E.J. Dionne: Democrats finally figured out who their real opponent was

Washington • After spending the first half hour of Thursday's debate tearing each other apart about health care – which is their party's biggest problem – Democratic presidential candidates have realized that their opponent was Donald Trump. and acted accordingly.

As a result, despite clashes and disagreements during a three-hour marathon, they performed much less discordant than they did (and 10 more candidates) in the first two debates.

After much criticism of Barack Obama's policies over the summer, they praised the many virtues of the last democratic president. Former Texas representative Beto O'Rourke has benefited from a remarkable demonstration of a friendly cheerleader, one rival after another praising his response to last month's mass shooting in El Paso, the hometown of 'O'Rourke. And they emphasized how generally they agreed on issues such as gun control, climate change, immigration – and even, despite their fierce debate on Medicare-for -all, on the need to guarantee health insurance to all Americans.

Thursday's debate seems to have a paradoxical political effect. On the one hand, there is nothing obvious to disrupt the current benefits of the three leaders of the contest, Joe Biden, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. On the other hand, several candidates who were further away at the polls have shown their presence so as to keep them in the minds of voters as plausible alternatives in the event of leadership failure.

Biden had his best performance in the debates so far. He showed moments of sparkle and fluidity, and generally avoided the gaffes and uncomfortable breaks that hurt him in the June debate. But he got a little lost in an answer about Afghanistan and proposed a rather dated reference to a "disk drive".

Warren has always been energetic and energetic, returning again and again to his themes of fighting corruption, inequality and corporate power, even when discussing firearms control. Sanders was an uncompromising and combative character who no doubt reinforced the loyalty of his base.

But the evening could be decisive for the Californian Senator Kamala Harris, who made the screen in a recent poll. Viewers saw what could be called "Harris Unplugged". She was much more flexible, raised her arguments with humor and kept much of her attention on Trump. His opening statement was addressed to the President and ended with the following words: "And now, President Trump, you can go back to watching Fox News." The New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker, showed all his passion, assuming the role of preacher in describing "an empathy crisis in our country".

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was shamelessly presented as the moderator of the race. "If you feel stuck in the midst of our political extremes and are tired of noise and nonsense," she says, "you have a home with me, because I do not want to be the president half from America.I want to be the president for all of America. "South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg continued to post eloquent moments, including telling the story. of his gay exit.

Biden was introduced to a variety of jibes, as could be expected for the leader, but only the former secretary of the HUD, Julián Castro, launched attacks with enthusiasm and even with a point of malice. When Biden denied that his health care system forced the poor to subscribe, Mr. Castro claimed that Biden was contradicting himself and seemed to be referring to the age of the former vice president by asking, "Have you forget what you said two minutes ago? " The crowd booed.

Relative courtesy did not mean that democratic divisions were ignored. There were clear ideological cleavages – especially on health care.

Republican Arguments Republicans are certain to echo. Biden, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar strongly oppose Medicare's plans for everyone that they believe would impose higher taxes and force Americans to forgo private insurance. Warren and Sanders defended them by claiming that they guaranteed universality and withdrew the profits of the insurance companies from the system.

This was the best debate so far, in part because the ABC News moderators were not as focused as previous speakers on inspiring conflicts. They also addressed a wider range of issues, including race and racism issues. Only political junkies might have stayed until the end. Those who did it were probably the most loyal Democrats who, overall, heard more about what they wanted to hear from Trump 's shortcomings and a little less about the divisions in their own ranks that could haunt them next fall.

E.J. Dionne is on Twitter: @EJDionne.