Warren emerges unscathed

A lot could have gone wrong for Elizabeth Warren at Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate. It didn't.

Warren, a US senator from Massachusetts, arrived in Miami riding a wave of momentum among the race's more than 20 candidates. By luck of the draw, she was onstage a night before most of the other top-tier Democratic contenders, such as former Vice President Joe Biden and US Senator Bernie Sanders.

As the first night's top-polling candidate, she did not falter. Her progressive platform — similar to Sanders'— largely went unchallenged by the moderates standing alongside her.

Most important, her status in the race to take on Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election placed her front and center for the Democratic voters watching at home, and she was given ample time at the outset to detail the populist, anti-corporate themes of her candidacy.

Warren benefited as well from the sheer chaos of the program. With 10 candidates onstage clamoring for attention and each given only a minute to respond, the evening often felt like a 10-car pileup or a round of speed dating.

Warren's moment in the sun likely will be short-lived. Biden and Sanders were to take the stage yesterday along with other top-tier White House hopefuls, including South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and US Senator Kamala Harris of California.