How they fared: Democrats fight for survival in New Hampshire debate

MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) – With Democratic presidential candidates fighting for their political lives ahead of New Hampshire’s primary to choose who will face Republican Donald Trump in November, rivals debating on Friday took shots at one another and tried to separate themselves from the pack.

Here’s how each of the seven contenders on stage fared:

JOE BIDEN

The former vice president, looking to rebound from a faceplant in Iowa’s caucuses this week, obviously wanted to come out on the offensive. Unfortunately, he started the night telling the nation that he probably was going to lose New Hampshire as well.

But Biden grew more assured, tearing into U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders over the cost of his Medicare for All plan and his record on guns, while questioning Pete Buttigieg’s lack of experience. Biden seemed to relish in his long record of public service, repeatedly listing his accomplishments as a senator and vice president for Barack Obama. “The politics of the past, I think, were not all that bad,” Biden said.

The risk for Biden is such talk only reinforces the view of some Democrats that his moment has passed and why they’re looking to fresh faces such as Buttigieg. But Biden has little choice but lean even harder into his argument that he is best prepared to take over for President Donald Trump.

PETE BUTTIGIEG

As expected, everyone came gunning for the 38-year-old boyish former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Biden and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar questioned his thin track record. Klobuchar also suggested Buttigieg had flipped positions on Medicare for All. Sanders took a shot at his fundraising. And U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered a brutal critique of Buttigieg’s defense of his record as mayor with regard to African Americans and criminal justice.

All of it was designed to make Buttigieg appear unready