I'm feeling pessimistic about the upcoming debate [View all]

Not the debate itself, really, but the aftermath.

In past years, it's generally been the case that the public's perception of who won a candidates' debate -- and therefore who benefited in the aftermath -- wasn't a function of who actually did the best job during the debate but rather who the media, over the next few days, said won the debate.

We've seen how the media are managing to make O'Malley invisible. I'm afraid that even if he dominates the stage on Tuesday evening, in the days that follow, the media will annoint one of the other candidates as the winner, and that candidate will benefit in the polls. And therefore O'Malley won't.