No Debate: I’m With Her

Hillary Clinton’s Third Primary Debate Win is Emblematic of A Whole Lot More

If you were on of the roughly eight million people that tuned into the ABC Democratic Debate this Saturday, more power to you. If you missed it (it was a Saturday night!) let me break it down for you real quick:

She won.

Hillary Clinton won the third Democratic Debate by a mile. Whether it was when she was cool and collected in the face of the “Berniegate” pseudo-scandal, spoke authoritatively about foreign policy, or effectively defended against attacks, Hillary Clinton reminded those eight million viewers on Saturday that she is a fighter that doesn’t quit.

Hillary Clinton held Martin O’Malley accountable for accepting money from the financial sector when he was chair of the Democratic Governors Association, and she further pledged not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 annually, despite Bernie Sanders refusing that pledge. Hillary’s grasp on other issues — both foreign and domestic goes far beyond what any kind of debate preparation could provide, it’s the result of a quarter of a century at the forefront of American (and global!) politics, and a lifetime of issue advocacy that her opponents could only dream of. All these working together on Saturday night reinforced a key point about Hillary Clinton: she is lethal in a debate.

It’s her grasp on the issues that most excites me about Hillary Clinton’s historic candidacy. Should Democrats as a party nominate Hillary, we’re not just nominating a well liked, established, generic nominee. Instead, when Hillary Clinton walks across the stage in Philadelphia on July 25th, 2016 to accept the Democratic Party Nomination for President, we will have nominated a woman with more experience than any possible Republican challenger, a woman with more knowledge on the issues than any politician in either party, and a woman more qualified to be president than any man since Thomas Jefferson.

While the Convention won’t be the end of the story, it won’t be the highlight either. I speak for myself when I say that I am practically salivating for the chance to see Hillary Clinton on a debate stage with any Republican opponent.

Elections are about choices, and how could there be a greater contrast than between Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz, or any other Republican candidate?

Will the Republican rail against funding for Planned Parenthood with a (gasp) real woman on the stage with them? Will their debate prep be good enough for them to feel confident attacking the foreign policy of the most traveled Secretary of State in American history? When it comes to the issues, it’s clear — Hillary makes a better choice for the Democratic Party and for the American people.

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited (and very confident) for any general matchup including Hillary Clinton and a Republican. But I also recognize we can’t take anything for granted. As I watched the debate on Saturday, something else became abundantly clear to me: while she is a force of political nature, Hillary still needs our help. Those of us in Iowa and New Hampshire have a special responsibility to brave the cold and winter weather to talk to our neighbors about why Hillary’s is the vision we need for the United States.

I’m going to be hitting the doors and the phones pretty hard in the next few weeks. If you happen to see me out and about, say hi, offer me some hot cocoa, and then grab a packet and come knock with me. We can do this together.

Oh, and if you missed the debate you also missed my favorite debate moment ever thus far: