Pete and Kamala

May we call you Pete and Kamala?

THE LATE, great Lewis Grizzard once said that the movies were more respectful in the old days, when they showed presidents only from the back.

Not only were movies more respectful 70 years ago, but so were politics. Can you imagine the papers referring to FDR as Franklin in headlines? Nowadays, however, the candidates want to be familiar. They insist on it. Remember “Hillary” signs? Or, more locally, Asa! with the exclamation point?

Given his last name’s difficulty, Mayor Pete likes the reference. And all these emails that come in every day from the Kamala Harris campaign call the effort “Team Kamala.” So we’ll not fret too much about our familiarity. They must enjoy it.

After Thursday night’s debate—the best of the debates this year by far—we came away with one irrepressible notion: This is now the Pete and Kamala show. That is, more respectfully, the Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris show.

Kamala Harris is a fighter, and a good one. She’s also human and funny when need be. Pete Buttigieg is a debater, and never missteps or misspeaks. We noticed that not every pundit feels that way but we don’t know what debate they watched Thursday night. Joe Biden looked awful. Donald Trump would eat him in a debate. Bernie Sanders is an SNL skit. Amy Klobuchar isn’t ready for prime time.

Beto O’Rourke certainly set himself apart. As the most desperate candidate this year. His lurch to the left on every topic might prove smart for the next transient poll, but that’s not what the American people are looking for. He seemed more frantic for attention than a true believer.

Elizabeth Warren is a true believer. Bernie Sanders is a true believer. Beto O’Rourke is an opportunist.

Julian Castro not only proved himself an ass while baiting Joe Biden, he also had the extra added bonus of having every network show on Friday morning factcheck his zingers. And when he chided Joe Biden on the former vice president’s health-care plan, he got it wrong. Note to Mr. Castro: If you’re going to mock somebody for misspeaking, don’t misspeak yourself.

Where to start with Andrew Yang? His attempted bribe of 10 Americans was laughed off by all the other candidates, and deservedly so. We’d like to know if his $1,000 per month offer in a mini-lottery is even legal.

Besides Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg, did you see any other potential presidents on stage?

Still, both will have problems if they win the nomination:

Kamala Harris has the name recognition, the experience and the money to go far in this contest. And she’s from a big state. But her policies are still loony-left. She’s a supporter, even a co-sponsor, of the Green New Deal, which could cost trillions, or even more trillions, depending on who’s counting.

She’s “with Bernie” on the Medicarefor-all plan. She wants to “eliminate all that” when discussing private healthcare insurance. And her campaign’s Equal Pay Certification plan sounds like a government red-tape disaster waiting to happen.

MAYOR PETE is still the mayor of a small city in Indiana, and how does that prepare one for being president? He’d also rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, which would do nothing to protect the climate but would do lots to weaken the American economy. Why would he do that? To “demonstrate leadership,” according to his website. If that’s leadership, what would subservience in following the pack look like?

Like others in the race, Pete Buttigieg would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, replace the Electoral College with the popular vote, create a gun-licensing system, and so typically on. In his defense, however, he wouldn’t have as far to go in a general election to get back to the middle again. This guy plays it smart. And he doesn’t even look like he’s playing.

The nominee will likely come from the 10 people you saw on stage Thursday night. (A couple of more moderate candidates couldn’t reach the polling qualifications for the debate.) The trick will now be to get through a few more such debates, and some early primaries, without too many missteps.

And without tearing each other apart.