This is just a stream of thoughts and ideas from the debate.

For the women candidates

There was a moment when Tulsi Gabbard corrected Tim Ryan about 9/11. He looked like an asshole during the exchange, but I would have loved to have seen Tulsi say the following.

A quick message to the men on the stage. The female candidates have just as much, if not more, military, economic, and political experience as you. Show some respect and stop mansplaining and interrupting. No wonder Washington is dysfunctional when a bunch of old white men are just being rude to each other all day. We need a new gender in politics.

– No one

The female candidates need to leverage the moment and sharpen their rhetoric. They shouldn’t just act like the men. Tulsi Gabbard, especially, needs to do this since she is polling poorly and needs to make some waves.

Debate Format

Please, if anyone knows someone at the DNC, please send them this message.

I HATE DEBATES WITH MORE THAN 4 PEOPLE!

Glen

My suggestion would be to have a tournament. Here are the basic rules:

1. Based on polling, seed the candidates
2. Set up a double elimination bracket tournament.
3. Instead of just 1:1 matchups (which would be fine) Have 4 people on the stage at once.
4. They go into the night with polling averages and then they measure the change they get in the next 7 days.
5. If they go UP, they win. If they go DOWN, they lose.
6. If you lose, you go to the losers bracket and can make your way back into the main draw by winning there.
7. If you fall below 1% support, I think you should be eliminated

Of course, I am just sketching out the rules. Get some economists and sports enthusiasts (Nate Silver!) and work out the details. This would be entertaining for people to follow their candidates in the tournament and also it would make each debate more coherent with less interrupting.

One additional idea: Mute the microphones of candidates to avoid interrupting. Basically have ONE microphone on at a time. Cut the speaker off mid-sentence if they run long. Bring some structure to this thing.

DNC Official Donation App

I actually watched the debate at a small fundraising event for a candidate in Louisiana. What I really wanted was an app by the DNC which had live commentary about the debate and the ability to send micropayments to the candidates for good answers.

For example: When Tulsi Gabbard skewered Tim Ryan, I wanted to give her $5.

Additionally, it was really complicated to give money to the candidate in Louisiana. If there was a DNC app, it could be tied into Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, whatever and you could give easily. DNC! – Make it easier to give by creating a centralized app to show each candidate and how to give money to them.

Summary of Debate

No one did anything great. It was a little boring. I think Elizabeth Warren did well, but she needs to stand up straighter. Her posture reminds me that she is pretty old. With that said, I thought she did well. Additionally, Julian Castro seemed to use his minutes wisely. I want several of the men on the stage to quit their campaign. DiBlasio, Tim Ryan, and Beto O’Rourke…you guys are toast. Move aside.

I look forward to tonight’s debate. I hope Mayor Pete does a good job.