Clinton, Sanders, and “Others” Face Off at First Democratic Debate

When former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton entered the presidential race in April, few expected she’d face serious competition in the primaries. But Clinton’s biting interaction with other candidates at last night’s Democratic primary debate suggested she’s aware the nomination won’t come easy.

In the months since her announcement, Clinton’s polling numbers have dropped 20 percent, and a rival has emerged in Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has risen from nearly 0 percent of the vote in polls to almost twenty-five.

The two major candidates had largely avoided publicly criticizing one another until they were standing side-by-side in Las Vegas last night during the CNN and Facebook-sponsored debate.

Clinton first took aim at Sanders’ gun policies, the biggest outlier in his leftist agenda. Sanders, who comes from a hunting state, said his past vote to shield gun companies was part of a “large and complicated bill.” Clinton responded, “I was in the Senate at the same time. It wasn’t that complicated to me.”

Later, when the debate’s moderator, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, cited a poll that said half the country would not vote a socialist into the White House, Sanders explained that his “democratic socialism” label means he pushes for healthcare, paid family leave and income equality. He held Denmark as an example of these policies’ effectiveness, to which Clinton responded, “But we are not Denmark. I love Denmark, but we are the United States of America.”

It was Sanders, however, who handed Clinton the key to talk about more than just the scandals that have clouded her campaign. In one of the night’s most memorable moments, Sanders was asked to comment on Clinton’s use of a private email server as Secretary of State — an action that, already the subject of endless media coverage, is now being investigated by the FBI.

“Let me say something that may not be great politics,” Sanders began. “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.” Sanders received a standing ovation for his comment, and #DamnEmails soon started trending on Twitter.

Throughout the debate, Clinton’s responses suggested a leftward shift — perhaps influenced by Sanders’ rise in the polls — on some economic and social issues. But on the subject of recreational marijuana, she declined to state a position. Meanwhile, Cooper suggested “probably everybody in this room” had tried the drug, and Sanders affirmed he would vote to legalize its recreational use.

If Clinton’s goal was to secure her front-runner status, Sanders’ goal was to extend his message to voters beyond the white progressives his campaign has already attracted.

Asked how he would go beyond what President Obama has already done to fix income inequality, Sanders said, “The truth is that for 40 years, the great middle class of this country has been disappearing. And in my view what we need to do is create millions of jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, [establish] pay equity for women workers, end our disastrous trade policies, and make every public college and university in this country tuition-free.” Sanders’ supporters might have found the message redundant, but the candidate had yet to introduce his ideas to minority voters — a crucial group for securing the nomination. Redundancy, then, was necessary for Sanders to reach those who hadn’t already heard him speak.

While Sanders’ message about economic inequality often went unchallenged, Clinton’s was hardly spared backlash.

Cooper was unforgiving when Clinton’s turn came to detail her solution to economic inequality. “In all candor, you and your husband are part of the one percent,” he said. “How can you credibly represent the views of the middle class?”

The former First Lady responded by saying that she hopes to give Americans the same opportunities that allowed her and her husband, neither of whom were born rich, to “have the chances that they should have in America for a good education, good job training, and then good jobs.”

Sanders had his own message for Clinton, who said her “tougher” plan to break up big banks is backed by her record as a senator representing Wall Street. “In my view, Secretary Clinton, Congress does not regulate Wall Street,” Sanders said. “Wall Street regulates Congress.”

In the DUC, where WUPR and the Social Programming Board hosted a viewing of the broadcast, students roared when Sanders emphasized his stance against the billionaire class and snapped fingers at his mention of criminal justice reform. Others clapped when Clinton spoke up on Planned Parenthood, and laughed when she quipped that the enemies she’s proudest to have are the Iranians and Republicans. But instead of cheers and open ears, only chatter seemed to arise when any candidate but Clinton or Sanders spoke.

This comes as little surprise, given CNN advertised its event as a “face-off” between the two main contenders, Clinton and Sanders. It figures, then, that the speaking time counts turned out to be highly disproportionate among the five candidates on stage — Clinton, Sanders, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Senator Jim Webb. While Sanders and Clinton spoke for almost one hour combined, the other three candidates spoke for less than 43 minutes. Clinton’s speaking time was more than three times that of Chafee, who spoke for only nine minutes in the nearly two hours the debate lasted.

The “other candidates,” as they were often referred to by the media, held less than one percent each of the Democratic vote in polls released before the debate. O’Malley, Chafee and Webb went into the debate hoping to attract voters and donors, but by the end of the debate, only O’Malley appeared to have come close.

Although his support for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign was used against him by Clinton herself, O’Malley introduced himself to viewers as a liberal who was able to advance progressive gun control, same-sex marriage and immigration laws in his state.

“I have learned to get things done because I am very clear about my principles,” O’Malley said in his introduction. He was also accused, by Cooper, of implementing the tough-on-crime policies as Baltimore’s former mayor that led to the city’s recent unrest.

But while O’Malley managed to at least introduce himself to voters, Webb and Chafee were not as successful. Webb was arguably most vocal when he pleaded multiple times to be allowed to speak, since “I’ve been waiting for 10 minutes.” After one long silence, he said, “Bernie, say my name so I can get into this.” Webb generated some audience reaction only when he mentioned his veteran status and moderate gun control policies. Frequent stuttering and poor eye contact also did little to help the struggling candidate.

Likewise, Chafee was hurt by the moderator’s reference to his flip-flopping between political parties, and by his own weak explanation for why he voted to make banks bigger in 1999. (His explanation was, in short, that it was his “very first vote.”) Ironically, one of Chafee’s biggest bragging points came from his time as a Republican: He was the only member of the party to vote against the Iraq War. Another came in his assertion that “I have had no scandals,” which was intended to provoke Clinton, the candidate on stage who does. Ultimately, Webb (and, to a lesser degree, Chafee) appealed to the centrist minority within the Democrat Party, not to the left-leaning majority.

Unlike the candidates at the two Republican debates in August and September, the five Democratic presidential hopefuls were more unified in their ideologies. All were in favor of eased immigration policies, some form of gun control, limited military involvement in foreign affairs, criminal justice reform and the movement against Wall Street, among other issues. The divisions, then, weren’t because of their political positions; rather, they came in the form of arguments over whose track record indicated the most potential to pass policy as president.

Virtually no comments were made that criticized President Obama or the Democratic Party. Clinton, in particular, lauded the Democrats’ two-term president, making note in one instance of Obama’s “great moral leadership” on issues concerning African Americans. In their remarks, all candidates seemed wary of criticizing their president. Perhaps this was as in an effort to obtain his future support, or to provide a unified defense against the constant Republican attacks of Obama and his party.

As for the winners and losers of last night’s Democratic debate — only the coming days’ polls will tell.