The first night of the Democratic debates is now behind us, and incredibly, almost every Democrat performed well. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was widely considered to be one of the big winners, with Jezebel trumpeting it was her night. The New Republic named former Housing Secretary Julián Castro the "big winner." Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee got badly-needed recognition, and social media ate up Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
In fact, the only candidate who seemed to be getting crickets after the debate was former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke:
"Beto is in over his head," The Cut ruled. Even famed pollster Frank Luntz agreed:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That isn't good news for the former Democratic darling, who desperately needed a breakout. O'Rourke is currently polling around 3 percent in RealClearPolitics' aggregate, putting him in sixth place in the more than twenty-person pool.
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Crossword: November 19, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
God is now just one text away because of AIUnder the radar People can talk to a higher power through AI chatbots
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
