9 things we learned from the second Democratic presidential primary debate

Here are 9 things we learned from Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary debate.

Reversion to the mean – Remember that first set of debates in Miami?  Nope? That's OK, according to polls, neither do primary voters. Since the Miami debates, the overall numbers have returned to where they were. Joe Biden went into Miami with polls having him in the mid-30s. Going into Detroit, he's still in the 30s. Biden is followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Sen. Kamala Harris, as he was going into Miami. Will Tuesday and Wednesday change that? We'll have to wait and see the polls.

Gone in 60 seconds – CNN promised to keep a tight leash on candidates.  Each speaker had 60 seconds, and penalties for those that go over. While the moderators did their best to stick to that limit, the format seemed to stifle answers from politicians used to spending 30-45 seconds doing throat clearing before getting to an answer.

Push for progressive – Sanders and Warren have both been making the push for the progressive lane, and Tuesday was no different.  At times, the other eight candidates took aim at Sanders and Warren, saying their proposals were too extreme and would only drive voters to the GOP.  John Delaney even went as far as saying they were at risk of nominating the next McGovern (lost 520-17 to Nixon) or Mondale (lost 525-13 to Reagan). Both Warren and Sanders seemed to be in the same lane. They pulled their punches on each other on Tuesday, but sooner or later, one will have to pass the other.

Impeachment? – A week removed from the Robert Mueller testimony impeachment there was no talk of impeachment.  House leadership has not embraced the idea, and considering the 10 candidates on the stage are looking to oust President Donald Trump in 2020 at the ballot box, the issue might be a non-issue for this slate of candidates.

Hello, Mr. Bullock – Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, missed the first set of debates, but qualified for this, his first and perhaps last debate.

Speaking of Mr. Bullock – Tuesday might have been make-it or break-it for Bullock, former Rep. John Delaney, former Governor John Hickenlooper, and Rep. Tim Ryan. The next debate will be hosted by ABC News in Houston, and the qualifications will be tighter.  If these five don't leave Michigan with some momentum, their campaigns could be on the outside looking in by September.

O'Rourke where art thou? – Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke struggled to get time on Tuesday.  After what many called a shaky debate in Miami, O'Rourke came into Tuesday looking to stabilize his polls and perhaps capture some of that attention he built in 2018 when he was running against Sen.Ted Cruz.  O'Rourke tried to sell himself as the candidate that can win Texas, a dream for Dems. However, it's a state he lost in 2018.

"Dark psychic force" – Author Marianne Williamson had a few breakout moments.  One came midway through when she said, "If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then the Democrats are going to see some very dark days." Did this help? Google Trends showed search interest in Williamson spiked during the debate, with the candidate staying ahead of the rest of the field for the night.  Will it help her make the stage in Houston in September?  Wait and see.

 2020 a refrendum on Trump – At points, Democrats raised a unifying idea for the party, that it needs to make 2020 a refrendum on President Trump's first term. This is not a new idea, but did give moments of unity in what was otherwise a raucous debate.

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