Winners and losers from the New Hampshire Democratic debate

LOSER

Joe Biden: Rarely do you see a candidate begin a debate by waving the white flag, but that’s kind of what Biden did on Friday. At the start of the debate, Biden acknowledged he took “a hit in Iowa, and I’ll probably take a hit here. Traditionally, Bernie won by 20 points last time.” Okay, maybe that’s some expectation-setting, but usually you see that on the trail rather than in a high-profile debate in front of a bunch of would-be voters.

As the debate wore on, Biden didn’t really do much to suggest his prediction was wrong. He rebutted an answer about the politics of the past by saying, “The politics of the past, I think, are not all that bad.” He proceeded to try to rescue the point by noting significant legislation he had participated in. Then Buttigieg shot back just as quickly, “Those achievements were phenomenally important because they met the moment, but now we have to meet this moment and this moment is different.” At another particularly puzzling moment, Biden predicted Congress would codify Roe v. Wade if the Supreme Court overturned it, which … seems pretty optimistic given the politics of abortion.

Biden tries really hard to emphasize that the past shows what can be done in the future, but you wonder how many people are buying it. Mostly, though, there was nothing Friday night to suggest Biden would arrest his backward momentum — in New Hampshire or anywhere else.

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