Elizabeth Warren made the strongest impression on me last night. I have lingering doubts about her ability to cover the costs of wiping out student debt, but she was forceful and convincing on a wide range of topics. She spoke with conviction. It bumped her up a notch or two in my rankings.

The debates are going to be riveting.

I come with my own viewpoint certainly - I like the idea of Sanders and Trump debating.

I liked when Harris expressed her views on LGBT issues.

I'm not sure what tRump would make of Pete's calm, soft-spoken style.

I hope to find out!

He would rant and go crazy.

1. Warren
2. Buttigieg
3. Harris
4. Sanders
5. Klobuchar

Warren was really masterful last night.

On the opposite end, I thought it was a rough night for Amy Klobuchar. "You're supposed to cheer" was way too reminiscent of Jeb Bush's "Please clap" moment.

Freaking wow. What was she thinking? That makes her look weak in my eyes.

I think that I was more impressed with Buttigieg. I will try and go back and watch the others tonight.

would give her an advantage.

1. Harris
2. Warren
3. Klobuchar
4. Buttigieg
5. Sanders

It's going to take much more than going toe to toe with Trump.

I like Elizabeth Warren so far. She is a good speaker, a good story-teller, and links all that up with good policy positions. She says she expected to be a teacher her whole life, and she is. That is how she comes across- as a warm, yet tough and smart teacher. If she is elected, she will be the Professor-in-Chief ("the Professor" might make a good Secret Service code name). What a contrast to the nightmare that is Trump. I can barely put the two of them in the same post.

I thought Klobuchar came across as the badass who wouldn't let him get away with anything.

Bernie might get down there and slug it out in the mud, which is Trump's home turf.

Harris and Pete might try being nice, which never works with this guy. Their fundamental decency and easy-going manner works well with voters, but dunno about facing a full-Trump onslaught.

Warren would overwhelm him with logic and facts, which could put the audience to sleep. I would like to see her face-to-face reaction to "Pocahontas", though, which could be awesome.

If he dared tried that crap about sneaking up behind any of the women, like he did with Hillary, I could see all of them reacting better than Hillary did, but Klobuchar turning around and staring him down. And asking why he's not in his own corner. The men, too, but it might not be as effective.

I think everything you touched upon is fodder for a lot of further interesting discussion. I love posts like yours that get into the more psychological/strategical speculation of what makes some of our candidates tick and how they might react. Thanks for posting that!