Has Anything Really Changed in the 2020 Race?
For one group of candidates, it’s been a very good week. For others, the end of the road is near.
Still in it.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty
Now that we’re a week out from the second round of Democratic debates, and a handful of polls are in, it’s a good time to reassess where things stand.
On the surface, the main development was a slump for Kamala Harris, who has now dropped back to fourth place in the polls. But I’ll stick with what I said going in: Harris, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren didn’t really have much at stake in this round of debates. None of them had much to gain or lose from a modest shift in the polls. They’ll all be around for months, and will probably compete seriously in Iowa. And if Harris had to have a bad debate, this was probably the time to do it; she can learn from the experience and do better when more voters are paying attention.