Last night [February 4, 2016], the Democratic candidates took to the political stage in New Hampshire in the Democratic party’s most heated debate yet.
With Martin O’Malley having formally stepped out of the race following a significant loss in the Iowa Caucuses, the floor was taken by the two front-runners remaining: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Despite the fact the Democratic party has prided itself on remaining civilized, respectful, and what it considers to be cordial in comparison to their Republican counterparts this election season, Clinton and Sanders definitely ushered in a new chapter of rivalry last night.
Varying factors like O’Malley’s absence and an extremely tight finish in Iowa launched both candidates in another direction of “no holding back” mentalities that definitely came through in last night’s showing.
Here the top 4 things you may have missed from the CNN Democratic Debate:
Hillary Clinton still doesn’t have a response on her paid speeches:
One of Bernie Sanders’s strengths has been that he truly believes in the erasing of classicism in America. A point he makes with referral to Big Banks on Wall Street. After he’s repeatedly called out Hillary Clinton on her endorsement from Goldman Sachs, the former First Lady still doesn’t have a clear answer as to why she accepted $675,000 from the company along the campaign trail.
When asked about delivering on some transcripts on her conversations with these Big Banks, her reply was, “I’ll look into it.”
Bernie Sanders still doesn’t a plan on foreign policy:
Sanders’s platform has mainly been enveloped by the domestic economy and Wall Street. However, his lack of dedicated foreign policies has been his biggest shortcoming this election, and his only defense when asked about foreign policy is that he voted against Iraq.
But, 13 years later, it may be time to hop off that train. Sure, it’s still a relevant topic, but what Sanders has been showing only leads to the potential of isolationism. That may have worked in the 20th century, but in an age where international threats are more imminent with every second counting, a clear plan of diplomacy and international relations would certainly put the minds of American voters at ease.
The definition of progressive is still up for grabs:
The running trend this campaign has been this: Bernie Sanders proposes a great policy that everyone loves, and Hillary Clinton takes it and creates a plan for it, making it her own. While Sanders made a point of harping on his opponent’s disconnect with the American people, Clinton fought back hard last night in New Hampshire.
“A progressive is someone who makes progress,” Clinton stated, making a point to show the differences between Sanders and herself.
Clinton attacks Sanders’s ‘artful smear’ campaign:
It seems that Hillary Clinton is done taking the high road as she’d shown in her previous debate appearances. Apparently fed up with what she believed to be attacks and insinuations, she told Sanders, “I think it’s time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks.”
Sure, the campaign run by Bernie Sanders has been passive-aggressive to say the least, but that’s politics. The Democratic party has done a really good job at keeping things cleaner than the GOP race. However, at some point in time, we’re bound to see a little shade.
