Miss the debate? Two students discuss their opinions on what was discussed. 

Photo Courtesy of Marc Nozell

Connor Ryland and Kiki Fann | Staff Reporters 

Kiki:
I thought it would be a two person race, especially if Joe Biden didn’t enter. And the race sort of solidified this for me; Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were the clear top two candidates. But I was impressed by former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley — perhaps surprised enough to say he won the debate — and he distanced himself from his fellow “other” candidates: Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee.

Webb was rather whiny throughout — why is no one mentioning me? or letting me speak? — and seemed to answer all of his questions by mentioning his time in Vietnam. I watched the entire debate, and all I remember from him: I wish I could get in on this! and my son and I fought in Vietnam. Clearly Webb is a war hero who deserves tremendous respect, but none of his stances on policies stood out to me.

Chafee was even more forgettable — perhaps because he didn’t complain as much about not getting to speak. And, in the most memorable part of the election — Sanders’s “enough about the damn guns!” — Chafee played the clearly unpopular role, arguing about the emails even after Sanders’s rousing statement.

On to the issues:
The Democratic candidates clearly don’t have the divisions that the Republicans do, and one of the more serious divisions was gun control. Sanders, as the senator from Vermont, argued that gun control in rural, hunting areas is different than urban settings; and he aptly transitioned his answer to one about mental health, arguing convincingly that gun violence could be decreased with better mental health facilities. But Clinton and O’Malley rallied against him, citing evocative examples of gun violence to make his rural/urban qualification seem rather weak.

I believe Sanders’s view is more nuanced than rural/urban, but it’s the nature of debate: long explanations can get sort of muddied while short, emotive power phrases get the big reaction from the crowd. As Anderson Cooper said a few times: “That’s popular in this room, but there’s a serious concern about…” after a short, powerful answer like Clinton’s “No” when asked if she’d like to respond to Chafee’s concerns about her email controversy.

To conclude, I believe Clinton is still the clear-front runner. Bernie Sanders has quite a presence, and impressive star power, and Martin O’Malley increased his credibility with many examples of his experience as governor, but Clinton’s experience, coupled with the exposure during the debate as the email scandal largely as Republican propaganda, puts her clearly in front. If I had to vote today, I’d feel good about voting for Hillary Clinton.

Connor:
Entering this debate I saw Bernie Sanders as the leader and this debate as an opportunity for him to solidify himself as the clear leader for the democratic seat. Hillary has had a very rough past couple of months from the email controversy to her terrible treatment of both secret service and armed forces members. Leaving the debate I thought there was one clear winner, Anderson Cooper. Cooper was quick on his feet and pressed each candidate on their stances and weaknesses of them. One clear example of this was Cooper pressing Lincoln Chafee on voting for bills in the past in favor of big banks and his general wavering political beliefs. Cooper also pressed Hillary Clinton on her changing stances on many political issues. Cooper showed no bias for any candidate and questioned both Bernie Sanders and Jim Webb on their stance on gun control. He was questioning of Martin O’Malley and his record as mayor of Baltimore and the city’s recent issues.

Of the actual candidates I thought Clinton was by far the winner of this debate. She entered the debate with a rough past couple months of email controversy and other issues but these issues were quickly forgotten. 

The biggest loser of the debate in my mind was Joe Biden. Since the beginning of this primary there have always been murmurs of the potential of Joe Biden entering the race. If Joe Biden had been considering to enter this race he missed his time to enter. Hillary solidified herself as the frontrunner of this race and in my mind has won herself the seat. If Joe Biden wanted to enter he should have done if over the past several months through the Benghazi controversy, email controversy, and the recent treatment of both secret service and armed forces members.