Great tidbits from Marshall's post debate analysis.

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/some-first-thoughts-on-the-democratic-debate

"My first response to this debate is just how wildly different the Democratic debates are from the Republican debates. "..."But most of it turns on relative primacy of factual discussion in the Democratic debates and the lack of the bellicose often verging on apocalyptic rhetoric that has become the baseline of the Republican conversation."

"Put simply, the Republican debates are great in publishing terms. I'll grant that they are high drama. They're toxic in civic terms."

"One of my big questions going into tonight was whether Clinton would really bring her recent kind of hard-charging, aggressive, almost cartoonish attacks on Sanders into the debate hall. Mostly she didn't."

" I think she's somewhat defused by Sanders himself. He simply doesn't have that kind of brass knuckle politics in him. Even when he gets his hackles up a bit, every response from him is inherently defusing."

"I thought Hillary Clinton did very well in this debate. She was quick on her feet, deeply knowledgable. She shows herself as unflappable. Several times I heard her answering questions in ways that were subtle, knowledgable and showed a tendency not to go for the political answer but to highlight complexities in highly politicized questions which are often ignored."

"But Sanders did well too. His words and his very manner communicate a fundamental decency and impatience with bullshit which is deeply appealing. If you believe the country needs deep and even radical reform, particularly on economic policy, he is your guy."

"There's clearly something organic taking shape in Iowa and New Hampshire which is very pro-Sanders. "

"For her, too bad there aren't more debates or ones scheduled when there are people around to watch."

Fascinating stuff.