The man who wasn't there: How debate affects Joe Biden by David Axelrod

[moobu2]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/14/opinions/axelrod-democratic-debate/index.html

She did what she needed to do.

Poised, passionate and in command, Hillary Clinton emerged from Tuesday's debate as a stronger front-runner for the Democratic nomination than she was going in.

Bernie Sanders also had something to celebrate.

After a rocky start, punctuated by an awkward exchange over his mixed record on gun safety issues, the senator from Vermont came on strong and rallied his base with rousing jeremiads about inequality and the corrupting power of money in politics. He also brought the house down with a showstopping declaration -- aimed at the media as much as Clinton -- that the "American people are sick and tired of talking about your damned emails."

Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, who had hoped to be the progressive alternative to Clinton before being "Berned" by Sanders, had hoped for a breakthrough night. But a decent performance may not have been good enough to lift him from the Valley of the Statistically Insignificant.

First Democratic debate: How did they do?

First Democratic debate: How did they do? 03:07
For two others, former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, it was a lost night. They entered largely as unknowns and left leaving many wondering why they were there.

And then there was the man who wasn't there. Vice President Joe Biden, for whom CNN reserved a podium that went unfilled, continues to weigh a candidacy, pondering the impact such a race would have on his family, still reeling from the loss of his son, Beau.

But as a matter of pure politics, Clinton's good night reduced the rationale for Biden's candidacy. After Tuesday, the calls on him to save the party from a weak front-runner will be more muted. He is running third in the polls, and nothing that happened in Tuesday's debate likely closed that gap.

[longship]

1. I more or less agree, esp. about Biden.

But I didn't think he would enter the race anyway.