I sat through the GOP debate a few weeks though, and ever since then have been patiently waiting to see how the Democratic candidates compared against the Republicans.
So here are the candidates:
Lincoln Chafee
Initial impressions: I know that he is considered to be super unknown and that’s pretty much all I know about him.
Debate impressions:
1. He made a lot of excuses. He said that on his first vote he didn’t prepare and didn’t know what he was voting for, which doesn’t seem to bode well for the rest of his career.
Jim Webb
Initial impressions: I know that my grandfather likes him because he’s ex-military.
Debate impressions:
1. In a part where he was speaking about his children’s occupations, he almost forgot that one of his daughters is a massage therapist.
2. He spent more time talking about how unfair the talking-time allotments were than about actual issues (to his credit it did seem unfair—but move on).
Martin O’Malley
Initial impressions: I don’t know anything about his policy. I know that people put shirtless pictures of him online, which seems very irrelevant to the debate and the race itself.
Debate Impressions:
1. He supported Hillary in her run for president in 2008 and they both brought it up.
2. He brought up a lot of important issues and highlighted key differences between the candidates that lead to a lot of heated discussions between Hillary and Bernie.
Bernie Sanders
Initial Impressions: Bernie is a socialist democrat from Vermont. He’s gained a big following in opposition to Hillary. He comes off as no-nonsense and seems to have less of the imprint of political corruption than Hillary.
Debate impressions:
1. When Hillary’s email scandal was brought up and Lincoln Chafee did attempt to use it against Hillary, Bernie said “enough of the emails!” This was a moment where Bernie wasn’t focused on gaining political points, but he was looking at the bigger picture, at what would be best for the country, and that’s an important thing to see from a candidate in a debate.
2. He emphasized environmental issues and the wage gap, two important issues that I think need to be focused on more.
3. He wants taxpayers to pay for public colleges (an idea that Hillary seems to have adopted), which is compelling, but could be problematic. The idea of reducing and limiting loans is one that is very worth following.
Hillary Clinton
Initial Impressions: The obvious democratic front runner. She has a big and vast political and public history, she has a lot of political experience but that seems to come as a trade-off with a suspicious amount of scandals or covering-ups of mistakes.
Debate Impressions:
1. In general, she was good on the issues, however I wanted to hear more substance to her plans for the country. When she was asked how she would address Wall Street, she told a story in which she marched into Wall Street and “told them to cut it out.”
2. She pandered. A lot. When asked what would separate her from President Obama she said it would be the fact that she’s a woman. She seemed to be seeking applause and likeability. When speaking of her economic plan she went off on a speech about how much better Democrats are economically than Republicans. It didn’t seem pertinent to the debate but rather to her seeking applause.
Overall, it seemed like a play with several supporting cast and two lead roles. It seemed to me that no one shone, but that I got important ideas about where each candidate stood. It was very obvious that the GOP debate had more flash, more urgency, and seemingly more tensions. This was mostly due to missing a character that has become crucial to the 2016 presidential election:
But this master of flash and gaining ratings was there in spirit by live-tweeting the debate and lending his advice as a serious, political expert.
Get rid of all of these commercials. #DemDebate
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October">https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/6540959... 14, 2015Can anyone imagine Chafee as president? No way.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October">https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/6541015... 14, 2015 Sorry, there is no STAR on the stage tonight!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October">https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/6541149... 14, 2015 If anything, these tweets by Trump remind us that maybe flash during the race for president is not the most important thing. Maybe it should be a command of the issues of composure under pressure or intelligence, but maybe the most exciting answer isn't the right one.
