To play on the title of Big Joe Turner’s iconic hit song Shake, Rattle and Roll, the Democratic Debate could more properly be called Fake, Prattle and Droll.

Although I didn’t have a stop watch in hand during the Democratic debate, it certainly seemed as if the Univision moderators concerned themselves with trying to enforce time limits on only one of the candidates. In the absence of an audible bell at the end of each candidate’s time, moderators relied instead on polite and repeated “Thank yous” to signal the end of time. This lapse in professionalism gave Clinton license to engage in primarily rattling, mostly repetitious and often non sequitur monologues. It makes one wonder who actually endured the most grief during the eleven hours of the Benghazi Hearings—Clinton or the committee that questioned her. After watching the earliest debates, I made a suggestion during my first blog post that I’ll return to again: Turn off the microphone when people flagrantly and repeatedly exceed their time limits. Of note, I have yet to see a summary of each candidates speaking time, while the Republican speaking times were posted within thirty minutes after the end of their debate.

As expected after seven debates, there was little new information. Instead, each candidate tried to sharpen his or her attacks, deflect the parries of his or her opponent and strengthen his or her memes. Let’s look at each of the three categories.

The Fake:

Perhaps the biggest source of Clinton’s perceived lack of authenticity is dramatic enactment of the charge. She again wins the award for feigned indignation as she turned each instance of Sanders disagreement with Obama or President Bill Clinton into an attack on Democratic policies. Her own alignment shifts resembles a rhetorical chameleon. Martin O’Malley highlighted Clinton’s shifts on gun control measure early in the previous debates. If a position might play as unfavorable with the audience (building border walls) both she and Sanders voted for it. If a position President Obama has taken is favorable, she and the President worked closely on it. If the position is unpopular, President Obama becomes “The Administration.” She was “hurt” to hear that people think she is untrustworthy. She has read Wall Street the riot act, so it doesn’t matter they’ve donated $15,000,000 to her campaign. She is not a natural politician. The idea that she might be indicted as a result of the email imbroglio, is so farfetched she’s not even going to answer the question.

The Prattle:

By now, you can expect certain bromides at each debate. The candidates were true to form:

Sanders: The Secretary voted for the Iraq War. I voted against it.

The Secretary is supported by a Wall Street super PAC.

Clinton: Before there was Obamacare, there was Hilarycare.

I am a progressive who likes to get things done.

Senator Sanders voted against Ted Kennedy’s comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Experts say my Wall Street Reform plan is the toughest of all.

Senator Sanders wants to tear up all the progress we’ve made on healthcare.

Take all these statements as the hope that if you throw enough mud, some of it is bound to stick.

The Droll:

Clinton’s attacks on Sanders were almost laughable, if not pathetic at face value. Two of the most notable: (1) The Koch brothers supported Sanders with a video (actually, it was Freedom Partners, a PAC supported by the Koch brothers). The issue was renewing the Export-Import Bank, which Sanders cites as an example of corporate welfare.

(2) Sanders sided with hard-line Republicans to support the Minutemen, which she labeled as a vigilante group. It turns out this was a “nuisance amendment” that enjoyed almost unanimous Republican support and seventy-six Democratic votes. Where is Chris Christie when you need him, to remind us that the arguments over the minutiae of legislation is akin to debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

In conclusion, Univision did a poor job moderating the debate and the candidates did a poor job participating in it. If I had to pick a winner, Sanders gained a slight edge if only because Clinton seemed to be rattled several times by both the questions and Sander’s responses. She expected the Democratic contest to be over by now. What really remains now is to see how the remaining primaries play out.