Scott seemed low-energy and unconfident in his words. His demeanor was nervous, and his lack of a smile contrasted with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy’s near-constant grin.

Perhaps a debate is not the best forum for the soft-spoken senator. But with Scott averaging 3.6 percent in the polls, he needed a breakout performance. In this case, not — as he put it — “going back and forth and being childish” may have left Scott in the dust.

[“Doomed” may overstate the case, but Scott didn’t have the breakout night he needed. He was visibly uncomfortable with the format, seemed tentative at times, and never really got a chance to show any personality. He’ll still be on stage in the next debate, so he has four weeks to fix things. Another debate performance like this, though, and Scott may indeed be doomed. — Ed]