The first Democratic Candidate debate is in the books. Lots of people are declaring that Hillary Clinton won the debate. I am not sure I am willing to go that far just yet. I will say there were two very distinct losers. Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Webb.
Poor Lincoln made himself sound like a “go along with the pack” type of politician when he replied to two answers with “I just got to the Senate and besides 90 others voted for it.” Sorry Lincoln, that is not the type of person who should be sitting in the White House.
Jim Webb, was just as bad. When asked about which enemy he was most proud of, he responded with a cryptic “I killed an enemy soldier in Vietnam.” He also went off about guns and how politicians have body guards, so average citizens should be allowed to have guns to defend themselves.
Problem for Webb is that I did not hear a single person say that anyone’s guns should be taken away from them. Yes, there was talk about “gun control” but not about “disarming” the public. That is the same argument that the NRA and the Republicans have been using for years. They claim “gun control” is the same as “disarming” the public. Which it is not.
The one person I did want to hear from was Martin O’Malley. I was hoping that he might shed some light on his policies. He did come up with a couple. The first was that we need a clean electrical grid not using fossil fuels. I have been arguing that for a long time. The other was his awareness that we need “gun control” to help prevent mass shootings. He touted his record in Maryland where he was able to get some gun control legislation passed.
Other than that, he was somewhat unclear about the differences between him and the rest of the candidates. O’Malley did not really hurt himself during the debate, but he really didn’t help himself either. That may be a big problem moving forward for him.
That left Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to basically slug it out. I said I am not ready to declare a “winner” because who won the debate will depend upon which side of the party you are on. If you are on the far left of the party, you believe that Sanders won the debate. If you are more in the center of the party, you believe that Clinton won the debate.
The real differences between the two is how they intend to go after Wall Street. Bernie wants to break up the big banks, while Clinton wants to put in place more regulations and only break them up if they violate the new regulations. It is a simple matter of “how” not “what” that each are advocating.
Clinton came off as a polished debater. Sanders did not appear as comfortable on the stage as she did. He even stumbled when it came to gun control. That won’t sit well even with the far left-wing of the party. It was said that Sanders did not really “prepare” for the debate. At first, I didn’t believe that statement. However, after watching him last night, I tend to believe he didn’t prepare.
The one thing that was in stark contrast between this debate and the Republican debates is the lack of the blame game. In the two Republican debates, there were plenty of “guilty parties” that were the cause of our problems. In the last night’s debate I found two “guilty parties.” The NRA and Wall Street.
In the Republican debates, minorities, immigrants, women, young, non-Christians (especially Muslims) and the elderly are all “guilty parties” for what ails our country. The truth was stretched last night on some issues. But, the outright fabrication and made up facts very prominent in the Republican debates was not there.
Additionally, the democrats talked about things like climate change, education, and health care. You never heard anything about those issues during the Republican debates. But then, why would you talk about something you want people to not believe in the first place. Even if your own Department of Defense calls climate change a grave national security threat.
What you did not hear is the Democrats trying to “out-Christian” the others. Religion was hardly mentioned, which is proper. We are looking to elect a President, not the head of a church. Bernie was right when he said “America is sick of hearing about Hillary’s emails.” But, I am very sick and tired of hearing about the Republican’s Religious Beliefs just as much. If they want to head up a church, pull out of the race and start up your own church.
To put it bluntly, Mike Huckabee tweeted “America has a sin problem, not a skin problem.” Well Mike, discrimination is a sin. So stop supporting discrimination unless you like sinning! Why not practice what you preach? But, no, Huckabee is one of those “parents” who tell their children “do what I say and not what I do.”
The tweets that came from the other side aren’t worth even talking about much. Mike Huckabee became racial in his tweets, and Donald Trump was too busy blowing his own horn about what shows he would be on today. Nothing unexpected from them.
It is going to be interesting to see which of the two main candidates emerge from the Democratic side. As I see it, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are the clear front-runners. Martin O’Malley has a lot of work to do if he wishes to become a viable candidate. Unfortunately, I see Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee as outsiders. They failed to impress me with anything last night.
The only remaining shadow on this side of the race is Joe Biden. Many of the pundits say that Clinton’s performance kind of locks Joe out. That may be true, for now. However, even though we all know that the Benghazi hearings are nothing more than a political scam, it is still possible that her email problem could hurt Clinton in the long run.
If that happens, the Democrats will need someone more in the Center of the Party to go up against Sanders. Biden could turn out to be that candidate. On the other hand, Clinton has a tendency to overcome these political games played by the right-wing. If she can do that, then maybe Biden will sit it out. Only time will tell.
In summary, last night’s debate actually gave us information about policies that the candidates hope to get enacted. These candidates talked about problems and some of their solutions to those problems. Something very sorely lacking on the Republican side.
I hate to say this, but one thing I did get out of last night’s debate, is that these candidates made the whole Republican Debate scheme seem like the real “kiddies table.” But when all you have to offer is 40 year-old failed economic policies and a blame game, what else can you expect?
