John Harris: “As voting gets closer, the candidates are getting closer to voters. Closer, that is, to power as it really exists in the contemporary Democratic Party—a coalition in which African-Americans and women and working-class voters matter very much, and liberal commentators and social media warriors may not matter as much as it sometimes seems in the daily rumpus.”

“This debate was not a competition, as the first debate outings last summer were, over who could sound most unhesitantly progressive, or most flamboyantly impatient with conventional politics or the incremental liberalism of Barack Obama. Instead it was a competition over who could sound most credibly in touch with the political, policy, and even psychic needs of a country they see as ready to move beyond the traumas of the Trump era.”

“Women are held to a higher standard. Otherwise we could play a game called ‘name your favorite women president,’ which we can’t do because it has all been men. … And if you think a woman can’t beat Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi does it every single day.”

— Sen. Amy Klobuchar, during last night’s Democratic debate.

Politico: “Pete Buttigieg came into Wednesday night’s debate bracing for an onslaught that never came. Yes, Amy Klobuchar and Tulsi Gabbard questioned his experience. Cory Booker dinged the young mayor’s resume, pointing out that he’s the ‘other Rhodes scholar mayor on the stage’ and warning voters against picking a Democratic nominee with an ‘inauthentic’ connection to African American voters — a bloc that has largely ignored Buttigieg’s upstart where Buttigieg has failed to gain traction.”

“But Kamala Harris declined a served-on-a-platter chance to hit Buttigieg again over a recent campaign misstep involving a stock photo of black people, instead pivoting to her own case for the Democratic nomination.”

“And Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who remain packed together at the top of recent Iowa and New Hampshire polls alongside Buttigieg, didn’t take him on at all — a testament to the still-unsettled nature of the 2020 primary campaign and concerns about alienating potential voters with negative attacks less than three months before voting starts in Iowa.”

The fifth Democratic presidential debate will kick off at 9 p.m. ET.

Ten candidates have qualified for the debate: Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer and Tulsi Gabbard.

The debate will be broadcast on MSNBC and will also stream for free on MSNBC.com and washingtonpost.com.

Leave your reactions in the comments.

The Atlantic: “Staffers for the senator’s campaign are exasperated and annoyed… He’s done everything right: established the necessary relationships in key states, racked up more endorsements than any other candidate, performed well in the debates. He carries the message of unity that Democrats say they want… He’s made no big gaffes, had no significant stumbles. His messaging has been consistent. At candidate events, he reliably gives the best speeches to the most thunderous ovations.”

“Maybe it’s that he can come off like he’s trying too hard… Maybe it’s because cynical political reporters can’t avoid laughing off his talk about a ‘conspiracy of love’ … Maybe he’s just too weird a confection of traits … Or maybe he’s being subjected to a kind of second-order racism: it’s not that voters are opposed to putting another black man in the White House; it’s that they’re afraid other voters won’t be willing to put another black man in the White House.”

A SurveyUSA poll in Georgia finds Joe Biden ahead of President Trump, 47% to 43%.

In other match ups: Bernie Sanders edges Trump, 47% to 44%, Elizabeth Warren is barely ahead 46% to 45%, while Trump edges Pete Buttigieg, 45% to 41%.