New York: Two Democratic presidential candidates – Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders faced each other for their New York debate in the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn. So who the Democratic debate in Brooklyn last night?
Each campaign had a very different challenge as they reached Brooklyn ready to defend their approach.
Sanders has to assure voters that he has a strong knowledge of the details of public policy and he needed to attest that he is still committed to the kind of campaign he guaranteed when he once told the public he was not bothered by Hillary Clinton’s “damn emails.” For Clinton, the challenge was to win over voters’ hearts, not just their minds.
Sanders definitely had many good moments. He impressed all particularly on money and politics and by asking questions about Clinton’s record on foreign policy: her support of the Iraq war and her failure to foretell the result of the U.S.-backed military operation to banish Moammar Ghadaffi.
But Clinton also did very well in three areas. First she twisted the “special interest issue” against Sanders, with the interest being guns. Second, she emphasized a key point several times, i.e. that it is easy to identify a problem, but harder to do something about it. Finally, during a discussion of the Supreme Court, she restored commitment and resolve to fight for women’s issues.
Overall, Clinton performed slightly better. She didn’t make many blunders, and she didn’t allow Sanders to make any serious impacts on her campaign.