“Best debate ever!”
That was my reaction to last night’s debate between Democratic Party candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
I have been following politics for a long time. Never before have I witnessed two candidates engage in such a free flowing substantive conversation about the issues as I witnessed last night.
Absent were the snarky digs…the condescending attitudes and the well-rehearsed talking points that we have seen in the past debates. For me this was two people sitting across a kitchen table hashing out their differences of opinion. It was as refreshing as it was informative.
And it was very informative. For the first time I have a very clear understanding of the differences between these two candidates.
Clinton is the pragmatist. She understands how the system works and she wants to work within the system to get things done. She supports the steps President Obama has taken on the economy, jobs, health care etc. and she plans to expand on his progress moving forward. She believes that Senator Sanders’ policies may sound good on paper but they have zero chance of getting the conservative support needed to become law. I believe the one area where Secretary Clinton demonstrated that she was clearly the better candidate was on matters of foreign policy. Senator Sanders’ conceded that Clinton’s four years as Secretary of State gave her the edge in foreign policy experience.
Sanders believes that the system is rigged to benefit the top 1% earners. Whether you are talking about the economy, the banking industry, trade, health care…Sanders believes they are all rigged to profit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and poor. Sanders doesn’t want to work within the current system…he wants to reform it. Sanders is calling for a political revolution to dismantle the current system and rebuild it in a fashion that works for all Americans not just the wealthy few. He believes it all starts by getting big money out of politics. He believes that the money from mega donors and big corporations flowing into the political system buys access, influence and power; all geared to further the interests of the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the working class. Sanders advocates repealing Citizens United, getting big money influence out of politics, breaking up the big banks, reworking trade agreements that grow corporate profits while taking American jobs, providing universal health care for all Americans and free public college education for all citizens. Sanders would pay for his policies by closing the personal and corporate tax loopholes that have allowed the wealthiest to “avoid paying their fair share.”
Sanders views Secretary Clinton as a standard bearer for a system that is not working for a vast majority of Americans. Clinton views Senator Sanders as an advocate for promises that he cannot keep. A clear difference of views on display for all to see.
It should be noted that a large part of the reason that this event was so extraordinary was due to the superb job of the two moderators: NBC’s Chuck Todd and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Todd and Maddow steered the debate while staying out of the way. The conversation was allowed to flow so fluidly without being interrupted by the moderators that at times I found myself forgetting that they were even there. Todd and Maddow made this event all about the candidates. For that they should be congratulated.
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