As the tenth debate commences (less than a week since the ninth debate) in Charleston, South Carolina tonight, the Democratic presidential candidates feel less like politicians and more like good friends we know intimately—or, perhaps more appropriately after this debate schedule, a cadre of Airbnb renters who have claimed squatters’s rights over your television.
By now diligent debate watchers have memorized the candidates’s every tic, pore, and quirk—Klobuchar’s elbow-nudging jokes, Buttigieg’s shameless Obamaisms, Tom Steyer’s... Tom Steyerness—and, after last week, America is more familiar with Bloomberg’s inability to deal with direct criticism (though it seems like he has a semblance of a strategy this go-round, which believe it or not is not shooting thousand-dollar bills into the crowd with a Clemson Tigers-branded t-shirt cannon).
In advance of the South Carolina primary on Saturday, this debate is cohosted by BET, CBS, and the Congressional Black Caucus, as each candidate attempts to attract more/some/any (Pete) black voters. May the lord rest their souls, may Warren re-clobber Bloomberg ruthlessly, and may the corn gods bestow us with an abundance of popcorn and benzos as we liveblog what will definitely be the most contentious debate yet. And as a treat, tonight Jezebel is thrilled to be joined by Gizmodo’s Whitney Kimball and Earther’s Yessenia Funes. Let’s go!