What People Are Saying About Elizabeth Warren's Democratic Debate

Having a successful Democratic debate Wednesday night was a two-step process: 1.) Get noticed. 2.) Say things that made people clap. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was one of the few to check off both boxes, according to most major media outlets. The Massachusetts Democrat, who has been climbing in the polls on the back of a steady diet of policy over pomp, was the highest-polling candidate of the 10 on stage.

Another 10 Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden, will debate Thursday night.

Warren's grouping helped her shine that much brighter. She received the most questions and got the third-most air time. The debate started with a question about economic inequality, Warren's bread-and-butter policy and passion, and she grasped the opportunity to make the first impression.

The New York Times said Warren "owned the first quarter," starting out strong.

"In the first segment, which focused on the economic issues on which Ms. Warren is particularly passionate, there was little contest," The Times said.

Fox News, which buried debate analysis under Trump mocking the television broadcast, said "the first Democratic debate was always destined to be about Elizabeth Warren, and she seized the initiative with the first question."

The Boston Globe agreed Warren started out hot, but said she lost steam as other candidates broke through. As The Globe put it, "the big story of the night was that Warren wasn't the big story of the night."

"While Warren had a strong start, she didn’t dominate the debate, and at times, went strangely silent," The Globe said.

CNN also pointed out Warren's disappearing act in the second hour, but still listed her as one of the night's big winners: "Warren's hand-raising when all of the candidates were asked whether they supported abolishing private insurance (only Bill de Blasio joined her) was a strong message to liberals watching that she was proud of who she was and what she believed."

The Washington Post also deemed Warren one of the winners of the night, getting a pass from other candidates who didn't attack the biggest name on stage.

"And she used her platform to do what she has done to great effect on the campaign trail: talk about her bold, liberal policy ideas," The Post said.

The Ringer said Warren set the bar early, with other candidates struggling to match her conviction.

"The highest-polling candidate on the stage was Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who dominated the first debate with furious left-wing pronouncements about economic justice," The Ringer wrote.

By the numbers, Warren was one of the most talkative candidates, coming in third behind Cory Booker and Beto O'Rourke in terms of the number of words spoken. Over the course of the night, Warren said 1,637 words, FiveThirtyEight reported, while Booker said 2,181 words and O'Rourke said 1,932 words.