We definitely aren’t wrong when calling this night’s Democratic Debate as crucial, since the party’s front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are closer than ever in polls, with just two weeks left until the Iowa caucus.
Until now, Mrs. Clinton seems to have an advantage, as the format of a Democratic Debate suits her, but let’s not forget the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has a more direct message, breaking through and helping him to gain in the polls nationally.
Bernie Sanders, a very powerful adversary for Mrs. Clinton
Currently, he is leading in New Hampshire, while the latest Iowa results show that the two candidates are closer than ever. Considering this, it’s obvious that both of them will have to deal with a huge amount of pressure on Sunday Night.
The Debate will take place in Charleston, South Carolina, and both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, alongside Martin O’Malley, should cover and avoid a few essential topics.
First of all, Mrs. Clinton should focus on showing that her plans are pragmatic solutions, working for the progressive base, but in the same time, show respect to Sanders supporters. On the other side, she needs to stay away from giving unclear, lawyerly answers, and avoid cheap attacks, targeted at the Vermont Senator, like she did previously, mentioning the health care aspect.
Could Bernie Sanders make a good president?
Moving on to Mr. Sanders, his main objective for the Democratic Debate should be convincing voters that he’s presidential material and that he has everything needed in order to win. Even more, despite his core message being very powerful, he needs to approach issues beyond this with the same ease. As for what’s to avoid, he should stay away from pulling punches, something that he has done in previous debates.
Even though Martin O’Malley doesn’t stand a chance against the two and barely made it to the stage, he must stay relevant during the meet. It is well known that he was implied into a scandal recently, being investigated for purchasing discounted furniture for his governor’s office, so he should avoid being dismissed by any of his two rivals.
As for the overall Democratic Debate, it will be very interesting to see where does the race stand, as Hillary Clinton seemed to lead comfortably until the end of 2015, but things changed a lot recently. Bernie Sanders exploited the momentum and attracted voters with his message and passions, things that Democrat supporters like.
Health and guns, two of the possible topics
Over the past weeks, some of the hottest topics were health care and gun laws. Bernie Sanders voted for Obamacare, but he seems to be looking forward to a single-payer system. As for the gun laws, the Senator is known for supporting more moderate gun measures, fact proven by his support for a 2005 law, protecting gun manufacturers. Yesterday, he said that he is in favor of a measure to amend the law.
To sum up, we can say that the Democratic Debate will be a risky one for Hillary Clinton, as she risk going negative, according to NPR. If she wants to win the Debate, her attacks targeted to Bernie Sanders should be authentic. Also, even though it will be a hard objective, she needs to show that she’s more electable.
