Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley
After two Republican debates—or four, counting their JV debates—we get to a Democratic debate.
Onstage in Las Vegas Tuesday night:
Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders
Martin O'Malley
Jim Webb
Lincoln Chafee
As the leader, Clinton is at center stage, flanked by Sanders to her right and O'Malley to her left, with Webb and Chafee taking the outside. The media really wanted us speculating about whether Vice President Joe Biden would make a dramatic entry to the race with a last-minute appearance (parachuting in, perhaps?), but ... no.
Here's to a healthy exchange of ideas and not too many stupid questions from moderators and questioners Anderson Cooper, Dana Bash, Juan Carlos Lopez, and, reading questions from social media, Don Lemon. (At least they have Lemon just offering other people's questions.) If their questions aren't bad enough for you, Donald Trump has promised to live-tweet.
The debate is airing on CNN and streaming on CNNGo and CNN.com.
Tue Oct 13, 2015 at 6:14 PM PT (Meteor Blades): Webb notes that he has always been for affirmative action for African Americans but fails to mention his one-time stance against women serving on Navy combat ships.
Tue Oct 13, 2015 at 6:18 PM PT (Kerry Eleveld): ON LABELS: Anderson Cooper wondered if Hillary Clinton is a "progressive" or a "moderate." Clinton: "I'm a progressive but I'm a progressive who likes to get things done.
Cooper asked Bernie Sanders if he's a capitalist. Sanders: "Do I consider myself part of the casino capitalist process by which so few have so much and so many have so little... No, I don't."
Tue Oct 13, 2015 at 6:19 PM PT (Hunter): First "issue" question is about guns. Sanders tells Cooper that he has a D- from the NRA, supports instant background checks, and closing the gun show loophole, and emphasizes the need for mental health resources. Clinton agrees, then bashes Sanders for not supporting the Brady Bill. Sanders ignores the jab, repeating that there is a consensus in this country on doing the things he has outlined.
Tue Oct 13, 2015 at 6:29 PM PT: Bernie Sanders is sharply critical of the decision to go to war with Iraq, but pulls the direct punch against Hillary Clinton. Lincoln Chafee does not, using that to question Clinton's judgment. Rather than rehashing that decision again, Clinton points out that she debated the issue repeatedly with then-Sen. Obama in 2007 and 2008, yet he asked her to be his secretary of State, running through the work she did in that role.
Tue Oct 13, 2015 at 6:33 PM PT (Barbara Morrill): New thread here.