Five Democratic presidential hopefuls took part in their first debate on Tuesday night in Las Vegas and sparks didn’t exactly fly. Joe Biden is still looking at getting in the race but Hillary Clinton, remaining the favorite even as Bernie Sanders moves up in the polls, held her own in the debate. Even with fewer candidates than the Republican field, some of the dark horses running for the Democratic nomination were lost on the stage. Here’s how the candidates -- and the moderator -- did in Las Vegas.
WINNERS
Hillary Clinton. The fron-trunner was the winner on Tuesday night and she clearly did her homework before the debate. This was a far different experience for Clinton than her debates with Rick Lazzio in 2000 and with Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden and the Democratic presidential field in 2008. Clinton was far more polished than her rivals and was shrewd enough not to get into a fight. She also embraced Obama’s legacy, not a bad move considering how the president still does well with Democrats and with Biden hovering over the race. When asked about the controversy involving her emails, Clinton took a page from her husband’s playbook and went after the Republicans, aided, of course, by Kevin McCarthy’s idiotic comment earlier in the month about how the investigation has hurt her. She also followed Carly Fiorina’s gameplan on the Republican side, going after the other party when called for, especially on immigration and abortion. She was also helped by Sanders, her chief rival, rushing in to support her on those issues. Clinton also largely ignored the dark horses on the stage while taking a few shots at Sanders when needed. Mostly smiles, Clinton came in as the front-runner and left the debate in the same position. Best of all for Clinton, Biden wasn’t mentioned in the debate and had little room to exploit her performance as Clinton embraced her old rival Obama.
Anderson Cooper. The CNN personality served as the moderator and he showed no hesitation in pressing the candidates. Fair and impartial, Cooper went after all of the candidates, often pushing them when he felt he wasn’t getting answers. It’s telling that even conservatives, usually fierce critics of CNN, had kind words on social media for Cooper’s performance.
HELD THEIR GROUND
Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator was wildly inconsistent on the debate stage, offering passion, especially when he talked about economic issues. Sanders did not go after Clinton during most of the debate and got flanked on the left on gun control and immigration. Still, Sanders was strong with his opening statement and kept his base intact, no small thing for an insurgent campaign. But, even as he agreed with “Black Lives Matter," he could have done more, especially as he tries to get minority voters behind him. Headed into Tuesday night, Sanders was riding high in Iowa and New Hampshire but not running as strong in states like South Carolina and Nevada, where minorities are much larger factors in the Democratic contests. The likes of Bill Bradley, Howard Dean and Paul Tsongas couldn’t break through after New Hampshire and Sanders needs to do better with minority voters to escape their fate. Sanders’ fans will cheer his performance, but he stayed in Clinton’s shadow for much of the debate.
Jim Webb. The Virginia Democrat and Marine veteran clearly broke with liberals and the other candidates on gun control, energy and foreign policy, no surprise considering he served as secretary of Navy under Ronald Reagan. He was also the only candidate on the stage to say “every life matters." Webb had some solid moments, especially on foreign policy and security issues, but he didn’t get much time, something he griped about repeatedly, usually to his own detriment. A largely unknown candidate headed into the debate, Webb was able to introduce himself to voters and he even got some help from Sanders as they talked about their different choices during Vietnam. The stoic Webb talked about his wife fleeing the communist takeover of Vietnam and her experience as an immigrant and her success in America. Now the question is, are there enough Democrats who will back his unorthodox, often populist positions.
LOSERS
Lincoln Chafee. Lagging behind the rest of the field, Chafee had a chance to make an impact in the race. Based on his attacks against Clinton on foreign policy, especially her support of military intervention in Iraq, Chafee should have been much stronger here. Anderson Cooper asked Chafee directly about Clinton’s support of the Iraq war but his answer was drowned out by Sanders’ take on the matter. He tried again when asked about Clinton’s emails and she did not even bother to offer a response to him. Chafee simply wasn’t a factor and he did not boost his struggling campaign on Tuesday night. He actually hurt himself with his awful excuse about voting to repeal Glass-Steagal in his first Senate vote and noting his father had just died -- which is why he was appointed to fill the seat. This was Chafee’s biggest moment so far and he blew it. Chafee did not make the most of his limited time in the spotlight.
Martin O’Malley. The former Maryland governor started off poorly, showing little energy and not standing out at the start. O’Malley had some good moments, including taking on Bernie Sanders over gun control and calling for expanded intelligence to ensure that there would not be a repeat of the Benghazi attacks. But he was often coming off as a legislator, despite serving years as mayor of Baltimore and as governor, bringing up bills such as Glass-Steagal without fleshing out what they actually are. There were high expectations for O’Malley when the race started and he hasn’t lived up to them. O’Malley needed to do more on Tuesday. He simply got eclipsed by Clinton and Sanders.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
