Here's how you know Hillary won the debate.
For months we heard from Bernie supporters that "HILLARY BETTER GET HER BERN CREAM READY!" and "I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE BERNIE ANNIHILATE HILLARY!" and "HILLARY WILL DROP LIKE A ROCK AFTER THE DEBATE!" and "HILLARY WILL BE EXPOSED! BERNIE IS A SUPERIOR DEBATER!". Etc. Etc. Etc.
Yet, here we are, debating who won the debate.
So what does "winning" look like? Lets see.
Did Bernie win the gun segment? No. Even O'Malley trounced him. He was called out and resorted to the urban/rural canard, one week after a mass shooting in rural Oregon. And then he uses NRA talking point of blaming mental illness, instead of gun industry and easy access to guns.
Did Bernie win the foreign policy segment? Not even close. He came off woefully unprepared. Anderson even laughed at his Putin comments. In a moment of desperation Bernie announced "I'm not a pacifist! I'm prepared to take this country to war if I have to!". LOL. OK.
Immigration segment? Hillary and O'Malley has a plan, and once again O'Malley torched Bernie on his past anti-immigration votes. Bernie flailing.
College segment? Bernie was vague and once again unprepared. After getting called out for paying for rich kids tuition Bernie announces "the rich will pay a lot more in taxes!". Vague, flailing again.
On socialism? It seemed he never really recovered from this opening bit from Anderson as Bernie couldn't adequately explain why people should embrace a socialist. Again, Anderson notes Denmark has only 5 million people. Perhaps he can and should expand further at next debate.
On his most rehearsed segment Wall Street, he seemed underwhelming and again unprepared, muddled, and it showed. The other candidates released plans and were able to point to actual plans and solutions while Bernie again made vague promises about "Wall Street paying". This is why releasing policy proposals is important, Bernie could only point to problems, other candidates could point to plans and solutions.
Climate segment? They all did pretty good.
Paid leave? Again, they all did pretty good but Hillary knocked it out by owning Dana Bash about California being worlds 7th biggest economy and California being bigger than most countries. Big applause.
Women's rights? Hillary was not only the only candidate to defend Planned Parenthood, she was the only candidate who actually mentioned Planned Parenthood. Big applause.
on capitalism? Hillary stuck with mainstream views: capitalism is good but needs constant regulation while Bernie once again came off as not someone who likes capitalism and no alternative except to drastically break up banks, that point he kept making well. But it left viewers with deeper questions about how that would effect jobs and the economy, both nationally and internationally. I'm sure he will expand further on this during more debates.
On race issues? (which should have gotten more time) Bernie and Hillary did pretty good. Bernie addressed criminal justice reform while Hillary proclaimed "we need a new New Deal for communities of color!". Solid.
In the end, Bernie came off looking like an A+ Senator, while Hillary came off looking like an A+ President with vast knowledge on a wide range of domestic and international policy.
No Bern Cream needed. He bragged about not preparing and it was obvious he didn't. But I can guarantee you he prepares for the next one.
Yet, Hillary is still standing. In first place.
= new reply since forum marked as read
We always talk about "winning." It's more a matter of how much good or harm a debate does for the candidates in the ongoing slog forward.
A candidate would have won if they were so outstanding that they glowed. No one did.
Hillary was Hillary. She glowed for those who like her. Those who don't found her to be annoying and the same old, same old.
Similarly with Sanders. Bernie was Bernie. He did okay too, though was a little stiffer than usual. He could have lightened up a bit and/or been somewhat more forceful in rebutting Hillary's more obnoxious misrepresentations. ("America's the greatest county in the world because we have BUSINESSES, unlike those pukey little Commie Scandanavian potholes."
Candidates also lose if they either are so bad that it makes viewer's teeth hurt (Chaffee, Webb) or they get hit with a massive masterstroke by an opponent ("Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy....." .
Both Hillary and Sanders held their own. Hillary succeeded in reversing her slide. Bernie succeeded in getting visibility, peaking the interest of people not familiar with him.
Oops . . . I mean Secretary Clinton. The debate loooooooooser became the POTUS.
It seemed clear that he's grown so accustomed to adoring suburban audiences hanging on his every pearl of socialist (r) wisdom that he wasn't ready for pushback from Cooper or Clinton. To me anyway.
Response to JaneyVee (Original post)
