After 10 debates and more than two dozen candidates fell by the wayside, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders finally met for a one-on-one showdown in the 2020 Democratic presidential race.
It was anything but a typical debate.
The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic that has upended American life dominated much of the discussion between Biden and Sanders during Sunday night's debate, which was moved from Phoenix to CNN's Washington studio and took place without a studio audience because of concerns about the outbreak.
Biden also previewed what his general election campaign would look like in the first debate since he took firm control of the primary, committing to select a woman as his running mate. While Sanders said "in all likelihood" he would do the same, he wasn't ready to let Biden move on to November just yet, repeatedly pressing the former vice president on "Medicare for All," Social Security and climate change.
The debate was the last one before Tuesday's elections in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, where 577 pledged delegates are up for grabs.
Here are four takeaways from the Biden-Sanders debate:
POLITICS IN THE AGE OF CORONAVIRUS
Never before have presidential candidates debated amid a global health crisis. And it showed.
Sunday's debate _ especially at the start _ struggled to find a balance between sober-minded responses to the coronavirus outbreak and sharp-elbowed attacks normally associated with these events. Biden and Sanders themselves often awkwardly alternated between explaining their own plans to combat the virus, criticism of President Donald Trump's response to it, and well-worn attacks against each other on issues unrelated to the pandemic.
Early on, after Sanders started criticizing Biden over campaign contributions, the former vice president demurred instead of returning fire.
"Look, this is a national crisis," Biden said. "I don't want to get this into a back-and-forth in terms of our politics here."
The debate eventually settled into a familiar rhythm after its awkward beginning, as the candidates started arguing over oft-discussed issues like Social Security, immigration and climate change.
But the unfocused start was befitting an event that began just minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an extraordinary set of recommendations that Americans avoid larger gatherings of all kinds the next eight weeks. For many Americans, there was a much greater interest in the coming disruptions to their daily life than the infighting between these two candidates.
THE PRAGMATIC/REVOLUTIONARY DIVIDE RAGES ON
Even the widening scope of the coronavirus pandemic couldn't disrupt the defining ideological divide between Biden and Sanders. In fact, it crystallized it.
In repeated questions over what steps they would take during this national emergency, Biden returned to immediate solutions, whereas Sanders kept hammering away at fundamental problems in the health care system.
In yet another back-and-forth on Medicare for All, Biden argued that the policy was essentially irrelevant when applied to the current crisis since he would cover all coronavirus-related costs with the U.S. Treasury. Sanders said significant loopholes would mean certain costs would still slip through the cracks, hurting the most vulnerable.
"We have problems we have to solve now. Now. What's a revolution going to do? Disrupt everything in the meantime?" Biden asked at one point.
Sanders' relentless pursuit of a universal health care system will likely animate activists who see the coronavirus as a crisis that further underscores the need for revolution. But the casual voter more worried about surviving the next month might be more attracted to Biden's immediate emphasis, rooted in pragmatism.
A LINGERING SOCIAL SECURITY ATTACK
Sanders' most effective moments came when he badgered Biden to acknowledge that he has previously called for cuts to Social Security.
It's a line of criticism that might reverberate until November.
"I want you just to be straight with the American people," Sanders said, turning to him on stage to address him directly. "I'm saying that you have been on the floor of the Senate time and time again talking about the need to cut Social Security, Medicare and veteran's programs."
Biden denied it was true, but Sanders returned to the question, demanding over and over again that he admitted to arguing for the cuts during his decadeslong career in the Senate. It was one of the few moments all night when Biden looked flustered.
Sanders' criticisms, which he's referenced regularly against Biden since January, are unlikely to change the primary's trajectory. But they could make a return appearance in the general election, against a president who has tried to distinguish himself from other GOP leaders by vowing to protect entitlement programs.
THE CAKE IS (MOSTLY) BAKED
Sanders' opportunities to reverse his fortunes in this race were already steep before the coronavirus turned into a full-blown national emergency.
Now with the pandemic pushing politics into the background for the foreseeable future, the hill is even steeper.
Sanders did not back off in his policy critiques of Biden. From his vote for the 2008 bank bailout, to the lengths he would go to combat the climate crisis, Sanders repeatedly portrayed Biden's solutions as insufficient.
While the Vermont senator did score substantive points against Biden on his past record entertaining cuts to Social Security, it's likely nothing happened in this debate that will demonstrably improve Sanders' chances in catching the former vice president.
Sanders is behind by approximately 150 delegates, and the next series of states voting Tuesday look downright daunting. He's expected to be routed in Florida and is staring down double-digit polling deficits in Illinois, Ohio and Arizona.
His next chance at a win in a big state might be Wisconsin, which votes in early April. But he's likely to be down by even more delegates then, and confronting mounting pressure to step aside to allow Biden to focus not only on the general election, but free up voters to fully train their minds on their own safety and well-being.
Without the coronavirus, the substantive arguments debated during the second hour might have received more attention and scrutiny, potentially to Sanders' benefit.
But Biden did not implode and this will forever be remembered as the coronavirus debate, which many Americans watched in quarantine, wondering the next time they would safely step outside their homes.
