Lounging With Libertarians on The Lower East Side During The Detroit Democratic Debate

After being unable to get into a Midtown club last night to watch the first Democratic debate from Detroit, I arrived early at The Cloisters Cafe on the Lower East Side to take in the second part of the Democratic debate from Detroit in the company of Libertarians. More on them later.

Well, a little now. Most really did not watch the debate. Rather they came to socialize with each other. But this made it a challenge to actually listen to the debate so there was a lot that I missed. As such I will make a few general observations rather than focus on each candidate.

1. Why Did Kamala Harris Not Prepare For Tulsi Gabbard's Onslaught?

After Kamala Harris went after Joe Biden hard on school bussing during the first debate, Tulsi Gabbard made a point of criticizing Harris for hatching "a political ploy" to "smear" Biden. Prior to the debate I tweeted, "Gabbard has been taking aim at Harris for going after Biden. Will Gabbard draw first blood? #DemDebate."

Well, you be the judge.

Here's my question. How could Harris not have been prepared for Gabbard's onslaught? She and her staff had to know it was coming. Gabbard had been telegraphing her punch for three weeks. My guess is that Harris simply didn't take her seriously or was polling too low to be taken seriously. Whatever her reasoning she wasn't prepared for what she should have known was coming.

Following the debate, Harris fired back at Gabbard calling her "an apologist" for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. An hour late and a few million dollars short. The damage was done.

Needless to say, if Harris cannot handle Gabbard then how the hell is she going to handle President Trump?

2. Biden Was Bloodied & Every Democrat Who Attacked Him Got Hurt In The Process

Nearly all the Democrats on stage took Harris' lead from the first debate and piled on Biden (Cory Booker on crime, Kirsten Gillibrand on equal pay, Jay Inslee on climate change, Julian Castro on deportations and Bill de Blasio on just about everything else.) Biden did not always come out on the favorable end of those exchanges.

Sportswriter Jeff Pearlman tweeted, "I love @joebiden. Truly, I do. But it’s like watching Willie Mays flop around the outfield as a Met. #DemDebate."

To which I replied, "True. But no one is reaping the benefits. Their attacks on Biden hurts the whole team."

I understand that Biden is the top dog and these puppies need to knock him off the top of the mountain. But they all went about it in such a way that they made themselves look small. No one on that stage who went after Biden elevated their stature. Should Biden get the nomination, I'm sure they will all say wonderful things about him. Unfortunately, it will be hard to believe a word they say and will be yet another reminder of why politicians are held in such utter contempt.

3. What is So Libertarian About President Trump?

What truly surprised me was the level of support there was for President Trump among the Libertarians. Now this could be because it's New York City although there were several Libertarians in attendance from outside the city. But what is so libertarian about Donald Trump? After he is a man obsessed with tariffs and wanting to regulate social media critical of him. Given the possibility that Justin Amash will run for President as a Libertarian one would think they would hold Trump in contempt. Yet all the Libertarians I heard from thought Trump got a raw deal on the Mueller Report. This is most curious given how Amash's departure from the Republican Party was triggered by his call for impeachment of Trump in the first place. If this is representative of Libertarian thinking then that tells me that Trump has captured Libertarians every bit as much as he has captured Republicans and conservatives at large. All of which made for a very long night.