Tonight was the fourth 2020 Democratic presidential debate we’ve sat through. It was pretty boring! There was much debate about the particulars of various shitty healthcare plans, Joe Biden came off like a doddering old man, and various men with through-the-floor poll numbers tried in vain to claw their way out of obscurity.
One of the lone bright spots of the night: the moment I clocked Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. I don’t know what took me so long. Had I never really looked at the long-shot climate change candidate? Had I never listened?
I climbed out on a limb, suggesting in our Splinter Slack, that maybe, just maybe, Inslee was “daddy.” I was roundly condemned; my editor said “not today.” Imagine my glee when I found that I was far from the only one—outside my BUBBLE—to sit up and take notice when Jay was on-screen.
And, YOUNG JAY?? Come ON!!!!
Here he is with his shiny locks tucked in a hat that I instantly forgave and also one of him going to the damn PROM <3:
Here he is on his wedding day:
Did Inslee express much interest in discussing issues other than climate change? No—but he makes a compelling argument that it is, in many ways, the only issue that matters. But Inslee did, like Marianne Williamson last night, far out-perform expectations. And what’s more, people listened.