What People Are Saying About Pete Buttigieg’s Winning Debate Performance Tonight
“Winner...Winner...Winner...He Succeeded...Mayor Pete wins the night--because nothing slowed his momentum...He's won every exchange on national security…@PeteButtigieg WON it...Mayor Pete wins the night...He’s got game...gotta say @PeteButtigieg is good on the debate stage... just neutralized Gabbard...Demonstrated again that he is one of the best debaters in the field...Did anything happen that stopped his overall momentum? No…Buttigieg has been good in the debates, and now he’s got real momentum
Washington Post: Winners: Pete Buttigieg: Buttigieg has been good in the debates, and now he’s got real momentum in the first contest in Iowa, where a Des Moines Register-CNN poll showed him up nine points there last week. The question has been how he would handled the newfound pressure — and answer questions about whether a young, small-town mayor has the gravitas to win the presidency.”
Vox: Winner: Pete Buttigieg: The South Bend, Indiana, mayor is having a moment ... At Wednesday’s debate, Buttigieg had one goal: keep that momentum going. He succeeded. Throughout the debate, Buttigieg avoided attacks from his high-polling opponents on the debate stage, while using his time to push his message as an outsider and a more moderate candidate who could unite the country.
CNN: Winners: Pete Buttigieg. With the exception of a light jab from Klobuchar, no one really took Buttigieg on -- and he notably appeared to get the best of Gabbard in a head-to-head over the military and the role the US should be playing abroad… his campaign will be thrilled that he walks away from this debate without a scratch on him. Plus, you will hear this line from Buttigieg a whole lot in the analysis of the debate: "I know that from the perspective of Washington, what goes on in my city might look small, but frankly, where we live, the infighting on Capitol Hill is what looks small."
Newsweek: For the first time in this election season's Democratic debates, the candidate who came in as frontrunner finished the evening unscathed. Pete Buttigieg took a couple of hard hits from fellow military veteran Tulsi Gabbard but didn't wobble; his surge in Iowa looks safe… Buttigieg hit all his talking points, kept his cool, and even managed to squeeze in a line that Forbes had ranked him as "literally the least wealthy person on this stage."
Boston Globe: Did anything happen that stopped his overall momentum? No. In recent weeks, Buttigieg rose to be the frontrunner in Iowa and among the top-tier everywhere else, including New Hampshire… Overall, he likely reaffirmed to a lot of his new supporters why they like him.
USA Today: Buttigieg has rocketed to lead some polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, and came into Wednesday night's event with a target on his back. But he left the debate stage mostly unscathed by other candidates; notably, none of the other top-tier candidates went on the offensive against him.
From Twitter:
Mo Elleithee @MoElleithee: .@PeteButtigieg demonstrated again that he is one of the best debaters in the field. He escaped major criticism, and took almost every opportunity to make his answers about people instead of himself.
Rep. Carlos G Smith @CarlosGSmith: No one ever really has perfect debate. That being said, @PeteButtigieg WON it. He's surging in IA and NH. Attacks came predictably, but were swatted down hard. Tonight was the night to breakaway. He did it. #DemDebate
Andrew Feinberg @AndrewFeinberg: Anyone who’s still worried that @PeteButtigieg can’t go toe to toe with Donald Trump obviously didn’t see him stand up for himself just now. He’s got game.
Matt Lewis @mattklewis: Mayor Pete wins the night--because nothing slowed his momentum. Klobuchar was a strong second.
SarahP @SPrineas: Tonight @PeteButtigieg made a great case for why a small-city mayor with executive experience is best positioned to understand and address the challenges facing regular Americans. He was incisive, knowledgeable, and most of all, presidential. #DemDebate #TeamPete
Tiffany Cross @TiffanyDCross: Gotta say @PeteButtigieg is good on the debate stage. #DemDebate
Alex Ward @AlexWardVox: Gabbard’s attack on Buttigieg was BS. In context his statement about security cooperation and when he might send troops to Mexico makes complete sense.
Howard Fineman @howardfineman: “There’s more than a hundred years of Washington experience on this stage, and where we are as a country?” @PeteButtigieg had this ready to answer questions about his mayoralty-only experience.
Noah Rothman @NoahCRothman: One thing you have to love about Buttigieg: He's won every exchange on national security and he's done so by advocating for an extroverted foreign policy.
Philip Klein @philipaklein: Wow, Buttigieg crushed Gabbard on that exchange.
Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1: Pete Buttigieg hits Gabbard for taking his comments out on Mexico of context: "That is outlandish, even by the standards of today's politics ... Do you seriously think anybody on this stage is proposing invading Mexico? ... I'm talking about building alliances."
@MSNBC
Josh Jordan @NumbersMuncher: Buttigieg just neutralized Gabbard in a way that Harris couldn't do at the second debate. Everyone waited until the end of the debate to go at Pete, and he was ready for all of it.
Sabrina Siddiqui @SabrinaSissiqui: Pete Buttigieg takes Tulsi Gabbard to task over her meeting with Bashar al-Assad: "If you want to talk about experience, let’s talk about judgment … I have enough judgment [that] I would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that.” #DemDebate
Austen Bundy @AustenBundyDC: Mayor Pete had an obliterating answer for every Tulsi jab in that last exchange on judgement, specifically in the military and national security. #DemDebate
David Greenfield @NYCGreenfield: “Do you really think that anyone on this stage is going to invade Mexico?” @PeteButtigieg takes @TulsiGabbard to task with a one-two shot and slams her relationship with Syrian’s brutal dictator Assad.
Ana Navarro-Cárdenas @ananavaroo: @PeteButtigieg delivered a good zinger: “On This stage, there’s over 100 years of Washington experience, and where has that gotten us?”
Neera Tanden @neeratanden: Gotta say @PeteButtigieg just killed @TulsiGabbard. Plain and simple.
Jonathan Capehart @CapehartJ: Buttigieg: Good closing. #DemocraticDebate
Michael Skolnik @MichaelSkolnik: For the first time on the national stage in politics, I got to give to Mayor Pete, as he has been consistently strong during every #DemDebate. As a rookie, he has the confidence of a heavyweight champ. I respect that.
Adam Wren @adamwren: .@PeteButtigieg uses his closing statement to reach out to "future former Republicans." "I want you to know that everyone is welcome in this future we must create."
Terri Hale @terihale: @PeteButtigieg invites “progressives, moderates, Republicans...everybody is welcome in this future we must create.” His inclusiveness means he is THE candidate who can attract votes from across party lines and generations to defeat Trump. @PeteForUSA2020
