Live (Drunk) Blogging the Debates

10:48 pm:
Debate over, not listening to the talking heads.

I am not drunk enough.


10:44 pm:
Cory Booker says that, “The election is not a referendum on Donald Trump, it is a referendum on us.”

Very eloquent, and also a good strategy.

Julian Castro just used the southernism, “Y’all.” It did not sound authentic.


10:39 pm:
Checking Twitter, and I think that the heckle was, “3 million departed.”

They should have done this when immigration had been the subject. Also, they should ENUNCIATE.

Cory Booker just said “Dagnabit”.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Take a drink.


10:33 pm:
Questions about resilience, and what your worst personal failure was.

Biden just got heckled. I cannot make out what is being said.

He’s asked about professional setbacks, and he mentioned his wife and daughter’s deaths in an auto accident, and his son’s death of cancer.

Warren talks about getting fired as a teacher because she is pregnant. Humble beginnings, drink by the Taibbi rules.

Sanders talks about his electoral failures before he becomes mayor of Burlington.


10:26 pm:
Ad break.
Alzheimers society advertising a lot too, as is some sort of student loan scam called Sofi, which sounds like a dotcom.


10:21 pm:
Julian Castro notes the documented fact that charter schools do not perform better than conventional public schools, and notes that they need more transparency and accountability.

Cory Booker comes out with a pro charter patter, and then goes back to environmental racism, which he has at least twice before.


10:18 pm:
Lindsay Davis calls out Biden’s racist statements in the 1970s.

Biden sputters word salad.

This format, and 10 people on stage, is exhausting.


10:10 pm:
Yang is a big backer of charter schools. F%$# that.

Buttigeig: Step 1 is to appoint a secretary of education who actually supports public education.

Lindsay Davis asks Warren if she is “in bed” with teachers unions. Lindsay Davis can go Cheney herself.

Warren mentions that she was a public school teacher. Good for her. (optional drink taken)

Sanders finally gets called on. Talks up his debt forgiveness.


10:06 pm:
Anthropogenic climate change: Moderate Jorge Ramos seems to be hostile to the idea of global warming.

Sanders is being studiously ignored on this question.

Andrew Yange is talking up “Democracy Dollars”. There is someone who did too much LDS in the 1960s. When does he start swimming with humpback whales?


9:53 pm:
Sanders to Biden: I never believed what Cheney and Bush said. Righteous!!! Drink, because it was epic.


9:48 pm:
Afghanistan. How the F%$# did we get out?

Biden now disavows the AUMF that allowed Bush to invade Iraq.

He claims that he’s a critic of the Iraq war. Bullsh%$.


9:42 pm:
Sanders makes a cogent statement about how “Free Trade” is really about labor arbitrage.

Biden cries, “Think of the intellectual property.” Not incoherent, but morally bankrupt.

Cory Booker: “I’m the only person on stage who finds Trudeau’s hair very menacing but they’re not a national security threat.” I laughed, and I am definitely got a buzz on.

Win from Taibbi:

I second this. DRINK if you think Kamala had a warmup edible tonight. https://t.co/C8jCAAnFVh

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) September 13, 2019

Harris sounds seriously off.


9:36 pm:
Trade policy questions, and the responses from everyone is fuzzy.

No one wants to come out against tariffs, so they are criticizing Trump’s incoherence.

Harris is really sounding awful.


9:26 pm:
Ad break. Notable ads:
The New York Times is advertising the sh%$ out of the debates.
I am depressingly sober. It’s what happens when I drink something with the alcohol content of a strong wine.


9:16 pm:
Beto speaks Spanish, Taibbi rules, drink.


9:11 pm:
Biden is challenged about Obama being deporter-in-chief. Good.


9:05 pm:
If Booker mentions that he moved to Newark one more time, I think that I am going to scream.

Warren says that Republican opposition to gun control is corruption. Warren, corruption, drink.


8:57 pm:
Kamala Harris was poorly prepped for this debate. She is sounding like an airhead, and she is not an airhead.

I think that someone convinced her that she needed to be more “Feminine” and it was a bad move.

Beto, “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15.” Swear word, drink.

O’Rourke sounds remarkably animated and sincere, because, IIRC, he is animated and sincere about the ammosexual threat.

Klobuchar called out McConnell. Drink.


8:49 pm:
Best question so far, a challenge to Kamala Harris about how she opposed law enforcement accountability, marijuana legalization, etc., as a prosecutor.

A close second is a question to Klobuchar over her awful record as a prosecutor.


8:45 pm:
Quote of the night so far, Beto O’Rourke: “We have a white supremacist in the White House, and he constitutes a mortal threat.”

I am impressed that O’Rourke is not doing his pre-El Paso shooting unity bullsh%$.


8:42 pm:
Andrew Yang, “I’m Asian, so I know a lot of doctors.” Sounds like Joe Biden stupid sh%$. (Drink)


8:38 pm:
So much sucking up to Barack Obama when discussing healthcare.

Julian Castro just said to Biden, “Did you just forget what you said 2 minutes ago?” Burn! (Drink)


8:33 pm:
Kamala Harris sure picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. Complete word salad and invoking John f$#@ing McCain? (Drink)


8:30 pm:
Butgigeig says, “Damn,” quoting Sanders, and sounds completely uncomfortable doing so. Awkward, take a shot.


8:26 pm:
Elizabeth Warren says that she’s never met anyone who loves their insurance company. Too true. (No drink)

Sanders notes that Americans pay twice as much as everyone else in the world, Biden interrupted, “This is America.” Stupid sh%$ from Biden. Take a shot.


8:22 pm:
Stephanopoulos whines to Warren and Sanders about taxes, and refuses to consider the savings of single payer.

Sanders says damn. Take a shot.


8:18 pm:
Stephanopolous serves up a big slow one over the center of the plate for Biden, basically asking if Warren and Sanders are icky socialists.  Take a shot.


8:12 pm:
Sanders sounds a bit hoarse in his opening statement.


8:06 pm:
Castro’s opening statement had both Spanish and a sports reference.  2 Shots.

Yang just announced that his campaign will give 10 people $1000.00/month for a year.  Literally a lottery offer onin his opening statement.  Definitely a shot.


We are finally down enough candidates that they will all be on one stage, so I guess that I have to live blog this, so I will be drinking, because, forget it Jake, it’s ABC.

It’s only the primaries, so I’m doing Buttershots, Butterscotch liquor that is only 15% ABV.

I will be playing a drinking game based loosely on Matt Taibbi’s 3rd debate drinking game.

I will be posting at the top, with each update having a time in H:HMM pm format.

(On edit)
Watching on ABC and have some comments about ads.

Leave a Reply