Democrats Can Only Lose Debates Now

I didn’t even know Marco Rubio was taking his re-election efforts seriously until this past Tuesday, when the senator stood for a debate against Val Demings—the Democratic congresswoman from central Florida who is trying to take his seat. The polling in the race has Rubio with a comfortable, if not insurmountable lead; consistently about four or five percentage points ahead. Rubio is certainly close to being in the clear, but if you were only analyzing the race by the temperment of the debate highlights that poured through my timeline during the rivalry’s big night, you’d believe it was Demings who was cruising to victory.

“Val Demings absolutely humiliated Marco Rubio in tonight’s debate,” wrote the Democrat consultant Adam Parkhomenko, embedding a particularly charged exchange over Rubio’s second amendment record. “Retweet and make sure everyone sees this.”

“Marco Rubio is stumbling, nervous, and jumpy as hell right now,” added a former Jon Ossoff operative. “It’s because he’s never faced a debate opponent like Val Demings.”