Although I had a visitor last night, I did watch most of the Democratic Debate. For me the high points were Bernie claiming that he’s not nearly as socialist as Eisenhower, and O’Malley’s definition of Hairball as an “immigrant bashing carnival barker”. I have the complete video and transcript.
Here’s part of the Times take on it.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had set out to use the second Democratic presidential debate to portray herself as the strongest potential commander in chief while France reeled from terror attacks, instead found herself pummeled by rivals on Saturday over her ties to Wall Street and her foreign policy record.
The debate in Des Moines opened with Mrs. Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Martin O’Malley bowing their heads to observe a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the attacks in Paris on Friday. And, at least at first, the three remaining Democratic candidates seemed acutely aware that traditional political punches could seem petty in the aftermath of the bloodshed.
But then Mr. Sanders and Mr. O’Malley unleashed pointed, yet polite, critiques of Mrs. Clinton’s foreign policy stances, including her 2002 vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq, which Mr. Sanders tied to the rise of the Islamic State, which officials in Paris have said was responsible for the attacks.
“Let me have one area of disagreement with the secretary,” Mr. Sanders said gingerly, as if on eggshells to lob an attack at a somber moment. “I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq — something that I strongly opposed — has unraveled the region completely and led to the rise of Al Qaeda and ISIS.”
Mr. O’Malley, meanwhile, painted a dark portrait of Middle East policy under the Obama administration, in which Mrs. Clinton spent four years as secretary of state. “Libya is a mess. Syria is a mess. Iraq is a mess. Afghanistan is a mess,” he said.
Without directly calling her opponents naïve, Mrs. Clinton responded by listing decades of granular foreign policy developments that she said contributed to the current crisis. “If we’re ever going to really tackle the problems posed by jihadi extreme terrorism, we need to understand it and realize that it has antecedents to what happened in Iraq,” she said.
But she grew increasingly defensive as the evening progressed and the topics drifted to domestic issues. Mr. Sanders and Mr. O’Malley both criticized her ties to the financial industry and argued that her policies would not go far enough to rein in the Wall Street excesses that led to the 2008 financial crisis… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
Here is the complete debate video:
Or, if you prefer, here is the complete debate transcript.
In my opinion, Bernie won the debate going away, but you decide for yourselves. I fear that the American voting public lacks the sophistication to recognize Bernie’s positions. And I fear that they will be driven by fear, rather than rational decision making.
16 Responses to “Second Democratic Presidential Debate”
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Crossposted in C2 at this link: http://www.care2.com/news/member/527046926/3927460
thanks Jim!
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/opinions/opinion-roundup-democratic-debate/index.html
http://nvonews.com/who-won-the-democratic-debate-last-night-sanders-does-well-but-hillary-clinton-remains-ahead/
http://recode.net/2015/11/15/democratic-candidates-struggle-with-message-after-paris-attacks/
I'm not sure there was a clear winner, and I watched or listened to all except during a brief phone call…but I'd say Hillary was the loser, like with the other two having proposed solutions to better address terrorism which she belatedly agreed with somewhat.
Thanks, Judi for the links.
Thanks for the excellent overview and your own analysis of the debate, TomCat. Hillary on the defense sounds good; the Republicans already had made it too easy for her with their inane Benghazi hearing, so going for her (still existing) ties with Wall Street was in order.
Its good to see the way debaters and debate organizers handled the Paris attacks: with dignity and respect. But you may be right, TomCat: these very attacks may work in Hillarie's favor again, because the majority of American voters seem to be driven by fear, something she knew to cash in on during her time as Secretary of State and obviously does again right now.
I am pretty fear-driven myself. But the fear driving me is fear of what will happen to me and 99% of America if one of those knuckle-headed Republicans gets the Presidency – and/or if we lose any more seats in the Senate – etc. etc.
We don't really, I have to admit, want Republicans to lose their fears. But we do want them to redirect those fears more in the directin of reality.
I did not watch the debate, and appreciate your review thereof, TC.
At least these Dem debates seem rational rather than freaked out screaming matches.
we listened to debate on the internet and all I can say is any of these 3, even O'malley, are better than anyone on the GOP side
I too, didn't watch the debate, but from your review, anyone is better than any RePug out there. (of course!!)
Thank you for providing the video of the debate. I was going to look for it. I had turned on the TV in the next room and turned it up loud enough to hear as I tried to finish up on the computer. I finished up about the same time as the debate ended and I'm afraid that I really didn't hear much of it. I'll watch it later.
Thanks for the analysis. I missed the debate but will watch this video tomorrow. My Facebook page was full of comments about fear today, mostly fear of Muslims, though. The main fear I have is that a Republican will win the next election. That is the last thing we need. The headline in the Lexington Herald Leader today was that people on Medicaid had voted for Matt Bevin for governor after he has declared that he will eliminate Kynect and shrink Medicaid as soon as he takes office. Talk about voting against your own self interests!
I didn't get to watch the debate. I should have, but I had to attend an Ellipsoid Orb Service at home. It is and will be a pointed debate from here on out. The attacks on Paris will make the polls jump for the Repukkklicans because they are saying "Guns, Guns, Guns!". That is aweful that they will use this tragedy for their gain. And that goes for ANY candidate!
We'll just have to wait and see who comes out in the end, as it should be!
Thanks for the post, TC! I'll watch it when my better half is not home. He doesn't savvy tech stuff, so, there ya go.
Peace, Love and many, many prayers and HUGS for the people affected by this raining BS!
The only thing that I fear ( , and yes I grew up in the UK. during W.W. 2. and slept in an air raid shelter for many years and heard bombs falling around us,) Is that one of the Repug. Knuckle heads wins the election!. ( JEB! wants to declare war on Isis!!).obviously following in his idiot brothers footsteps.. In that nightmare scenario, I along with my many four legged friends will be heading North, over the border. Too bad.
Great to hear from you,C.T.
I have been watching this in pieces. It's been a busy weekend and I fll asleep during the debate. From what I've seen so far, Bernie ruled!
Thanks all!
Bernie! OMalley