By Lexington | WASHINGTON
THE THIRD Democratic primary debate held in Houston on September 12th had been billed as a battle of the big beasts. More stringent entry criteria meant this was the first time Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders appeared on stage together. Yet over the course of a three-hour—at times seemingly interminable—performance, the three front-runners only occasionally locked horns and none said anything that will obviously change his or her standing in the race by much.
Mr Biden, who has led by a healthy margin throughout, gave one of his better showings—though, given how poorly he had performed previously, that sets a low bar. He gave a solid-enough answer on health-care policy, contrasting his commitment to shoring up Obamacare with his left-wing rivals’ more radical promise of Medicare-for-all. In a concluding riff, he spoke movingly of the tragedies he has suffered—the loss of a wife and child in a car accident; the loss of a son to brain cancer—and asked his audience to reflect on the everyday sadnesses that preoccupy ordinary Americans. It illustrated why so many Democrats are fond of the 76-year-old former vice-president. But in between he often rambled and misspoke, sometimes incoherently. Not for the first time, this suggested he may not be the low-risk challenger to President Donald Trump that most Democrats seem to be looking for.
