The third Democratic debate took place on Thursday September 12, 2019 in Houston. According to an article by Max Greenwood and Julia Manchester in The Hill, the debate  “featured former Vice President Joe Biden playing defense yet again, as a handful of his rivals in the Democratic presidential nominating contest took turns bludgeoning him with critiques of his record — and, in one case, his memory.”

Greenwood and Manchester argue that Biden however “appeared more incisive in his responses this time around, even landing a few counter-punches as he sought to hold on to his status as the primary contest’s front-runners.” For Greenwood and Manchester, “that was only part of a showdown that lasted nearly three hours and featured a winnowed field of candidates”. However, the aim of the article by Greenwood and Manchester was to highlight what they argue are five takeaways from the presidential debate.

They argued that Biden was able to sail through the barrage of attacks directed at him. Second, they judged that Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) silence during much of the debate made her look more like the front-runner. Third they highlight the debate’s focus on the Obama legacy. Fourth, the authors suggest that Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) had a good night notably seen the praises he received for his comments on gun control. Finally, the authors stated that like the first two debates, this debate changed nothing in the shape of the Democratic presidential field with leading contenders staying in their positions.

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