I should preface this diary by saying that I am a Bernie Sanders supporter, and while I like to think that I can watch the debate without bias, I am certain that my opinion is somewhat shaped by that lens. That being said, here is my take on some of the issues that came up during the debate last night.
Gun Control -- I thought Hillary Clinton was by far the strongest on Gun Control. I was very disappointed by Sanders response (that we need to find "common ground"). For a man who preaches big ideas, he sounded very small on this issue.
Middle East -- Hillary took a lot of heat with regards to her Middle East policy, and vote for the Iraq War (which she rightly deserves). I thought that she sounded Hawkish, and tried to avoid legitimate questions with clever zings ("I was happy to have Governor O'Malley's support"). I thought Bernie on the other hand made a compelling argument for the proper use of force and using other means to exert influence (i.e. trade sanctions against Russia). It sounded like Cooper wanted to paint Bernie as a pacifist dove, but I thought Bernie responded well pointing to Kosovo and Afghanistan.
National Security -- Each candidate was asked what they view as the most important national security concern. Personally (again agreeing with Sanders) every other issue pales in comparison with the threat of climate change. While I understand Hillary's concern with the spread of nuclear weapons, climate change presents a real and present danger to our entire planet and could (will if not addressed) have geopolitical ramifications far beyond the spread of nuclear weapons.
Black Lives Matter -- I thought both Hillary and Bernie were very strong in their response to the question of "Do Black Lives Matter?". The one note I would make is that Bernie mentioned institutional racism, and the need to combat it, while Hillary merely mentioned "reforming" the criminal justice system. That being said, I would be interested to hear, in further detail, her "New Deal" for the African American community.
Big Banks -- Can we all just acknowledge that Bernie Sanders will be tougher on big banks than Hillary? Her comment that "I went to Wall Street in December 2007...and I basically said 'cut it out! Quit foreclosing on homes..." was ridiculous. She also complained that no executives went to jail, but I don't recall her calling for the heads of any executives at any point during or after the collapse.
Affordable Education -- Bernie was spot on. Today a bachelors degree is the equivalent of a high school degree 50 years ago. That being the case, public colleges and universities should be free for any American. Hillary, again, was a bit weaker. She wants to allow students to refinance their student debt, which is a nice start, but if you have $50,000 -100,000 in student loans, it's not just the rate your worried about. She also mentioned how she worked while she was in college, but fails to recognize that college tuition (since she was in school) has increased exponentially, and it's unrealistic to think that working 10 hours a week will drastically cut into the cost of higher education.
Social Security -- Sanders talked again about expanding Social Security by lifting the cap on taxable incomes. When Clinton was asked directly whether she would EXPAND Social Security, she responded by saying she would "enhance the benefits" and "defend Social Security", which I take as a no...
Immigration Reform -- There was an interesting exchange regarding Sanders vote in 2007 against immigration reform. If he did in fact vote against it solely for the guest worker provision, then that is commendable (I would have to go back and see what he said at the time). Otherwise, there was a lot of talk of "comprehensive immigration reform". The strongest candidate on this issue, in my opinion was O'Malley. I thought he was spot on regarding health care and college education for immigrants. I also thought Hillary did a great job addressing the racist Republicans and their attempts to demonize hard-working immigrants.
That was as far as I could make it (really wish they started the debates a bit earlier, or actually at 8:30 as opposed to 9:00). Overall it was a great debate, and it was nice to hear people finally discussing issues (as opposed to having a pissing contest over who can be meanest to the brown people), and while I am still an ardent Sanders supporter, I will happily vote for Hillary Clinton if she is our candidate.
A few side notes --
-I thought the exchange between Sanders and Webb regarding Vietnam was beautiful. CNN really wanted Webb to attack Sanders, but he instead had a thoughtful, distinguished response. Say what you will about Webb (and there is plenty to say), but his response was pure class.
-Chafee's explanation for voting for Glass-Steagall was astonishing (and a bit horrifying at the same time).
-Hillary's response when asked if she wanted to address Chafee's point regarding her emails (No.) was priceless. Well done Hillary.