How Joe Biden won the second night of the Detroit debate

The polls don't lie

Joe Biden.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Alenast/iStock, BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Sometimes the simplest take is the truest one.

And the simple truth is that Joe Biden won the second night of the Democratic debate in Detroit for one simple reason: He came into the event with a massive lead in the polls and he did nothing on Wednesday night to change that. If Biden can repeat this performance throughout the debates between now and the start of the primaries, he will be in a very strong position to win his party's nomination.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.