Thread by @SethAbramson

Here's my take on which Democrat performed best in *the first half* of tonight's debate (I'm watching the second half now):

1⃣ Buttigieg
2⃣ Warren
3⃣ Sanders
4⃣ Klobuchar
5⃣ Yang
6⃣ Biden
7⃣ Steyer

All seven Democrats have performed 500% better than Trump ever has in a debate.

Here's my take on which Democrat performed best in *the second half* of tonight's debate:

1⃣ Warren
2⃣ Klobuchar
3⃣ Biden
4⃣ Sanders
5⃣ Buttigieg
6⃣ Yang
7⃣ Steyer

All seven Democrats performed 500% better than Donald Trump ever has in a debate.

Here's my take on which Democrat performed best *overall* in tonight's debate:

1⃣ Warren
2⃣ Klobuchar
3⃣ Sanders
4⃣ Buttigieg
5⃣ Biden
6⃣ Yang
7⃣ Steyer

I thought everyone but the top two had at least one really bad moment—and everyone but Steyer had at least one strong moment.

PS/ Buttigieg didn't do well on the criminal justice system questions—but having worked in the system for years, I'll say a) supporting decriminalization but keeping drugs illegal *isn't* a self-contradiction, b) an anti-gang initiative *can* have a domino arrest on drug arrests.

PS2/ Mayors don't have the power over drug arrest rates (which do fluctuate) that many on social media are presuming. That said, the rates in South Bend were an ongoing problem. That said, pointing to an anti-gang initiative is *not* an evasive answer—rather, a *very* direct one.

PS3/ Anti-gang initiatives are only sometimes warranted (and the details matter). They *always* hit discrete neighborhoods hard—so in a segregated city, disproportionate impact is foreseeable. Pretextual drug arrests are often used in such initiatives. All of this is problematic.

PS4/ One thing I can't do is use the lens of a narrative about Buttigieg whose accuracy I'm not convinced of—that his low nonwhite support has nothing to do with name recognition but is, rather, a response to conspicuous racial animus—to presume animus in an anti-gang initiative.

PS5/ Anyway, that's the perspective of someone who worked in the criminal justice system as an expert for many years. I know this is an emotional issue for many people—with good reason—and expert opinion alone rarely carries the day in such situations. But those are my two cents.