Michael Barone: A Democratic puzzle, far from solved

Published August 7, 2019 9:54pm ET



“No candidate received a polling bump as a result of the Detroit debates,” writes Morning Consult analyst Anthony Patterson this week. That’s a big disappointment for the dozen or more candidates struggling to make the Democrats’ 2% cutoffs for further debate appearances, as well as for the pundits weary after six hours or so of debates and post-debate interviews.

Actually, it appears that Kamala Harris sunk a bit from the numbers she got after after her busing hit on Joe Biden in the Miami debate. And Elizabeth Warren’s post-Detroit numbers are up a bit. In the most recent national polls, Biden is still in first place, Bernie Sanders and Warren are competitive for second, Harris follows in high single digits, and Pete Buttigieg trails behind.

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