope we get a pleasant surprise from someone. Maybe one of the third tiers (Castro, O'Rourke, Inslee, Gabbard, Delaney, etc) will show something.

At the end of the night, I think these three--Warren, Klobuchar, and Inslee--will be the talk.

Truth is though, everyone of the debate 1 crowd except Senator Warren needs to get moving in the polls! She's the only one of the bunch showing over 3.5% in the RCP average sitting at 11.8%. That puts her in third overall behind Senators Biden and Sanders.

[JI7]

4. Beto has a chance to stand out also

[Hortensis]

5. The first debate has some extremely redoubtable candidates.

The chattering class is wallowing in groupthink idiocy, because no matter how stupid they sound middle of the pack is the safe place to be.

These candidates' current pollings in no way define who and what they are. For sure Warren isn't fooled by this nonsense that she'll be the undisputed star of the night, sharing the stage with a bunch of losers cast into the shadows by her brilliance.

Some of the "snoozefest losers"
Senator Cory Booker
Rep. Beto O’Rourke
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Cabinet Secretary Julián Castro
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Governor Jay Inslee

[marylandblue]

10. Yes, the same thing made them underestimate Trump.

He ruled the debates simply by grabbing airtime and saying outrageous things.

Inslee could get a lot of much-needed attention by running around the stage screaming, "We're all going to die!" Maybe he has a more dignified but equally effective way of getting climate change on the front page.

[Indygram]

6. "Beto O'Rourke is the Toughest Candidate I Ever Prepped Against "

I helped prepare Senator Ted Cruz for his 2018 debates, and here's what I learned: Beto O'Rourke is the toughest candidate I ever prepped against and one of the most impressive I've ever seen. The media might not recognize his skills, but voters do — and will in 2020. In fact, being underestimated may be one of his biggest advantages.

For those who believe he's a lightweight, that his social media habits are not presidential material and he doesn't have enough experience or gravitas, I'm here to set you straight. What he managed in Texas in his race against Senator Cruz was not a fluke: Beto got out the vote in ways none of us expected. His four million votes surpassed Hillary Clinton's 3.87 million votes in 2016, which had been the highest total ever achieved in Texas by a Democrat.

In a state that's redder than a red light, a state where a Democrat hasn't won a statewide election since Governor Ann Richards did in 1991, Beto lost by a slim margin: 50.9% to 48.3%. On that basis alone, he's the primary frontrunner.

How will he connect in Michigan? And Wisconsin? And Iowa? He ran the table in Harris County so my guess is, he can succeed in all kinds of environments.

https://www.newsweek.com/2019/04/19/beto-orourke-ted-cruz-presidential-elections-donald-trump-1365360.html

Anyone who underestimates Beto isn't very bright...

[marylandblue]

9. I noticed he wasn't a lightweight a few weeks ago.

He was talking about soil types with Iowa farmers. Not something most of us think about, but he took the time to learn about a technical issue important to his audience.

The media hasn't noticed but he's been putting out detailed policies lately. Warren, of course, has been doing it for months. So I think the two of them could have a interesting conversation.

[dalton99a]

12. +1. And plain lazy

People who keep saying Beto is an airhead obviously have never bothered to listen to him for more than five seconds - for example, his off-the-cuff Kaepernick defense was full of details and substance. The reason thousands of Texans turned out to hear him wasn't his teeth and his hair

[essadaw]

13. Beto and Warren are the most substantive candidates I've heard so far

Warren--rightfully so--is getting credit for this. The national media bizarrely has set an opposite-day narrative for Beto as an airhead. The local media that has been covering Beto on the ground has called out this disconnect. I think the low expectations for Beto will actually play in his favor in the debates to come.

[Sherman A1]

7. The function of the talking heads is

To fill airtime between ads for drugs that we never knew we needed. I wouldn’t bother with them.

[Hortensis]

8. Oh, those groupthink messages serve agendas.

I remember when a Morning Joe regular, who also routinely appeared on several other of MSNBC's daytime lineup, got fed up with an obvious lie about Hillary that was being pushed by a lot of MSM "talking heads" and called it for what it was, in a reasonable, "oh, come on" manner. That was the last day he was on TV -- period -- that I know of. Disappeared from all shows after that day.

There were actually unofficial rules for how to talk about Hillary for those who wanted to be invited back or published, and they all involved various forms of smearing. It's sometimes hard to differentiate between "mean people" partisan and otherwise agendas and corporate ones, but I wasn't able to even try because they lined up in this case.

Same things are happening now. Don't believe they aren't for a moment. MSNBC, CNN, Fox, NYT and AP all pursue documented pro-Republican agendas, proven by many studies of their coverage. And, of course, many others have been infiltrated and/or are run by people who share it.

At the moment, you've probably noticed, Elizabeth Warren is a new media darling. No doubt many of the people claiming to like and admire her really do, because she is likeable and admirable. And media do need to sell newspapers, money's a big factor in how themes are developed. But I'm assuming a significant part of the current Warren phenomenon is Biden. For the elect-Republicans agenda, Warren is to Biden as Sanders was to Hillary. (Seemingly Sanders is less effective for their purposes, though still available, this time around.)

[cwydro]

11. So you believe everything the "talking heads" say?

I intend to make my own decisions.

If you wait for the “Cliff notes” version, you’ll once again be taking everything the talking heads say is important to be true. Smh.

[Trenzalore]

14. If the format was a town hall she'd run away with it

The format of a question and short response canned political answer she can do well in but isn't the best for her style.

[SMC22307]

15. Who cares what "talking heads" think?

Watch the debates, don't watch the debates... but let the decision be yours, not some highly paid blowhard on cable "news."

[bullwinkle428]

16. I'm sorry, but everyone trying to push a "kids' table" narrative for this first debate

is going to come off looking like a clown after it's done.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. There are some very solid debaters and thinkers in that group.

I would expect Booker, O'Rourke, Castro, Klobuchar and Inslee to do very well; those people aren't lightweights. Warren has a chance to stand out but so do these others. It won't be a snooze-fest.

[cwydro]

18. This.

Agree absolutely.

Anyone who takes what the talking heads say as gospel is already misled.

[redstateblues]

20. The talking heads have Warren winning hands down

[peggysue2]

19. Yeah, I expect Elizabeth Warren to capture the room

But it also gives O'Rourke and Booker a chance to have a breakout moment.

We shall see!