The Democratic debate was held in Las Vegas summit sponsored by CNN and Facebook. Anderson Cooper, primary anchor of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, regulated the questions and kept the time for each candidate. There were five candidates in total and they are the former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, former Vermont governor and Senator, Bernie Sanders, former Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Senator, Jim Webb and former Rhode Island governor and senator Lincoln Chafee.
Before the debate Bernie Sanders was not showing a “broader understanding” regarding Black Lives Matter. Dante Barry, executive director of the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice said that Sanders and other candidates need to know more than the names and begin to articulate why police violence and structural racism are pervasive in today’s society and how, as president, he will begin to dismantle both. On August 11th, Black Lives Matter activists met with Clinton and her answer was disappointing to them as well. Senator Martin O’Malley has been running his campaign with the opposition of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Keystone Pipeline and Wall Street reform, whether he believed in Black Lives Matter was not clear until the actual debate. Senator Jim Webb was “barely registering on national polls” as was Senator Lincoln Chafee.
During the debate, there were many questions regarding the eligibility of the candidates and their positions on some of the nation's issues. When Hillary Clinton was asked about her consistency in her debate, her best answer was " I'm a progressive. But I'm a progressive who likes to get things done."
Sanders was asked, "How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States?" He discussed that it is immorally wrong that the top one-tenth of one percent of this country owned almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. He offered some advice about looking to other countries as an example for healthcare and their accomplishments in helping the "working people."
When Cooper discussed Chafee's party change his best answer was, "I have not changed on the issues.I was a liberal Republican, then I was an independent, and now I'm a proud Democrat. But I have not changed on the issues.And I open my record to scrutiny. Whether it's on the environment, a woman's right to choose, gay marriage, fiscal responsibility, aversion to foreign entanglements, using the tools of government to help the less fortunate."
Governor O'Malley was challenged on the fact that his city, Baltimore, "exploded in riots and violence in April," and was asked, why should the American people trust him with the country with what happened in his city? One of his responses was, "Look, none of this is easy. None of us has all the answers. But together as a city, we saved a lot of lives. It was about leadership. It was about principle. And it was about bringing people together."
Senator Webb was questioned on his position within the Democratic Party and whether he was "out of step with them," because of his opinion of affirmation action being " 'state sponsored racism' " and is discriminatory against whites. He answered, "No, actually I believe that I am where the Democratic Party traditionally has been. The Democratic Party, and the reason I've decided to run as a Democrat, has been the party that gives people who otherwise have no voice in the corridors of power a voice. And that is not determined by race. And as a clarification, I have always supported affirmative action for African Americans. That's the way the program was originally designed because of their unique history in this country, with slavery and the Jim Crow laws that followed."
The biggest success of the debate was when Senator Sanders spoke about Clinton's email scandal and said, by far, the most memorable response. "Let me say - let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right, and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails."
The rest of the debate was what people expected, a debate. There was a lot of back and forth banter and some discrepancies about the time keeping of the event.
After the debate, the internet and news media were flooded with the Democratic Debate discussion and hashtag. CNN claimed that the winner was Hillary Clinton because she "remained unflappable throughout the debate, showcasing her political experience and command of the issues," while it is unclear if Sanders had a chance. The definite "losers" were Chafee, O'Malley and Webb. People were looking to O'Malley to break through in the debate, but were left disappointed despite his strong stance on gun control. Even the Republicans were tweeting their opinions during the debate.
Despite what CNN says, social media has been claiming the complete opposite. According to Emily Tosoni, a sophomore from Iowa State, "I really liked that he [Sanders] sticks with what he says, he hasn’t flip flopped on opinions, he’s not a dirty fighter."
Herman Cain, talk show host and former GOP presidential candidate and Deb Lucia, Kansas Tea Party activist also had something to say.
“NONE of them talked about or were asked about the most important ISSUES we face as a Nation … The economy, tax code, rebuilding our military, energy independence, nation security, and national debt of 18 trillion dollars! Not one question!!!” — Herman Cain
“They offered free education, healthcare, $15 minimum wage, more social security benefits, family and parental leave, clean energy, new infrastructure, open door borders, no gun violence, social justice and income equality for all . . . nothing of substance but perverse incentives counter to the principles that made America great; no one is guaranteed a free ride, all are given the same opportunity and freedom to fail or succeed on their own merit.” — Deb Lucia
Overall, the Democratic debate was what we all expected and not as congested with candidates as the GOP debate. There are many speculations that Clinton has already won from news media, but Senator Sanders "spark[ed] the most social media buzz." Whether we are certain or not who won the first debate, we have the second Democratic debate in November to look forward to.
UPDATE: Senator Jim Webb decided to drop out of the Democratic Presidential Primary saying "I’m withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party’s nominee for the presidency," at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. "This does not reduce in any way my concerns about the challenges facing the country."
