* Enough of the pettiest of the candidate back-and-forths. Nobody in this field is the next Barack Obama. Get over it.
* “Future former Republicans.”–Pete Buttigieg’s characterization of certain prospective, “Mayor Pete” voters.
* Who were the winners by the time the Iowa-caucus fiasco was finally finished? Obviously, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. But also Mike Bloomberg, an outsider taking a pass on a debacle. Then there’s the Oval Orifice incumbent. Adversaries always love the other side’s unforced errors, like a last-minute Anthony Weiner email. There’s also New Hampshire, which would like to go first in primary season–and Florida, which seems less like “Flori-duh” after the silo vote shared its embarrassing, unvetted-app sausage with everyone.
* It’s likely that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom the Dems chose to answer Trump’s SOTU reality-show riff, will be in the conversation when it comes to the Democratic ticket. She’s the articulate, 40-something female governor of a swing state that the Dems must win back as well as an effective, national-stage spokeswoman for solidifying gains with female voters. She pushed back against Trump’s spiking of the economic football, made the case for affordable and inclusive health care and underscored the need to expedite infrastructure improvements and investments. She also spoke from East Lansing High School–where her two daughters are enrolled. Nice touch.
* “Whoever gets the nomination, we have to rally behind them, no matter who it is.” That was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the uber feisty supporter and campaign surrogate for Bernie Sanders. Here’s hoping the “Bernie or Bust” zealots are on board with AOC’s words. And here’s hoping AOC is too.
* “We are not going to be able to out-divide the divider-in-chief.”–Amy Klobuchar.