This was as entertaining as it gets! Unless, of course, you are a Democrat supporter. In which case it was an embarrassment. As a friend of mine said, "NBC should not pay the hosts, they are just spectators! Could have had Vince McMann of WWF." It was a bit of a street fight, which the Democrat Party didn't need or want, but I'm sure it helped draw viewers which these events desperately needed. The debate had energy for a change, which they also desperately needed. Additionally, the DNC had to try to let the candidates differentiate themselves. Unfortunately, the whole conversation continued to be Donald Trump, free stuff, victimization and a total lack of reality. No real differentiation resulted. Bernie is far, far left and, recognizing America's anticipated rejection of his positions, the others are trying to stay just barely to his right. A summary of 'telling' statements from the night:

• Bloomberg - "...a right to live.."
• Trump is NOT transparent? One of  his vulnerabilities is he is TOO transparent.
• Biden admitted that Obama sent 'moderators' into cities!!
• Various attacks on fracking and fossil fuels indicated a total disregard for the impact on our economy, energy independence and the quality of life for everyone, especially low income Americans those on stage say they represent. Only notable exception came from Bloomberg regarding controlling methane release.
• Biden wants to hold fossil fuel company executives 'criminally liable' for damage to the environment. How is that for authoritarian leadership!
• Bloomberg invokes 'communism'.
• Klobuchar says, " ... not my favorite night for the Democrat party..."

Here is a quick review of each candidate: Sen. Elizabeth Warren. I think if you are a Democrat, Warren is the winner of this debate. Warren would not be ignored or denied. She got in very effective shots at Bloomberg, she stood up for Amy Klobuchar's admission of forgetting the name of Mexico's president, and restated her positions effectively. She stated she is a Capitalist, her attempt to separate her identical policies from Bernie's Socialism. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Bernie made his usual passionate defense of his radical positions. His rabid supporters will be happy with his performance. He did make one statement at the end which contradicts his big government, socialist philosophy when he said, "...change does not take place from the top down..." He was speaking against corporations and their CEOs, as any good Marxist would. But, coming out of his mouth, one could not help but negatively connect the statement to exactly the top-down coercive nature of socialist policy implementation to force its subjects to submit. Joe Biden. Biden made a comeback tonight. Not enough to make a difference, but probably his best performance. He showed a little more energy trying to deflect the "sleepy Joe" meme and was combative enough to show strong defense of his positions, such as they are. He attacked oil companies and suggested holding CEOs "criminally liable" for harming the environment and sue them like tobacco companies. These 'police state' positions coming from Biden seemed out of place as he continues to buck the trend of moving away, instead, moving left toward Bernie. Audience decided to heckle Biden during his closing remarks - - curious? Sen. Amy Klobuchar vs Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Everybody expected a free for all against Mike Bloomberg, but, the surprise fireworks of the night were between Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar. Fighting over details of who is "in the arena" and who is not, quite frankly, along with his continuous statements of nothingness, made Buttigieg look bad. Klobuchar did show some fight under these attacks and though obviously ruffled, maintained her cool over a couple of prolonged exchanges. Klobuchar did, though, make the comment of the night in an MSNBC interview after the debate, saying this was "... not my favorite night for the Democrat party..." Former NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Despite His Billions, Bloomberg Busts. Bloomberg started slow anticipating the onslaught and weakly responding. He looked stiff and uneasy, though he did make a late comeback as he began to relax, but it was too little too late. In that comeback he made several differentiating points. He said, without response from the others, that he was the only one on stage to start or manage a business. When asked if he should have so much money, he say yes! And, he invoked 'communism', generating oohs from the candidates and the audience. Interesting, too, that one of his first points was that “a right to live” is a basic right. He wasn’t talking about abortion, but it certainly jumps out as a very un-Democrat position. Very enlightening slip. Most of the debate included every candidate, at one time or another, citing "Democrat values". We all know what Democrat talking points are, but I am not sure about the values part. More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):