Ranked Vote: Who Won the First Democratic 2020 Primary Debates

Winner: Kamala Harris
(click for detailed results)

Ranked Vote: Discussion Thread

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahem!... By popular demand, here is a Ranked Vote for deciding who among the 2020 Democratic candidates performed the best during the recent presidential primary debates hosted by NBC News...


...or,... for those who didn't much care for any of them, which of them performed the least worst

For anyone unfamiliar with how Ranked Voting works, here are a few threads providing some basic info:
Ranked Vote: Discussion Thread
What To Do To Reduce Partisan Dysfunction In Politics
Solutions Oriented Approach to Restoring Meaningful Civil Discourse​

For everyone else, here are the candidates...
(there are a lot, so wouldn't blame you if you forgot a few),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries#Declared_candidates

Who Won the First Democratic 2020 Primary Debates?:
A. Michael Bennet
B. Joe Biden
C. Cory Booker
D. Steve Bullock
E. Pete Buttigieg
F. Julian Castro
G. Bill de Blasio
H. Tulsi Gabbard
I. Kirsten Gillibrand
J. Kamala Harris
K. John Hickenlooper
L. Jay Inslee
M. Amy Klobuchar
N. Beto O'Rourke
O. Tim Ryan
P. Bernie Sanders
Q. Eric Swalwell
R. Elizabeth Warren
S. Marianne Williamson
T. Andrew Yang

Right or left, center, independent, or otherwise... this poll is open to everyone to vote in. Though preferably one should only vote after they've watched the debates
<Night One> <Night Two>

Voting will run through Friday (7/12).
To participate in this vote, simply cast your ballot by making a post with a list of the above candidate letters sorted in your order of preference, (with those whom you feel did well at the top of the list and those whom you think did poorly further down. note: you do not have to include them all)

Spoiler: Example Ballot from a past vote:

B, C, D, F, H, M

B. Automation-Induced Job-Loss
C. Unemployment and Underemployment in General
D. Partisan Dysfunction in Congress
F. Too Many Restrictions on Abortion
H. Too Much Gun Violence
M. Global Warming

No write-ins allowed for this particular vote... so for anyone who might have wanted to put in Seth Moulton, Joe Sestak, or Donald Trump or something,... sorry, I feel your pain but that's just the way it is. This is a vote on debate performance, so only those candidates who made it to the debate stage allowed. Thanks!

Spoiler: Ranked Vote Notification List

This list is for sending out notifications for whenever new Ranked Votes are set up.
If you want to be added to the list (or taken off of it) please visit the following thread:
http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php?threads/ranked-vote-contact-list.534668/

@Derideo_Te @Pollycy @fifthofnovember @redeemer216 @BahamaBob @modernpaladin @yiostheoy @Spooky @Jonsa @Crawdadr @Longshot @Distraff @Moi621 @Seth Bullock @Thought Criminal @jmblt2000 @61falcon @mamooth @Chronocide Fiend @Merwen @Bob0627 @fmw @clg311 @Mac-7 @APACHERAT @kazenatsu @Socialism Works @Moonglow @FreshAir @rtts48 @perdidochas @Bridget @Bowerbird @scarlet witch @Andrew Jackson @Sallyally @Kode @crank @Bluesguy @AlifQadr @tealwings @Capt Nice @Moriah @Ndividual @wyly @Woogs @DennisTate @Ritter @Junkieturtle @cerberus @Homer J Thompson @JohnnyMo @Smartmouthwoman @ARDY @reallybigjohnson @Falena @PatrickT @StillBlue @JakeStarkey @Nerd of Liberty @drluggit @PARTIZAN1 @Aleksander Ulyanov @Canell @The Rhetoric of Life @Lucifer @vman12 @btthegreat @Mr_Truth @JakeJ@DoctorWho@Loving91390 @Honky Kong

-Meta

 

I'm not really sure how best to measure it in candidates who are relatively unknown and don't have a robust political record, but I'd definitely agree that trustworthiness is a good criteria to use when evaluating candidates. Perhaps after-all, we would not have so many lying politicians, if the voters actually cared more about candidates' general propensity for telling the truth.

Anyways, thanks for your vote!

 

Thanks! But I wouldn't have posted it if you hadn't suggested it.
It is pretty interesting to see the varied opinions so far.

 

So who do you guys think did the least bad?...

 

I can definitely agree with that!
Some candidates needed to speak up more,
and at least one or two really should have been a bit more courteous to others.
I thought the way the moderators handled things was interesting though, but needed a bit more consistency to it.
Also, at least one candidate seemed to not get that many questions from the moderators which I thought was odd.
But that could have just been my imagination I suppose.
It'd be cool if there was like a real-time tracker as to how much speaking time each candidate had gotten.
Perhaps break it down into catagories... e.g. time spent answering questions, time spend responding or following up, etc.

That's actually not a half bad idea.
Only real drawback is that it couldn't be broadcast live then.
Also, I think the whole "food fight" aspect would be missed by many (though not me).
That said, speaking of food fights, if the thing were to be pre-tapped, then Harris's biggest moment on stage probably wouldn't have existed...

-Meta

 

Here are my rankings btw... (deciding these was NOT easy...)

J. Kamala Harris - Shots on Biden were low blows imo, but major points for the follow up afterwards. The "food fight" remark was prolly the biggest moment out of either debate
B. Joe Biden - When called out by Kamala he shot right back with a fitting counter; he seemed prepared... Kamala was just a little bit more so
R. Elizabeth Warren - Had a plan for everything, apparently. Didn't make any major mistakes that no one else didn't also make, but no really stand out moments either
M. Amy Klobuchar - Seemed relaxed but confident and created a very down-to-earth vibe making her seem perhaps the most genuine and trustworthy out of the bunch. That goes a long way
E. Pete Buttigieg - Held his own against several of the bigger names in several center stage moments
H. Tulsi Gabbard - Nice (tough but fair) body blows to some of the other candidates. Exuded professionalism; a product of her military experience?
C. Cory Booker - Gave some very personal perspectives. The Spanish thing that several candidates did is tiring to me though, but I can see how it'd appeal to others
A. Michael Bennet - Not bad for a first-timer. I hear this guy tends to be mild-mannered, but I've seen him be passionate before. Could have used more at the debate
P. Bernie Sanders - The usual Bernie fare
N. Beto O'Rourke - Well spoken, no major mistakes, at least none that everyone else didn't also make
L. Jay Inslee - Kept interrupting everyone and hogging time. Rude, but rather be him and get your message out than Yang and not...
K. John Hickenlooper - Made some really good points
I. Kirsten Gillibrand - Well spoken, no major mistakes, at least none that everyone else didn't also make
D. Steve Bullock - Well spoken, no major mistakes, at least none that everyone else didn't also make
F. Julian Castro - Some good points, but came off as a bit too mean imo
T. Andrew Yang - I think this guy got shafted by the moderators, it seemed like he barely got any speaking time. But I guess that's partly on him for not asserting himself a bit more
S. Marianne Williamson - Some parts of what she said seemed spot on... other part sounded kind of wacky... but I'll give her that all of it was said with much passion!
G. Bill de Blasio - Why was he even in the debate? Why is he in the contest? Good guy or not, he automatically loses points in my eyes by breaking promises just to be there
O. Tim Ryan - Stepped on some landmines... not terrible, but not good either
Q. Eric Swalwell - A bit too much ageism. Also... first to drop out of the race afterwards, that ought to tell you something... 'Nuff said

-Meta

 

I guess that counts as a valid vote... :/
Hopefully though you take actual elections a bit more seriously...

 

That would be pretty entertaining...
but on the other hand, in contrast to a lot of folks,
I don't really think entertainment level should be thought of as a prime criteria for picking leaders...

...but maybe that's just me...