Twelve presidential wannabes standing in a row on stage for three hours.

Three friendly liberal journalists under-handing softball questions to them.

Tons of BS about free government healthcare and why Trump should be impeached.

Until the personal shock I got at the end of the Democrats’ debate on CNN woke me from my stupor, I wasn’t sure I wasn’t watching a rerun of last month’s debate.

It was the same uninspiring lineup of leftwing political featherweights, plus a self-made billionaire in a hideous tie named Tom Steyer.

And this time instead of ganging up on poor old Joe Biden, everyone was picking a fight with Elizabeth Warren.

They were trying to get the former Native American to admit the truth she would not speak — that her “free” Medicare-for-All Plan is going to be paid for with higher taxes on the middle class.

Otherwise, the CNN debate was another in a series of three-hour ordeals featuring the usual Trump bashing, false promises, canned answers and left-wing Democrat talking points.

No one excelled. No one stood out from the 12-pack of mediocrity.

Joe Biden was sad to watch as he continued his slow death spiral.

Bernie looked healthy, but he’s stalled in the polls. The angry socialist will never win the nomination, even with the endorsement of AOC and the rest of her Squad.

Sen. Warren was her usual unlikable self — a Professor Know-It-All with dozens of big detailed federal plans that won’t work, will cost trillions and will turn America into a bigger Swedish welfare state than it already is.

She also showed she’s not too good at taking a punch — or a bunch of slaps — from her fellow lefties.

Mayor Pete did well because in a crowd of goofballs he actually sounded reasonable now and then.

He and impressive congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii were standouts, but they have no more chance of winning the right to lose to Trump than Harris, O'Rourke, Booker and the rest of the 2 per-centers.

As for the debate itself, what a joke.

CNN’s questioners were too biased to ask tough questions of their soulmates.

Plus, they completely avoided several radioactive subjects that would have forced Democrats to admit that President Trump has some successes he can take credit for, such as the booming economy, low unemployment and trade negotiations with China.

Stranger yet, there wasn’t a single question about the hottest news topic of the moment — China and its tiff with the NBA.

Maybe CNN was afraid China would black out its newscasts like they did the NBA games.

If I were really cynical, I’d suspect CNN of clearing its debate questions beforehand with the Democratic National Committee.

The result of CNN’s institutional incompetence and permanent liberal tilt was a debate that slogged on and on and got nowhere. No wonder the ratings tanked.

If I were CNN’s execs, next time I’d put a BS Meter at the bottom of the screen. Watching its arrow spike twice a minute at least would have provided a little fun for intrepid viewers like me who stuck it out for three hours.

How bad was the Democrats’ third debate? Well, the biggest winner of the night again was obviously President Trump, who’s still the front-runner.

In what has to be the strangest twist of all, the most-Googled name of the night after the debate was not Biden, Sanders, Warren or Gabbard. It was not even a Democrat.

It was a Reagan.

My brother Ron ended up being the most Googled thanks to the old commercial that CNN ran right before the final question.

The TV ad, shot about six years ago, featured Ron saying something like, “I’m a lifelong atheist and I’m not worried about burning in hell.”

The sudden appearance of my brother endorsing atheism on my TV was shocking, to say the least.

Maybe it was the only ad CNN could find, or maybe CNN aired it for free.

But for me it was a crummy reward for watching their horrible debate all the way to the end.

Copyright 2019 Michael Reagan