The first set of Democratic presidential debates have concluded and were marked by surprises and unexpected performances. Heading into the two-night event, former Vice President Joe Biden was the clear frontrunner in the race, with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren coming in second and third. But the standout performances came from neither Biden nor Sanders.

 

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro and Senator Kamala Harris won their respective debate nights by managing to stand out in an overcrowded field of candidates vying for Donald Trump’s job. 

On the first night, Castro established an inclusive and progressive policy platform. From responses about equal pay for women to reproductive justice, he was well-prepared and commanded the stage. He was the only candidate to give a trans-inclusive answer to a question about abortion and reproductive health care. But it was his heated back and forth with fellow Texan, former Congressman Beto O’Rourke, that proved that Castro is a formidable candidate in this race.

When O’Rourke called for less restrictive immigration laws in order to assist families coming across the border, Castro pressed him repeatedly, citing that his position would still criminalize undocumented immigrants. He also called out O’Rourke for failing to call for an end to Section 1325, a provision in the law which the Trump administration has used to justify jailing parents seeking asylum at the border and separating them from their children. “Some of us have called to end that section, to terminate it,” said Castro. “…[and] some, like Congressman O'Rourke, have not. And I want to challenge all of the candidates to do that.” 

It was a gamble for Castro to go after O’Rourke, who entered the race with greater name recognition and popularity. But it paid off. According to FiveThirtyEight, Castro’s performance gave him a boost among likely Democratic voters. Before the debate, 23.9% of likely Democratic voters had a favorable opinion of him. After the debate, that number went up to 47.4%. He ended his closing statement by telling Americans that on January 20, 2021 (Inauguration Day), they would get to say “Adios, Trump,” a phrase that later trended on Twitter.

Honorable mentions of the evening went to Warren and Sen. Cory Booker. Both had consistently strong performances. According to CNBC, Booker spoke more than any candidate on stage during the first debate. And his side-eye directed at O’Rourke's Spanish response went viral. The award for the most cringe-worthy moment went to New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, who brought up the fact that he has a Black son when responding to a question about racial bias and policing. 

On night two, Harris was confident and in full prosecutor mode. Many Black voters are concerned about her record as San Francisco’s district attorney and the attorney general of California. But Harris put her legal skills to work, going after Biden on his recent statements about working with segregationists and his record on school bussing. One of the more powerful moments of that exchange was when Harris shared her own experience with bussing as a little girl in California. 

Biden never really recovered. He tried to defend himself, citing his record on civil rights and voting rights. Harris then asked Biden to acknowledge that he was wrong to oppose bussing in America. He said that he never actually opposed it but, instead, was against the federal government stepping in to integrate public schools, calling it a local issue. Harris pressed further, saying that legislation at the federal level is necessary because "states have often failed to preserve the civil rights of all people". After touting his support of the Equal Rights Amendment and Voting Rights Act, Biden eventually cut himself off, saying, “Anyway, my time is up. I’m sorry.” 

With this exchange, Harris demonstrated that, in addition to her policy positions, she can address issues of race and not back down. She was the second candidate to speak the most, after Biden. And she was the trending topic on Google during the debate. 

While the most popular candidates (Biden, Sanders, O’Rourke and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg) failed to perform as well as expected, the poorest performance of the evenings actually went to the moderators. For some inexplicable reason, NBC News decided to have five moderators for each debate. Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and José Díaz-Balart asked questions during the first half, while Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd took over during the second. Both sets of moderators had a hard time managing the cross-talk and keeping candidates on track. On the first night, Chuck Todd spoke more than nearly all of the candidates on stage. Many viewers found this distracting and noted that he seemed to stumble over his own questions. 

Though most of the candidates struggled to break through the noise at the debates, they will have another chance to make their cases to the American public. The next Democratic debates take place on July 30 and 31 in Detroit, Michigan.

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