By James Irwin
Hillary Clinton went on the offensive, Bernie Sanders employed his trademark frustration, and Joe Biden was absent at the first Democratic Presidential Debate in Las Vegas.
A look at the moments that mattered from Tuesday:
Clinton was commanding
It was a good night for the former secretary of state. She was poised and polished and will benefit from more debates, Graduate School of Political Management Assistant Professor Matt Dallek said, because they will give her the opportunity to chip away at uncertainties regarding her trustworthiness.
“I think what you saw at the debate is Hillary Clinton, by far, is the most experienced political figure on the stage and has, by far, the most experience in national politics,” he said. “She’s also the most experienced debater. All of that came through very clearly. At this point, more debates and more competition—anything that enables her to speak directly to the country—are highly beneficial for Hillary Clinton.”
The field is weak
This has been covered for months, but it really showed Tuesday, Dr. Dallek said. Sen. Sanders, he said, is an impressive and experienced politician, but is extremely unlikely to be president or win the nomination. As for the other three candidates—former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (Va.), former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee—Dr. Dallek doesn’t see a path for them to the nomination.
“Other than Sanders, I’m not sure what the other three guys are doing up there,” he said. “Jim Webb left the Senate after one term, Lincoln Chafee is a former Republican, and Martin O’Malley couldn’t even get his would-be successor elected in Maryland. I don’t know if they have a rationale for why they are running."
Struggles for Sanders
Sen. Sanders (Vt.) was involved in two big moments Tuesday, Dr. Dallek said. The first centered on gun control, an area where Sen. Sanders has a more moderate voting record. He voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act several times as a member of the House of Representatives in the early 1990s.
He struggled Tuesday on the topic.
“It really is an area where, because of the state he’s from, he has all kinds of problems with his supporters,” Dr. Dallek said. “And the fact he voted for a bill that would shield gun makers from being sued, essentially, that does not sit well with a vast majority of Democrats, especially in the wake of all these mass shootings.”
Later, Sen. Sanders took an issue he could use against Ms. Clinton off the table when he said people were “sick and tired” of hearing about the private email server Ms. Clinton used while serving as secretary of state. It was an admirable moment, Dr. Dallek said, but one he—and Sen. Sanders—said was probably not good politics. It allowed Ms. Clinton to pivot to a familiar refrain of the email hoopla being a partisan attack from Republicans on Capitol Hill, Dr. Dallek said.
“I think it was a striking moment, I don’t know if it was great politics,” he said. “I think [Ms. Clinton] was relieved that her chief rival came to her aid on the issue that has dragged her down so much.”
No Joe?
Beyond Ms. Clinton and Sen. Sanders, the most prominent figure during Tuesday’s debate wasn’t on the stage. That would be Vice President Joe Biden, who will decide to either enter or not enter the race at some point in the near future.
The debate likely didn’t do anything to clarify that decision, Dr. Dallek said.
“I don’t think a single debate fundamentally changes anything—if anything, it bolstered Clinton’s standing instead of taking her down a notch or two,” he said. “At this point, Joe Biden is the only viable person who could conceivably enter the race so late in the game. He’s still going to make his decision based on all the factors he’s considering.”
A tale of two parties
Perhaps the most notable contrast wasn’t between the candidates on the stage, but between the five-person (in many ways two-person) Democratic debate and the double-session overcrowded Republican debates held in August and September.
The primaries are being driven by different issues, Dr. Dallek said.
“The dynamic on the Republican side is this sprawling field and this intense anger at anybody who has basically ever held office, and it’s reaching a boiling point,” he said. “You have an incredibly strong field—number of candidates, name recognition, experience. And yet, Scott Walker is out, Rick Perry is out, Jeb Bush is flailing even though he’s raised a lot of money.
“On the Democratic side, one of the most unusual things is instead of a sitting vice president, you have a former rival of the current president who essentially is taking on the role of the incumbent. And yet, at the same time, she’s not a sitting president. [Tuesday’s] debate in many ways was about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s record. The dynamics of both primaries are pretty unusual.”
