Flint, Michigan — Democratic Debate
The 8th (I believe) Democratic debate occurred on March 7th, mediated by Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon, and was produced by CNN. This debate got pretty heated between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and there was quite a bit of mudslinging by pointing out each other’s faults from the past. Cooper seemed to lose control of the debate towards the beginning of the debate which allowed the mudslinging to occur almost unabated. Luckily, there was a commercial break and Cooper was able to regain control over the candidates. There were some funny moments in the debate, which allowed the heated parts of the debate to be bearable, at least.
I’m not going to analyze the mudslinging, because I think the mudslinging is disappointing from both of the candidates and not worth the analysis. Rather, I will analyze the more important issues like Water, Guns, Racism and Fracking.
Water
This is the most important issue in the debate for people from Flint, simply because of the location of the debate. However, the two candidates have very similar positions so it was not a very big point of contention. Both said they’d keep the people who allowed the poisoning of Flint’s water accountable. They said they’d end the Flint Water Crisis by fixing the water system as well as making sure the EPA, State government and local governments are held accountable.
Guns
Hillary took the cake on this part of the debate in the minds of Democrats. She pointed out Bernie supports guns and pointed out she supports the Brady Bill and said she would attempt to fix the loopholes to obtain guns, eliminate immunity from the sellers and make the industry liable for gun violence. Bernie disagrees about keeping the industry liable, he indicates that he thinks they should only be liable if they are knowingly selling guns that have a high risk of getting into criminal’s possession. It seemed, to me, they both were arguing for the same thing, but Hillary insisted that Bernie was supporting things like the NRA and that would sustain gun violence. This will probably hurt Bernie in the primaries (which matters the most right now), however, I think this could help him in a general election, because it could help him gain some support of undecided Moderates or potentially some Republican voters.
Racism
This was probably the most important issue nationally in the debate. Hillary seemed slightly weaker on this position to me, however, she responded very well. She indicated that she would try to fix the problems of systemic racism, a term she used a lot, which was good rhetorically. She says she would do this through increasing things like body cameras on police officers and adding stricter regulations on police departments to help mend the divide between communities and the Police. I think Bernie did a much better job on this issue, because was able to pull up some pretty profound past experiences like getting arrested in Chicago, when fighting for desegregation. He told a story about a black Congressman who could not get a cab, because he was black and how he acknowledges he could never understand the type of things people who experience racism go through daily. These were rhetorically powerful moments that should help Bernie in the primaries to gain the support of black voters.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both indicate they did support a bill that most likely resulted in increasing systemic racism by the police. Hillary and Bernie’s responses were pretty good, because they both said there are good parts and bad parts of the bill, however I think Bernie came out on top of this part of the debate, because it was pointed out by Don Lemon that during the passing of the legislation Bernie had warned about the bill being potentially dangerous, and Bernie said he supported the because of the Ban on Assault Weapons and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and he was torn on the issues that perpetuated racism by the police.
Fracking
This was a small part of the debate, but it was probably a good moment for Bernie Sanders.
Hillary said she doesn’t support fracking unless there are serious regulations and wants to limit the amount of fracking. While, Bernie simply responds with “No, I do not support fracking.” Cooper then asks a follow up question that he asks if the democratic governors are wrong, Bernie responds with “Yes.” This response is pretty good rhetorically, because it seems like he isn’t dancing around the issue while Hillary could be perceived that way which could help him with voters and hurt her.
Well, who won?!?!?!
I don’t think there is a definitive winner, because different groups of people will see it differently. Both candidates debated well, however, I think this debate can only hurt Hillary Clinton, because anything Bernie Sanders said that would alienate some voters, seem like voters who are already either Republican or supporting Hillary Clinton (i.e. people who don’t support gun rights). I think he may pick up some non-white voters, because of what he said about racism and how the pointing out of his personal experiences. I ultimately think this debate will only marginally help Bernie Sanders if at all. So, if I had to pick one, I would be #feelingthebern.
