Joe Biden faced attacks from all sides in the second Democratic debate in Detroit—but the front-runner seemed more prepared and readier to hit back than he did in June, analysts say. Biden, criticized by some of the other nine candidates onstage on issues including health care, climate change, race, immigration, and his record on women's issues, "cleared a low bar" and "highlighted both his close association with a popular Barack Obama and his brand of moderation that has led many voters to view him as the party’s best coalition-builder in a general election," according to the New York Times. "Everybody’s talking about how terrible I am on all these issues,” Biden said during the debate. Obama "knew exactly who I was. He chose me and he said it was the best decision he made.” How the other nine fared:
- Kamala Harris. The California senator, who made waves with her attack on Biden's record in the June debate, found herself a target on Wednesday night, with other candidates pulling no punches when they criticized her record as a prosecutor. "Challenged repeatedly by some of the lower-polling candidates on the stage, she was at times halting and didn’t seem fully ready for the challenge at hand," writes Aaron Blake at the Washington Post.
- Cory Booker. Booker was one of the night's winners, according to Vox. The New Jersey senator focused on criminal justice reform, telling Biden that the policies he has championed since the 1970s led to mass incarceration. When Biden tried to deflect the attacks by bringing up Booker's own record, the senator delivered one of the night's best lines: "You're dipping into the Kool-Aid and you don’t even know the flavor."