“I think that she came across very strongly on the issues of gun violence, on immigration, on paid family leave, most importantly she would be a woman president”.
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His first question for Hillary Clinton was demanding why she has flip-flopped on numerous issues including same-sex marriage and immigration policies. Historically, Democratic White House hopefuls – including Barack Obama – have not campaigned aggressively on gun control for fear of losing rural votes.
“I would say that I know that he needs to make up his mind about whether he wants to run or not. When Martin O’Malley, 52, echoed a 2008 Obama theme about the folly of thinking “a resort to old names is going to move us forward”, Clinton did not let it go by as she did back then”.
“I think he’s been through a tremendous tragedy”.
Nevertheless, Todd quipped, “The most dominant lefty last night was [Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher] Clayton Kershaw”.
Without a major stumble from the party’s top two candidates, the likelihood is fading that Democrats will beg Vice President Joe Biden to enter the race. Now, suddenly, last week, you’re against it.
Sanders drew applause from the Sin City crowd when he said the American people were “sick and tired” of hearing about Clinton’s “damn emails”. “I do not support the United States getting involved in unilateral action”, Sanders said, laying out his basic policy view.
Sanders prefaced his remark by saying it probably wasn’t smart electoral politics, but according to Cordes, that wasn’t a consideration.
His campaign tweeted the quote and received the most retweets of the night, reaching over 12,000 by Wednesday morning.
Even before the debate started, there was action on the Vegas Strip, as supporters for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen.
Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chaffe also took the stage, but Chaffe complained a few of the candidates did not get equal time. But would Biden have been able to say the same thing? They fear that many banks have become too big and too risky and will trigger another financial crisis.
Clinton disagreed with O’Malley on this point.
“Did he use the debate stage to emerge as a serious contender? No, I don’t”, he said.
Mr Sanders got a standing ovation when he addressed the scandal over Mrs Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.
Clinton was also willing to play to a knee-jerk liberal audience by taking Sanders to task on the gun safety issue, sticking, as MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews so colorfully put it, the bayonet in and twisting it around.
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In the space below we offer you, dear readers, the unvarnished spin from each candidate’s camp about Tuesday night’s debate – as well as the professional insight of Bill Newnam of Emory University’s Barkley Forum Center for Debate Education.
